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I was so mad to read that until you said /sarcasm :p That being said I really do think there is a difference between who is working at google today and the go

I was so mad to read that until you said /sarcasm :p That being said I really do think there is a difference between who is working at google today and the google we all fell in love with pre-2008. I am sure there are a amazing people still working at google, but nowhere near like it was. The way I like to think about google is that some amazing people mad ea awesome train that builds tracks in front of it -- you can call them gods maybe -- but those people are gone -- or a least the critical mass required to build such a train has dwindled to just dust. What we have left is a awesome train full of people pulling the many levers left behind. To make things even worse my last interview as a SRE left me wondering if even the people who are there know this as well, and they are actually working hard to keep out those who might expose light on to this. I don't say that because I did not get the job -- I am actually happy I did not get extended a offer. I say this with one exception, the old-timer who was my last interview. I could tell he was dripping in knowledge and eager to share it with any that would listen. I came out of his 45 min session learning many things -- I wold actually pay to work with a guy like that. I would also like to point out that the work ethic was not what I expected. I was told that when on call, my duty was to figure out the root cause was in the segment I was responsible for. I don't know about you, but if my phone rings at night I am going to see through to a resolution and understand the problem in full -- even if it is not on the segment that I was assigned. /end rant

mav3rick 8y ago
The work ethic is in tact. It is not fair to load people with stress and ask them to drop everything. You're conflating poor resource allocation with "work ethic". Burning the midnight oil when it can be avoided is not work ethic. The correct way is to load balance outage resolution.
- mbrumlow 8y ago
  I really don't know how to reply to you as you have set up a bunch of windmills you assumed from my previous post. Who said anything about poor resource allocation? Who said we need to load people with stress? That being said -- when you are on call -- dropping everything is exactly what is expected.
  - gmueckl 8y ago
    But limiting responsibilities for on call employees is a way of limiting the workload they have during that time - ultimately benefiting the employees. They are on call, not working. I don't see the windmills here.
    - mav3rick 8y ago
      Yes this was my point.
  - mav3rick 8y ago
    Many many AWS people have left citing on call as the worst part of their job. Also, it is really a far fetched allegation that interviewers try to fail interviewees to hide their own incompetence. I get that you may not think much of Google SREs but to allege that is just in bad spirit. I hope you do get to see that the people inside Google are one of the best perks of working here. They are smart and motivated and willing to help each other.
    - antt 8y ago
      Were they that motivated to help their customers.
raincom 8y ago
Even though you have troubleshooting skills and other skills that can help Google, Google assumes that these skills are derivative of what they are looking for in interview. So, they are looking for those primary skills.
blub 8y ago
You've managed to roll the myth of 10x engineers, start-up geniuses, nostalgia and gut feelings into one message of very dubious veracity. At the same time you ignored the massive complexity and size of Google compared to what they were at the beginning. This is voodoo organisational analysis.
- engineeringwoke 8y ago
  10x engineers are real. Start-up geniuses are real. The large majority of people have their heads up their asses. Wake up and smell the coffee
  - mav3rick 8y ago
    You can't find and hire geniuses for every component. Systems should scale with the average engineer in mind (so should code). We have all smelt the coffee and it smells even better when your team is efficient and well rested.
    - engineeringwoke 8y ago
      I don't disagree. Building around 10x'ers in this way creates god complexes and unhappy "senior" engineers (since they don't do any of the cool work). Having one very early still juices your productivity

mav3rick 8y ago

The work ethic is in tact. It is not fair to load people with stress and ask them to drop everything. You're conflating poor resource allocation with "work ethic". Burning the midnight oil when it can be avoided is not work ethic. The correct way is to load balance outage resolution.

mbrumlow 8y ago
I really don't know how to reply to you as you have set up a bunch of windmills you assumed from my previous post. Who said anything about poor resource allocation? Who said we need to load people with stress? That being said -- when you are on call -- dropping everything is exactly what is expected.
- gmueckl 8y ago
  But limiting responsibilities for on call employees is a way of limiting the workload they have during that time - ultimately benefiting the employees. They are on call, not working. I don't see the windmills here.
  - mav3rick 8y ago
    Yes this was my point.
- mav3rick 8y ago
  Many many AWS people have left citing on call as the worst part of their job. Also, it is really a far fetched allegation that interviewers try to fail interviewees to hide their own incompetence. I get that you may not think much of Google SREs but to allege that is just in bad spirit. I hope you do get to see that the people inside Google are one of the best perks of working here. They are smart and motivated and willing to help each other.
  - antt 8y ago
    Were they that motivated to help their customers.

raincom 8y ago

Even though you have troubleshooting skills and other skills that can help Google, Google assumes that these skills are derivative of what they are looking for in interview. So, they are looking for those primary skills.

blub 8y ago

You've managed to roll the myth of 10x engineers, start-up geniuses, nostalgia and gut feelings into one message of very dubious veracity. At the same time you ignored the massive complexity and size of Google compared to what they were at the beginning. This is voodoo organisational analysis.

engineeringwoke 8y ago
10x engineers are real. Start-up geniuses are real. The large majority of people have their heads up their asses. Wake up and smell the coffee
- mav3rick 8y ago
  You can't find and hire geniuses for every component. Systems should scale with the average engineer in mind (so should code). We have all smelt the coffee and it smells even better when your team is efficient and well rested.
  - engineeringwoke 8y ago
    I don't disagree. Building around 10x'ers in this way creates god complexes and unhappy "senior" engineers (since they don't do any of the cool work). Having one very early still juices your productivity