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This is all very applicable to Google. I was at Google for 2 years and I got promoted L5 to L6. The key (I think) was working across teams with people who wer
by drewg123 7y ago
This is all very applicable to Google. I was at Google for 2 years and I got promoted L5 to L6. The key (I think) was working across teams with people who were already L6 or higher, and who were willing to write for my promo packet.
In terms of what I learned? I think the most important lesson was: Don't get bogged down in details that are irrelevant to you & count on others to do their jobs. I came from a small (~15 engineer) company where we all knew the entire product from top to bottom. At Google, that was impossible.
- Zach_the_Lizard 7y ago>I was at Google for 2 years and I got promoted L5 to L6. Congrats on making the leap. It's tough. > The key (I think) was working across teams with people who were already L6 or higher, and who were willing to write for my promo packet. I agree; having L+1 reviewers is key. In my case I had the equivalent of a Google L7 or L8, but it didn't work out. Having a good enough project, even though it's often out of your control, is very important.
- aalhour 7y agoCongrats on the promotion, did you join Google as an L5? Also, can you share more advice on the technical side, like what do you are the abstractions, mind models and technologies that you think are applicable outside of Google and would be worthy of studying?
- drewg123 7y agoYes, I joined as an L5. The technical side was probably not terribly relevant to you. I worked mostly on the Linux kernel in C, on drivers and firmware, and never did anything in the main Google repo.
- mav3rick 7y agoThinking in APIs and contracts always helps reduce complex problems to slightly more tractable ones.