This is really good advice. I took a job for the big G a few years back, and although I don't regret doing so (it was a fantastic learning experience), I was n

This is really good advice. I took a job for the big G a few years back, and although I don't regret doing so (it was a fantastic learning experience), I was never really happy in the role they had chosen for me. Once you're in, it can be surprisingly difficult to change teams and geography plays a major role. Google has many offices, all over the world, and they do specialize. This means the team of your dreams may not actually have presence in the office you are hired into and you'd have to move again even if you did successfully navigate the politics of getting transfered. Ultimately, that is why I left. Related to this, there is one related thing to beware of: each recruiter is "owned" by a particular department and compensated at least partially by results. This means your recruiter will have no motivation to bump you to some other department, even if it would actually be a better fit. Note that I left G well over a year ago, so my insights may be a little dated.