7 ms·

This is absolutely true. I work at Giant Search and Advertising Company, and joining was a huge mistake. I thought I would be working interesting technical pr

This is absolutely true. I work at Giant Search and Advertising Company, and joining was a huge mistake. I thought I would be working interesting technical problems with a high degree of autonomy — instead the work is extremely boring, and you get ahead by playing political games rather than by innovating. I’m one of the rare few here who managed to get through the interview without really preparing. Before joining, I had endless enthusiasm for computer science and programming. Now I feel so unenthusiastic that I question my future in this industry.

jonathankoren 7y ago
You joined a giant megacorp. They’re all like that. There’s very little difference between Google and Oracle in this regard.
- AlexCoventry 7y ago
  From what I've read, Google is a much more humane and pleasant environment to develop software in.
  - monoideism 7y ago
    That's what I hear, but then I see comments from folks like User5283 above. I have the impression it may be changing into something much more similar to a typical corporation after years of avoiding that fate.
    - hutzlibu 7y ago
      Beware though, that he or she used a throwaway. Comments can be made by anyone, also a marketing company contracted by oracle who still want talent and have to shame competitors with better image. (but the comment did seem legit and it is obvious for posting that anonymous)
      - monoideism 7y ago
        Yeah, I agree we should be cautious. But it does comport with what I've heard recently from actual Google employees, or (more often) ex-Googlers.
      - eropple 7y ago
        HN doesn't remotely begin to matter enough for companies to waste money on propaganda efforts.
        nitrogen 7y ago
        That is probably not true, but it's also probably not worth worrying about unless you are an HN mod.
        hutzlibu 7y ago
        Why do you think that? There is lots of IT folks around posting or just lurking and it would be very cheap to do some postings on Agenda XY here and there. I doubt it does not get tried.
  - jfkebwjsbx 7y ago
    That was a decade ago.
  - notyourday 7y ago
    Much higher pay has a tendency to color the everything better
cbHXBY1D 7y ago
Similar experience and similar feelings here :/
throwaway582 7y ago
That sucks that you've had that experience, I'm sorry. I hope it's the exception and not the rule. I work on the Advertising part of Giant Search and Advertising, and my experience has been pretty great—indeed, working on interesting problems with a high degree of autonomy. I do need to persuade others of my ideas sometimes, or let them persuade me against them, but this seems like a good thing, and doesn't feel political. Throughout my team and the other teams we work closely with, I find my co-workers and superiors to be thoughtful, smart, open-minded, and really nice to work with.
- pansa2 7y ago
  > I work on the Advertising part of Giant Search and Advertising [...] on interesting problems Genuine question - what do you consider to be interesting problems in advertising?
  - Ygg2 7y ago
    The only interesting problem in advertising - How to part people from their money :P
  - busterarm 7y ago
    Having worked on the spend side of things and at high stakes (9 figure budgets), targeting and how to improve it is extremely intellectually stimulating. More than anything else I've done in my career, even. This is especially true when you have constraints, like being in a regulated industry such as legal marketing. The only problem is that it's hard to command a salary commensurate with how good you are at it unless you're in business for yourself AND the one spending the money.
    - blub 7y ago
      "targeting and how to improve it is extremely intellectually stimulating" I thought the answer to that was a rather bland "by gobbling up even more information about everyone"?
      - 7y ago
igetspam 7y ago
I worked there in the early 2000s. It was fun. Then it wasn't any more. I was much earlier in my career and when I left, having it on my resume meant a lot. Now I've done more and more interesting things. I told the FAANGs, in no unclear terms, I'm not interested. They seem to have gotten the message eventually. I like small companies. You work harder and have a lot more impact. The compensation is good too. Leave. The grass is greener.
- bradlys 7y ago
  > I like small companies. You work harder and have a lot more impact. The compensation is good too. Leave. The grass is greener. What small company is regularly paying over $300k+/yr for senior software engineers and paying over $500k/yr for staff+? The only people I see leaving the big companies are those who already got their riches and/or bought real estate earlier. The rest of us are either tied to them or trying to get in because the real estate market dictates you must earn that income to stick around the bay.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - probably_wrong 7y ago
    > the real estate market dictates you must earn that income to stick around the bay. Well, there's your problem right there. There are plenty of smaller tech hubs around the world.
    - khalilravanna 7y ago
      Big +1. Leave the Bay Area. Heck, you could even get a Bay Area job that allows remote and then leave the Bay Area. I worked remote from ATX for 2 years for an SF startup and it was great!
      - thefourthchime 7y ago
        Hah, same! Love working from in ATX
toohotatopic 7y ago
Move? You got in without preparing. You can make it anywhere. Nothing is more precious than your enthusiasm.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
tzjmetron 7y ago
Fake that smile, save up, move on to places where you will really enjoy your work in a meaningful way.

jonathankoren 7y ago

You joined a giant megacorp. They’re all like that. There’s very little difference between Google and Oracle in this regard.

AlexCoventry 7y ago
From what I've read, Google is a much more humane and pleasant environment to develop software in.
- monoideism 7y ago
  That's what I hear, but then I see comments from folks like User5283 above. I have the impression it may be changing into something much more similar to a typical corporation after years of avoiding that fate.
  - hutzlibu 7y ago
    Beware though, that he or she used a throwaway. Comments can be made by anyone, also a marketing company contracted by oracle who still want talent and have to shame competitors with better image. (but the comment did seem legit and it is obvious for posting that anonymous)
    - monoideism 7y ago
      Yeah, I agree we should be cautious. But it does comport with what I've heard recently from actual Google employees, or (more often) ex-Googlers.
    - eropple 7y ago
      HN doesn't remotely begin to matter enough for companies to waste money on propaganda efforts.
      - nitrogen 7y ago
        That is probably not true, but it's also probably not worth worrying about unless you are an HN mod.
      - hutzlibu 7y ago
        Why do you think that? There is lots of IT folks around posting or just lurking and it would be very cheap to do some postings on Agenda XY here and there. I doubt it does not get tried.
- jfkebwjsbx 7y ago
  That was a decade ago.
- notyourday 7y ago
  Much higher pay has a tendency to color the everything better

cbHXBY1D 7y ago

Similar experience and similar feelings here :/

throwaway582 7y ago

That sucks that you've had that experience, I'm sorry. I hope it's the exception and not the rule. I work on the Advertising part of Giant Search and Advertising, and my experience has been pretty great—indeed, working on interesting problems with a high degree of autonomy. I do need to persuade others of my ideas sometimes, or let them persuade me against them, but this seems like a good thing, and doesn't feel political. Throughout my team and the other teams we work closely with, I find my co-workers and superiors to be thoughtful, smart, open-minded, and really nice to work with.

pansa2 7y ago
> I work on the Advertising part of Giant Search and Advertising [...] on interesting problems Genuine question - what do you consider to be interesting problems in advertising?
- Ygg2 7y ago
  The only interesting problem in advertising - How to part people from their money :P
- busterarm 7y ago
  Having worked on the spend side of things and at high stakes (9 figure budgets), targeting and how to improve it is extremely intellectually stimulating. More than anything else I've done in my career, even. This is especially true when you have constraints, like being in a regulated industry such as legal marketing. The only problem is that it's hard to command a salary commensurate with how good you are at it unless you're in business for yourself AND the one spending the money.
  - blub 7y ago
    "targeting and how to improve it is extremely intellectually stimulating" I thought the answer to that was a rather bland "by gobbling up even more information about everyone"?
    - 7y ago

igetspam 7y ago

I worked there in the early 2000s. It was fun. Then it wasn't any more. I was much earlier in my career and when I left, having it on my resume meant a lot. Now I've done more and more interesting things. I told the FAANGs, in no unclear terms, I'm not interested. They seem to have gotten the message eventually. I like small companies. You work harder and have a lot more impact. The compensation is good too. Leave. The grass is greener.

bradlys 7y ago
> I like small companies. You work harder and have a lot more impact. The compensation is good too. Leave. The grass is greener. What small company is regularly paying over $300k+/yr for senior software engineers and paying over $500k/yr for staff+? The only people I see leaving the big companies are those who already got their riches and/or bought real estate earlier. The rest of us are either tied to them or trying to get in because the real estate market dictates you must earn that income to stick around the bay.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- probably_wrong 7y ago
  > the real estate market dictates you must earn that income to stick around the bay. Well, there's your problem right there. There are plenty of smaller tech hubs around the world.
  - khalilravanna 7y ago
    Big +1. Leave the Bay Area. Heck, you could even get a Bay Area job that allows remote and then leave the Bay Area. I worked remote from ATX for 2 years for an SF startup and it was great!
    - thefourthchime 7y ago
      Hah, same! Love working from in ATX

toohotatopic 7y ago

Move? You got in without preparing. You can make it anywhere. Nothing is more precious than your enthusiasm.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

tzjmetron 7y ago

Fake that smile, save up, move on to places where you will really enjoy your work in a meaningful way.