4 ms·

How long have you been at Google, if you don't mind? I'm sort of curious about tenure and how long people typically stay. A recruiter reached out to me for an e

by BugsBunny1991 5y ago

How long have you been at Google, if you don't mind? I'm sort of curious about tenure and how long people typically stay. A recruiter reached out to me for an engineering position in their Chicago office. I'm considering interviewing, but since it'll require a good amount of preparation on my part, I've put it off. I've basically worked at start ups for my entire career so far (10 years) and I'm thinking it would be good to switch, both for pay and work life balance.

thethethethe 5y ago
I have been at Google for a little over three years. At least in Eng, you have people from the whole spectrum, new people, people that have been there for 17 years, and people who are closer to the middle, like me. I have heard that retention across the company is about 1.5 years, but, in my experience, most people I interact with have been at the company about as long as me or longer. There are a lot of new people, but, when I joined, there were around 75k employees and now it is closer to 150k, so the new people are additive rather than replacements. Only two people I have worked with closely have left the company all together. There have been others in my circles but not really that many and I don't remember any of them. Instead of leaving the company, most people just leave the team for greener pastures elsewhere in the company
- jlokier 5y ago
  Google has grown from 75k to 150k people in the last three years?
  - thethethethe 5y ago
    More like four, but yeah. The week I joined I was in the largest intake group in Google history, which was like three thousand iirc. That record has been broken several times now, especially with acquisitions.
kudokatz 5y ago
I put off interviewing at Google for 2 job changes ... went back for the third just to see. Ended up getting hired. My prior experience in terms of terrible people conducting interviews was so bad that I almost just wrote them off. Compared to super-early and mid-stage startups, the ability to work a sane amount is done amazingly well at Google, and they pay too much. The downside is that the work is really simple, and the complexity (e.g. of service development) is through the roof and not supported very well. So just get ready to move at less than half the speed you're used to. TOTALLY worth it to bank money for 3-5 years, IMO.
- enos_feedler 5y ago
  This is what I did. Coasted for 4.5 years, lived off the free food and got a shitty 250 sqft studio biking distance to work. Did laundry and ate all meals there. Got loads of cash now, trading it for more money and starting a real startup that is actually planning for impact (not perf ratings).
  - tolbish 5y ago
    Were you able to build strong relationships (e.g. neighbors, friends, significant other) while living such a minimal lifestyle? I couldn't imagine doing such a grind for more than a few weeks.
    - enos_feedler 5y ago
      It wasn’t really a grind for me because I might enjoy minimalist more than others.
    - kudokatz 5y ago
      I'm definitely biased towards exactly that frugal-and-bank-the-money mentality ... but if others don't want to be friends with someone who doesn't spend money, that's their thing. I've found it much more rewarding to find people that like you for the way you are rather than trying to buy favor with status or money. It's definitely not for everybody, but you might be surprised as to what you find by cutting expenses by what most consider to be "drastic measures" just to see. You can always just go spend more anyways after seeing what it's like!

thethethethe 5y ago

I have been at Google for a little over three years. At least in Eng, you have people from the whole spectrum, new people, people that have been there for 17 years, and people who are closer to the middle, like me. I have heard that retention across the company is about 1.5 years, but, in my experience, most people I interact with have been at the company about as long as me or longer. There are a lot of new people, but, when I joined, there were around 75k employees and now it is closer to 150k, so the new people are additive rather than replacements. Only two people I have worked with closely have left the company all together. There have been others in my circles but not really that many and I don't remember any of them. Instead of leaving the company, most people just leave the team for greener pastures elsewhere in the company

jlokier 5y ago
Google has grown from 75k to 150k people in the last three years?
- thethethethe 5y ago
  More like four, but yeah. The week I joined I was in the largest intake group in Google history, which was like three thousand iirc. That record has been broken several times now, especially with acquisitions.

kudokatz 5y ago

I put off interviewing at Google for 2 job changes ... went back for the third just to see. Ended up getting hired. My prior experience in terms of terrible people conducting interviews was so bad that I almost just wrote them off. Compared to super-early and mid-stage startups, the ability to work a sane amount is done amazingly well at Google, and they pay too much. The downside is that the work is really simple, and the complexity (e.g. of service development) is through the roof and not supported very well. So just get ready to move at less than half the speed you're used to. TOTALLY worth it to bank money for 3-5 years, IMO.

enos_feedler 5y ago
This is what I did. Coasted for 4.5 years, lived off the free food and got a shitty 250 sqft studio biking distance to work. Did laundry and ate all meals there. Got loads of cash now, trading it for more money and starting a real startup that is actually planning for impact (not perf ratings).
- tolbish 5y ago
  Were you able to build strong relationships (e.g. neighbors, friends, significant other) while living such a minimal lifestyle? I couldn't imagine doing such a grind for more than a few weeks.
  - enos_feedler 5y ago
    It wasn’t really a grind for me because I might enjoy minimalist more than others.
  - kudokatz 5y ago
    I'm definitely biased towards exactly that frugal-and-bank-the-money mentality ... but if others don't want to be friends with someone who doesn't spend money, that's their thing. I've found it much more rewarding to find people that like you for the way you are rather than trying to buy favor with status or money. It's definitely not for everybody, but you might be surprised as to what you find by cutting expenses by what most consider to be "drastic measures" just to see. You can always just go spend more anyways after seeing what it's like!