4 ms·

Leveling at Google is supposed to be based on impact and the type of work you do. It isn’t about leadership. Going from L5 to L6 doesn’t make you a manager. Th

• mikebenfield 4y ago
  If you're a former Googler, then you know that the role description for L6 indicates that an L6 is indeed supposed to exert a lot of leadership and influence, even if not a manager.
  • maximinus_thrax 4y ago
    Yes, exactly. This is the case in a lot of other large companies. It basically enables management to fuck it up royally and repeatedly while the more senior engineers, which ambiguously defined technical leadership roles added to their IC responsibilities clean it up and keep the lights on.
• cmrdporcupine 4y ago
  All promotions beyond L3->L4 involve a leadership component for some definition of leadership. Even L4->L5 promo is more than just demonstrating technical impact or ability. It involved being basically the key contact and coordinator on some project(s), "owning" some area and doing a bunch of cross-team collaboration. Being the loudest guy in the room for some thing, really. The impact that needs to be demonstrated from L4->L5 is in large part organizational/political, not technical. I understand that L4->L5 was "fixed" after I left to leave a lot more room for immediate manager opinion/involvement. That's probably a good thing, because L4 to L5 was bullshit, especially at a smaller site where impactful work was hard to get. Anyways, it's all stupid perverse incentives. People shoving each out of the way to grab the impactful work rather than cooperating. All over the place.