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I was put on a PIP at Google in my first year. I worked my way out of it (it was mostly a perception-of-work thing, not an actual-work thing). And then for othe

I was put on a PIP at Google in my first year. I worked my way out of it (it was mostly a perception-of-work thing, not an actual-work thing). And then for other reasons I transferred out about 6 months later. I think this helped a lot in getting that off my back. The new manager, new lead, and new team knew basically nothing about it so it was far easier to shake it off. Another colleague was put on a PIP after being on the team for 2 years. They made a big effort to go around to all of the leads (including me) and ask for advice on getting out from under it. They did (but kind of via a technicality) and stayed on the team. It was obvious how they were passed over for project after project and ended up only doing maintenance work until eventually being laid off. Yeah, if you get PIPed, at least leave the team, if not the company.

uejfiweun 3y ago
If you're in the position of being stuck with maintenance work at Google, does it even make sense to leave? I imagine the pay is so good that it'd be hard to justify going elsewhere.
- shaftway 3y ago
  If you're looking to coast like that then yeah, it's hard to leave it. This person actually got out from the PIP by transitioning to 80% (you work four days per week for 80% of the pay and equity). That's definitely not the direction they wanted to go. And it strongly limits your opportunities to advance. Nobody gets promoted unless they work on promo bait projects. Maintenance ain't gonna cut it. You also can't coast until you hit a certain level (it used to be 5, I think it changed to 4). Ultimately they were laid off, so was it worth it for them? I don't know, I didn't keep in touch. But maybe.
  - uejfiweun 3y ago
    I wonder though. At a company like Google, you may well be paid more as a L5 than most CTOs make at most companies. There may be no way to "advance" your career by leaving if you're in this position. This may sound depressing but it seems like Google is essentially the peak of prestige and compensation and there is nowhere to go but down if you want to move on.

uejfiweun 3y ago

If you're in the position of being stuck with maintenance work at Google, does it even make sense to leave? I imagine the pay is so good that it'd be hard to justify going elsewhere.

shaftway 3y ago
If you're looking to coast like that then yeah, it's hard to leave it. This person actually got out from the PIP by transitioning to 80% (you work four days per week for 80% of the pay and equity). That's definitely not the direction they wanted to go. And it strongly limits your opportunities to advance. Nobody gets promoted unless they work on promo bait projects. Maintenance ain't gonna cut it. You also can't coast until you hit a certain level (it used to be 5, I think it changed to 4). Ultimately they were laid off, so was it worth it for them? I don't know, I didn't keep in touch. But maybe.
- uejfiweun 3y ago
  I wonder though. At a company like Google, you may well be paid more as a L5 than most CTOs make at most companies. There may be no way to "advance" your career by leaving if you're in this position. This may sound depressing but it seems like Google is essentially the peak of prestige and compensation and there is nowhere to go but down if you want to move on.