4 ms·

I worked at Google as a contractor. I got my position through a consulting company (a small boutique one in this case). I got the impression that the bigger com

by twunde 11y ago

I worked at Google as a contractor. I got my position through a consulting company (a small boutique one in this case). I got the impression that the bigger companies used contracting companies just because it was easier to manage. Fewer vendors to manage, bill etc.

zerr 11y ago
One thing that puzzles me, those big co's have tons of engineers. One might say that they've commoditized the software development. So how come they're unable to solve some tasks internally? I'm not talking about some very domain specific tasks, where it makes sense to consult/contract some experts/academics, but there are just regular engineers working as a contractors/consultants for them.
- philjr 11y ago
  Few scenarios I've seen * "uncool" work. Stuff noone internally wants to work on. * time critical - hiring takes time. * lack of domain expertise - development isn't all equal. Ideally you want people who understand the problem domain. * quick hit stuff - want something knocked up that'll take 3 to 6 months. Not worth the effort of resource planning internally. * budgetary - typically contractors in most bigco's (that I know of) don't come from standard headcount budget. Headcount numbers are typically one of the kpi's used to measure growth. Often times one or more of these reasons conspire together to make a compelling case to go externally.
- twunde 11y ago
  My department used contractors like myself to support legacy software. I think there are a few reasons for it. 1. I know that hiring contractors was significantly easier than hiring full-timers. Fewer interviews, less setup time, less coordination with HR or internal recruiters. 2. The other contractors used were supporting legacy software. 1-6 months onsite of full-time work and then limited remote support afterward. 3. If you're paying top dollar and working for you has a large amount of prestige then you want to make sure that your engineers are working on the hard problems. Anything that's not related to that can and should be given to contractors. To make sure this isn't abused, I think Google only keeps contractors on for 1 year with only a few exceptions

by twunde 11y ago

zerr 11y ago

One thing that puzzles me, those big co's have tons of engineers. One might say that they've commoditized the software development. So how come they're unable to solve some tasks internally? I'm not talking about some very domain specific tasks, where it makes sense to consult/contract some experts/academics, but there are just regular engineers working as a contractors/consultants for them.

philjr 11y ago
Few scenarios I've seen * "uncool" work. Stuff noone internally wants to work on. * time critical - hiring takes time. * lack of domain expertise - development isn't all equal. Ideally you want people who understand the problem domain. * quick hit stuff - want something knocked up that'll take 3 to 6 months. Not worth the effort of resource planning internally. * budgetary - typically contractors in most bigco's (that I know of) don't come from standard headcount budget. Headcount numbers are typically one of the kpi's used to measure growth. Often times one or more of these reasons conspire together to make a compelling case to go externally.
twunde 11y ago
My department used contractors like myself to support legacy software. I think there are a few reasons for it. 1. I know that hiring contractors was significantly easier than hiring full-timers. Fewer interviews, less setup time, less coordination with HR or internal recruiters. 2. The other contractors used were supporting legacy software. 1-6 months onsite of full-time work and then limited remote support afterward. 3. If you're paying top dollar and working for you has a large amount of prestige then you want to make sure that your engineers are working on the hard problems. Anything that's not related to that can and should be given to contractors. To make sure this isn't abused, I think Google only keeps contractors on for 1 year with only a few exceptions