I took my new grad onsite two weeks back and today I got a call from my recruiter asking whether I want to be also considered for SRE and SETI. She said that the number of applicants for SWE far exceed open positions (I asked her if this was because of my interview results) and I should also consider SRE/SETI if my goal job is at Google. From what I see, the interview results were positive in general and she wants me to apply for SRE as well (as a recruiter). Would this hurt my chance of getting a SWE offer? Does anyone from Google know if it matters whether a candidate is considered for SWE or both SWE/SRE from the HC's perspective? I honestly only care for SWE and I don't want to be considered for SRE/SETI if this hurts my chance of getting an offer as SWE.
If you're able to go SWE, do so. If you haven't been rejected, don't let the recruiter route you around before exhausting your primary option.
so she wants to know if I want to be also considered for the other roles before moving up to HC. If in the case I do apply for SRE, HC will decide whether I'm a better fit for SWE vs SRE. I'm curious as to if HC will decide a candidate as SRE because there's a lot more open positions. I was thinking if only applying for SWE would be better than for applying for both, or if it doesn't matter in the HC decision making process
She probably works with SRE teams and has an incentive to fill that pipeline. Focus on what you want and only that. You can go to HC twice if needed.
SREs have a different focus and that can be incredibly rewarding to some people. Google SRE culture is a trendsetter. I was doing devops at my previous job and would read Google's SRE papers/blogs regularly. However IF you have no interest in devops/sre stuff, I'd say don't put that as a preference. That would be a waste of resources on both Google and your end. There are plenty of folks who are interested in devops/sre and specifically apply to those roles.
I feel I will have a harder time transitioning back to SWE if I don't enjoy devops (haven't been exposed to it but did not seem as interesting at first glance) I know there are people that want to work as SRE but the recruiter said there's a lot more open positions as SRE so I'm wondering if that's just the recruiter increasing her chance of an accepted offer which may hurt my chance of getting an SWE offer
If possible find a real SRE and talk to him/her. Maybe have the recruiter set you up a meeting with one?
For SRE, ask if you will be SWE-SRE. This is a SWE that works in SRE and you can transfer very easily as team match for any other team. SETI is not same track as SWE and you will have to reinterview. Definitely take SRE but not SETI.( SWE-SRE and SWE are same tracks).
I believe the recruiter wants you approved as “SWE-SRE” so that you can team match with both SWE and SRE teams.
Thanks for the reply I'll talk with the recruiter for confirmation!
Just keep in mind, to change teams at Google, you need to spend 12 months in most cases, so if you dislike SRE and decide to switch to a SWE team, it will take you a year, and okayish feedback.
still waiting I'll reply to this thread when I hear back
they're asking for 2 more interviews
Do you ace all four rounds of interview ?
1 round above average (solved all follow up Q's) 2 rounds average (solved problem, answered follow up, slightly stuck on parts of code) 1 round below average (answered question but received help and no time for follow up Q's)