Google has the top engineering quality, infra, great talent and good WLB. However growth and compensation can be better at places like FB. Question to Googlers who stay for 5+ years. How do you feel about slow growth and compensation? Have you regretted staying long at G?
Many of us like it here. We like our work, we like our colleagues and we have a nice daily routine that we are very comfortable and happy with. Disrupting this for higher TC requires getting out of this nice comfort zone which is hard for many people. Also it's unclear if we will be happier in other companies (say FB) in the long term. Higher TC won't guarantee that, unless the TC is *significantly* higher which *may* make it worthwhile to move
You brought up points I have heard from other Googlers before. Sounds like giving people a good working environment, good TC and good work keeps them happy and to stick around. I guess I am still a bit surprised that so many folks prioritize stability and WLB over TC, impact and growth.
Not judging, just trying to understand the motivation behind long tenures. Thanks for your input.
Not everyone is motivated by higher tc and titles. Also G still more prestigious than FB, IMO, and so the time it takes to get promoted may be well worth it
Staying a long time at google will net you more money than 99% of other companies. Going to FB and growing faster comes at the risk of wlb and burnout. Per hour worked and per unit of stress - google can’t be beat
Yes Google has far fewer burnouts than Facebook.
That’s true. I guess especially in the long run, and when raising a family, WLB is more important.
People stay because it's a really good, safe, and comfortable environment with solid benefits and pay, interesting problems, nice coworkers, with excellent work life balance. It's not always about TC. I'm so happy at Google that I wouldn't leave unless someone paid me more than double my TC. I came from an environment where each org has a quota of PIPing 5-15% of employees each year depending on the org, and it made things a lot more competitive with people backstabbing each other and people working 60+ hours. Facebook also PIPs heavily and has a similar competitive culture. More money would not make me go back to that. My end goal is to be happy, not necessarily to maximize TC.
Happiness is the ultimate ROI.
Thanks google. I definitely see the value in stability and a safe and comfortable work environment. However, you might get an opportunity to make a bigger impact in a new growing company. And the experience of building solid products at G might be very useful. Would a more impactful opportunity sound appealing?
I feel the promotion is only faster in FB for lower level (below L6). Beyond that, it’s very hard. So for people already reached L6, it’s less attractive to join FB.
Wasn’t aware of this. Thanks!
In fact, promotion is very hard as you get senior levels: Sr.SDE in Amz, L5 in G - it is the same everywhere. So moving doesn't make a lot of sense it's you are offered significantly more TC or great impact opportunity.
think big, act small, stay humble. If I want to 'move fast and break things', I will go to startup. I came from a recently IPOed startup, feel much more organized and higher eng quality here.
G is at the top for Eng quality and stable organized workplace. How do you feel about the difference in impact that you were likely making at the previous startup and now at G?
Growth is not only about promotions, levels at some companies are inflated. I feel I learnt more technically and nontechnically. More importantly, I feel less politics games players in an organized company, engs/builders are respected.
Growth is not just one thing and it isn't slow at Google: 1) Promotions from 3 to 5 are just slower than FB. I'm pretty sure they are in line with Amazon and faster than Microsoft. 2) if you're working in a relatively new team/product, you'll learn a lot in a very short amount of time. Even on larger infra teams, there is a lot to learn from how it was scaled to this level etc. All this is growth too Compensation is also higher than most companies except FB. Initial offers are sometimes low but you just need to get some competing offers.
I have seen two different class of people stick. One who are high performers and are grabbing the opportunity that Google provides due to its vast footprint in variety of products. Other who are exercising tight ownership of an area and prefer that comfort.
I was at Google for around 5 years (L7) and then left for a bigger title ("Dir") and higher paper TC at a well known unicorn. 1. The place was a giant sh*tshow and super stressful with 12 hour days the norm 2. The higher TC never materialized since their stock is now 30% below my grant price, while Google stock doubled in the time I wasn't here. 3. Exec and leadership churn meant that the projects I was excited about leading there kept getting stalled or changing direction. 4. Hiring was super difficult since the company had a so-so reputation, so I had to lower the bar to hire people. I tried to keep a Google/FB-like bar but kept getting overridden by others. 5. My manager decided to take a role at a FANG. So, I gave up and came back to Google. My life is 100%+ better and my TC is 20-30% higher than before or at the unicorn.
Haha
U think its funny?