Google: Internal transfer vs. apply direct international
My recruiter asks me to work in my country for an year then can transfer to other location. The issue with this I see is possibly again prep for interview, a bit of competition for internal transfer, head count availability, relatively lower domestic package as compared to international locations. How does it work if I directly apply for those locations especially at places where visa would be no issue? What is the approx median time required for head count to be available at locations Zurich London Singapore?
There’s no official time needed to work in one team but generally the rule is work one year per team. After that you can move to any team anywhere no interview needed.
That's great. How about the head count thing? Is there any internal portal where the headcount is updated by managers and seen by employees?
How often the head counts are available at the locations mentioned in the post? Throughout the year?
How is the interview loop when role changes? Say, SWE to MLE?
Anyone tried directly the international location without applying domestically?
When I interviewed with google they told me that once you're in, you're in. There are no more interviews for internal transfer aside from chatting a bit with your potential new manager/hiring manager and team members to see if it's a fit.
I would request a Googler to explain "chatting" here. What exactly is examined, in the chat, apart from what readily the resume provides information? If too many people chat, how do you select?
You need to convince the hiring manager you can do the job and the manager needs to convince you to join his team. It's all informal and up to the persons involved. Some people go further than that- chat to potential new teammates about their work, or do 20% project for the new team to probe the waters before committing full time. After that it's supply/demand, which varies depending on hotness of the team. For example, you can forget about switching to an ML team without a great resume and perf ratings. But many other teams are desperate for candidates and would take basically anyone first come first serve There's also a round of approvals from directors/VPs but typically it's a formality, headcount check. Manager has the full power to decide whom to pick.