I joined Google right out of college 3 years ago (T3). I was bright-eyed and motivated. I had other offers, but I thought Google would be the best in terms of comp (which it was) and maybe experience too. They said I would get a choice of teams, but after 3 months of the "process", I only had one "match" (I interviewed for and was hired for Washington). I figured things would be fine. I never had wanted to do front-end, but maybe I wasn't giving it a fair shake? Maybe it would be as interesting as the jobs at some of the offers I had turned down? Here we are, 3 years later, and I feel I may have made the wrong choice. I feel like I have done nothing worth mentioning, I feel less capable than I was when I interviewed, more dull, and much less motivated. I haven't felt growth, but rather regression. No promotion, I am fairly sure I don't like frontend (at least the way we do it: Boq/Wiz), not much understanding of anything. My whole tenure at Google I haven't really known how I could be better. I have felt stuck in my spot though until I can improve or "prove myself". At this point I know I need a change and I would like advice (or chastisement, if I deserve it). Rip me apart Blind. How can I improve? I don't feel it is as simple as "put in more hours". Am I stuck until I improve or "prove myself"? Not that I see things in Google in WA that interest me on go/grow, but would anyone want to take on a 3-year L3 anyway? How could I advertise myself to a different company without coming across as incapable? Am I cut out to be a SWE of I haven't liked it at "one of the best engineering companies"? Any relevant stories or wisdom? If I should gtfo of SWE, what are related jobs I might consider? L3 3 YOE (not counting internships) TC: $200k (according to go/prosper, $120k salary)
I feel sad now. Can’t you use 20% of your time to do something exciting?
Two reasons I haven't: 1) Managers have told me things like "A 20% project happens from 100% to 120%" or "This is not a good time, we need to get things out the door"; 2) The 20% projects "availaible" to me of interest have been few and far between.
I think you need to carve out the time yourself. No one is going to handhold you to find what projects you are passionate about. If you are interested in a specific hardware or software ( not engineer and don’t know terminology) go out and meet ppl doing those projects. Volunteer to help them and who knows maybe you eventually network to another team. You need to own your career and take action. If you sit back you will have same problem at company xyz
Thank you for sharing your perspective. At least you have G on your resume. It is a good thing. Many people dream to have it and leetcode everyday.
3 years is a drop compared to your career, you didn’t waste anything. Try doing some interesting side projects (open source or within google). The G name opens many doors that are not possible otherwise. So, make use of it and make the move. YOLO!
How to advertise yourself to other companies? No need to do anything, you have G on your resume. How to grow? If you don't like the team find another one that has more impact. If you can't find any at Google in WA, you can either move to another state (CA?) or move to another company in WA. How to still keep a high TC? Get several offers and negotiate.
Wtf is boq/wiz
Try changing team and location as well if possible. If nothing works, then start hunting outside
3 years at L3 isn’t so bad G normally doesn’t hire straight out of college anyway. I know people with 6+ that switched to G for L3, and 10+ that switched to L4... to each their own as I would guess that would be a step back in career chasing a better company ‘name’
There are millions (including me) out there who are ready to do anything to get a chance to work at Google. You landed there right out of college and gained experience. That's a solid thing on your resume. You can basically move anywhere you want now.
Wiz? Are you working with legacy code? If so that's bad. Some JavaScript frameworks might really make you hate coding. Typescript + angular + apps framework is what most teams do now. May be switch to teams that have already migrated to new frameworks. Get l4 and then try switching to backend if needs be.
Wait, you can't just switch teams ad-hoc at G with meets expectations? You can at FB and AMZN from what I hear.
Well, the other manager has to want you on their team for you to move... My codebase is not legacy. Our legacy codebase that we still have to poke into sometimes uses Closure components.
You need to interview with companies you don’t care about. Figure out how to spin your experience into a positive. Even a receptionist who order donuts for an office can spin it to say he/she organizes and manages office tasks. It’s about how you spin it and you sound depressed. Do some interviews to work on crafting your stories and gain confidence then to interview where you actually want Also be grateful you had the opportunity...$200k 3 years after college is really good. Better then 80% ppl in the United States
Good idea about the interviewing, thank you! No arguments about that comp, probably better than I deserve. I definitely have counted myself lucky.
Probably better than 95% I would say