Moving to EU without a BS degree and 7yoe - ex SWE intern @ Google & MS

Google
vKdO35

Go to company page Google

vKdO35
Jul 19, 2021 7 Comments

I’ve have a weird background. I decided not to join college immediately after high school and to start my SWE career at the age of 17. At 21 I entered college (CS BS degree in Mexico) with around 4yoe. At 22yo I joined Google as a Software Engineer Intern in Canada and at 24yo at Microsoft also as SWE intern in Seattle (remote from MX)

In the region (LATAM) I’m considered a highly skilled senior engineer, and constantly receive very good job offers, though I don’t think the bar is really that high, quite the contrary. Money is not a concern for me.

I’m also struggling a lot to continue my college education as I get frustrated very easily with the unprofessionalism of my institution and professors, courses aren’t really taught that we’ll either.

I received a return offer from Google to come back as an intern and declined it to join Microsoft this summer also as a SWE intern. I’m 95% sure I’m getting a full time return offer for MS though I’m not really interested

I have now 7yo, mostly working on the back-end side of things, lately mostly designing and leading others but I really miss the engineering level at Google.

I’ve been thinking about dropping out and applying for a full time SWE position at Google in Europe (Germany) and I wanted to hear from your experiences and opinion on both dropping out now with 24yo and 7yoe to join as a L3/L4 and also moving to Europe/Germany without a college degree.

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  • Cisco
    remus909

    Go to company page Cisco

    remus909
    You should have done the conversion interviews. Reach out and ask your manager if this is still possible. It's a much easier path than regular entry.
    Jul 19, 2021 3
    • Cisco
      remus909

      Go to company page Cisco

      remus909
      Btw I'm not just saying that, I'm speaking from experience similar to yours. After my BSc I failed Google SWE interview twice (London, Munich). Went back to university for MSc, got internship in Mountain View and then easily converted for a full-time return offer and stayed for 4yrs. The feedback from your manager/team matters a lot, and makes it much easier than passing normal onsites.
      Jul 19, 2021
    • Google
      vKdO35

      Go to company page Google

      vKdO35
      OP
      Oh thanks for adding that extra context, it really helps a lot!
      Jul 19, 2021
  • How do you have 7 YoE if you are still doing internships?
    If Google give you a return offer, are they giving you entry level or L5 (for 7 YoE)?
    But in either cases, it’s easy to find a SWE job in EU if you don’t care about TC.
    Jul 19, 2021 2
    • Google
      vKdO35

      Go to company page Google

      vKdO35
      OP
      FAANG engineering levels are quite distant from LATAM engineering. Most senior engineers in the region (with over 10yoe) will hardly get an entry level offer at FAANG (most probably won’t) So I wanted to experience world-class engineering myself, internships were a great opportunity for doing that.

      I do feel like they are somewhat contradictory in my career nowadays and really don’t want to do one more.

      While I have 7yoe, I’d consider (and my manager at Google confirmed) that I’m probably around entry level L4 at Google.
      Jul 19, 2021
    • Google
      vKdO35

      Go to company page Google

      vKdO35
      OP
      BTW, Google’s return offer was for retuning as an intern. At Google you have to either do conversion interviews for FT positions or do something like 3 internships to avoid that.

      I don’t care about TC as much as I care about enjoying what I do. Thanks for the answer.
      Jul 19, 2021