Software engineer at an IBM research group vs Software engineer at Google
^dilemma between positions listed in the heading. I had a day long interviews with IBM research at several research groups that want to hire me. met several amaaazingly talented researchers and smart people. confused about which would be an ideal role for me. I got the sense that the work is much more research focussed than a team at Google would be(more prototyping, not insane deadlines etc) but at the end of the day it's still a software engineer job. it doesn't make me a researcher unless I get a PhD(which is unlikely at the moment) what are people's thoughts about the swe jobs at the two places? I should mention I was a Google intern as well and this is a returning offer. I have some sense of how some teams at Google work but while ibm research let's me choose the team upfront I find it annoying that Google doesn't.
I think Google would give you better brand name at least on the superficial level.
You can do a lot of research as an SWE at Google. It really depends on the team you end up landing.
I'll be honest. I almost wished someone would say this. can you maybe give me some pointers about how I could land in one? some pointers to navigate the team matching later on.? Is your role also in such a team? thanks!
I think they the recruiter is your best contact for this. Once you accept the offer there is a host matching page. You should mention to the recruiter that you are interested in teams who mix research and development. I know that there are some teams like that in TI (now Cloud).
btw, you might get some better answers on the Google internal forum here.
Better brand recognition at Google. But if you land at the right place in IBM it can be rewarding too.
Definitely go for google. IBM research is going to treat you as a second class citizen (someone who writes code for researchers with no coding ability). Growth is limited in those situation and your work is not going to. E exciting either. The interesting work is done by researchers themselves.
This definitely makes sense.
SWEs in IBM research are definitely not treated as 2nd class citizens and pretty much everyone needs to write their own code. You will be doing a lot of interesting work and you could move faster than RSMs if you are really good, as there are much fewer SWEs to begin with
Research anytime !
Google all the way dude. Ibm brand sucks and those PhDs will treat you like dirt. No one will remember you ditched a google offer in a year. You will start pulling your hair by then.
I'm ex IBM research, as non phd I managed Phd researchers, and that never limited my progress or made me a second class researcher. However IBM is cutting projects and labs, and entire initiatives get unfunded. If you land in a good group that lines up well with the latest shift in priorities it can be a great place to work.
Run to Google
I don't know much about either companies but I have very often felt like I would like to be closer to research so if I was in your shoes I would consider IBM.