so now im conused! should I apply or not.. ;) Jason
On Thu, Feb 15, 2007 at 09:13:57AM -0500, bak wrote: > Bear with me for a minute, I haven't discussed this with more than a > couple people in the last six months, and I couldn't resist the > opportunity to do so now. > > As someone who was offered an SA job at Google last year and turned it > down, I would describe my experience with the Google interview process > as prolonged (i.e. about 3 months) and somewhat aggravating, consisting > of two phone screens, followed by an on-site interview of epic length, > during which I was grilled in half a dozen hour-long interviews on > various UNIX, scripting, networking, and SA-related topics at a depth of > something like 300 meters. > > I must have acquitted myself fairly well, because they offered me the > job. But the fact that they had free food, drinks, and scooby snacks > didn't really make up, in my mind, for their middling salary offer -- > the recruiter even told me at the interview that they compensate for the > salary with their benefits, free ski trips, free food and t-shirts, etc. > This is an argument that would have pulled more weight with me had I > been just out of college, but not so much at this stage in my life. And > the "We're Google" factor didn't make up for the fact that none of the > techie interviewers made the time to answer my questions about what > working at Google was like, except for the last guy, who reluctantly > gave me five minutes. Career path? Work environment? We're Google! > Our benefits are great! Don't ask questions, we have to double our > workforce next year! Perhaps this is not an unreasonable attitude to > encounter at a company like Google, but I have to admit that it worried > me a great deal. > > So I took the job I'd been offered here in RTP for a couple thousand > less -- and it turns out that I can easily afford a house here and rub > shoulders with half of the techies and nerds on the east coast (the > other half are in NYC it seems :), whereas in Northern California I > would be renting and probably wind up with a roommate. > > Would I have taken the Google job if it were here in NC instead of in > CA, or if I were a software guy instead of an SA? Almost certainly! > But Google is a company like any other company; they just have this > thing about saying "Don't Be Evil" a bunch of times, having an > impossibly huge server farm, and giving out Kool-Aid, and I've heard the > same "it's awesome!" and "it's insane!" stories from Google employees > that I've heard from countless other folks. > > So thanks for putting up with my little rant. I guess my point is this: > don't sell yourself short! Quality techies are in demand, and the > company with the best co-workers, leadership, and compensation wins. > The prospect of free food is nice and all, but as an adult, I have > learned to feed myself. :) > > Maybe I should have had Taco Bell like Aaron before my Google interview > -- I went to In-N-Out. :) > > --bak > > Aaron S. Joyner wrote: > > > >Having said all that, let me tack on two things. The Google interview > >process is both highly educational, and a real treat in-and-of itself. > >Even if you're not sure you would be interested in moving to Lenoir, or > >if you'd make it through the interview process, I'd strongly encourage > >you to try it. I promise you'll learn at least a dozen things you'd > >never thought of along the way. In addition to the sheer educational > >value, it's really quite a fun experience to just geek out for a few > >hours with some of the smartest, most technically challenging and > >interesting people you're likely to meet this year. > > > >So, what now? Send me a resume, and I'll punch it into our internal > >recruit-tracking system, along with a friendly recommendation. You'll > >likely hear back from a recruiter by mid next week, at the latest. As a > >friendly reminder, you probably want to reply directly to me, not to the > >list. > > > >Aaron S. Joyner > > > >0 - http://www.trilug.org/pipermail/trilug/Week-of-Mon-20070115/046024.html > >1 - http://tinyurl.com/3cwowy (Google Maps showing location of Lenoir) > >2 - http://joyner.ws/Google-Interview.html > -- > TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug > TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ > TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ -- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/