Pros
- Google management works hard to build a collaborative, friendly culture - It is possible to get a large amount of responsibility fast - If you work really hard and are able to make a lot of noise about your accomplishments, you can get recognized (clearly there is a flipside here.. see cons) - Engineers are mostly competent and have great infrastructure to help them accomplish tasks that no other company today can even begin to address
Cons
- Many engineers have little interest in or don't understand business issues. They'd rather work on tough technical issues than solve real problems. Senior leadership doesn't seem to mind. - Many product managers are totally incompetent (especially those fresh out of school) and often do more harm than good. - Unless you work in PM or Eng, you are basically invisible. - Non-Eng/PM Google is not a meritocracy: Unless you are really good at marketing yourself, you will get promoted on the same timeline as everyone else (about once every two years), regardless of how good or bad your work is. However, masters of self-promotion can advance fast w/o accomplishing anything meaningful.
