The Job Hunt_How's It Going

[KrazyHorse]

Probably a good idea.

[Kuciwalker]

Had the interview with Google. Ambivalent about it.

[KrazyHorse]

What type of work did they want you for?

[Kuciwalker]

Software dev.

edit: I meant "ambivalent about how I did on the interview"

[Asher]

Software dev.

edit: I meant "ambivalent about how I did on the interview"

What kind of software dev?

Back-end unix?
Front-end Windows/Mac apps?
Mobile apps?
Web apps?

[Japher]

With companies like Google it's not whether you can do the job, it's whether they want you to do the job for them.

[Kuciwalker]

They don't specify at this point in the process. In fact, I suspect if I get it I'll be able to pick whatever I want [contingent on location].

xpost

[Kuciwalker]

I'm afraid to pin too many hopes on this job, but it's one of the few current options that could put me in New York (where gf will be working) or Pittsburgh (which would be nice for a couple years).

edit: sadly, they don't seem to have any engineering staff at their DC location, which would be my first choice.

[Asher]

Several of my friends went to work for Google (one right out of university, the other two a few years into their careers) and only one still works there, and he's thinking of quitting.

They're cutting back on a lot of their perks (the menus are shrinking, massages less frequent...) but the big thing is the quality of the work available is not very appealing. Google gets ton of applicants based on their name and services, but when it becomes your job to shave off 1KB of gmail's initial loadsize without breaking everything...or you're tasked with writing bit parts of backend code that tries to control the data flow on Google's networks...it's very, very dry stuff with little satisfying result.

The "20% free time" stuff is not as nice as it sounds, as your "20% free time" projects need to be approved by your managers (so in reality, it's "20% free time working on a secondary project for Google")

People become disillusioned pretty quickly and go back to smaller companies with a wider variety in work, and with the options of actually developing something more wholly satisfying.

[Kuciwalker]

I honestly don't care about any of that. I just want something to do while I take the actuarial exams. My biggest concern is location.

[Asher]

I honestly don't care about any of that. I just want something to do while I take the actuarial exams. My biggest concern is location.

Actuarial exams, jesus christ.

What's wrong with you?

Intelligent guys who just want a job to give them paycheques are a dime a dozen, especially at google. I hope for your sake you infused a lot of passion of technology in your interviews, as that's what makes or breaks you.

[Japher]

masochist

[Asher]

If your biggest concern is location, get a job that lets you work from home. They're not rare in software development.

I passed on one which let me work from home in Canada, but came with the stipulation that I must work in Barbados for two weeks each year (to meet some law Barbados had for taxes).

[Solomwi]

Two weeks a year in Barbados? The horror...

[Asher]

I know, I told them to get ****ed when I heard that.

Seriously, though: the main problem was zero benefits and a meh salary, and boring subject matter (Unix-DB automation and optimization)