Google reviews

I doubt if the hiring bar is the same outside of engineering - specifically staffing. Most of the leadership have no idea about managing teams. For all the talk of Google being a metrics driven company...staffing seems ridiculously off - they talk in terms of numbers yes but most of the time the leadership barely even knows what targets staffing is chasing. Seniority is rarely rewarded and rather than giving opportunities to top performers for people to grow, politics & smooth talking is rewarded. The problem with Google is that it lulls you into a comfort zone, so you keep doing your job which has decent compensation & perks. But if you are looking to build a career- be prepared to navigate through the red tape & much snubbing- unless of course you can smooth talk your way through. This is not a phenomenon exclusive to Google, though I have seen it to be much more prevalent at Google than elsewhere- mind you that I have worked with several larger global organizations in the past.

The company has gotten to a size that it is very large. Lots of internal politics and incredibly difficult to elevate your career. Because of the size of the company, the process of quarterly evaluations and performance scores is incredibly competitive, cut throat and sadly...now fosters an environment of team mates meanly pitting themselves against each other. It's incredibly sad to see. You can bust your chops for years and have your score move up .1% The company is also very young, so if you're over 35 you'll be faced with a lot of Gen Y individuals who believe they deserve everything and it should be handed straight over to them. Management is also young so be ready for your boss to have much less experience than you do. It's great to have the company on your resume and people used to stay forever but the average turn over is now 2-3 years. Mobility between departments is also very difficulty (e.g. if you are in sales and want to move to product). Unless you are in NYC or Mountainview, you will never be considered.