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Google: A New Kind of Employer for A New Century

Site Reliability Engineer
Current Employee
Has worked at Google for less than 1 year
June 1, 2008
Mountain View, California
5.0
RecommendsNo CEO Opinion
Pros

I like working at Google as an SRE (Site Reliability Engineer) because it is a job that combines my skills as a professional software engineer and self-taught system administrator. The work I do is quite varied, so I don't get bored doing the same thing over and over like I have done at other companies.

Since Google is a well-established corporation, they can afford to provide some of the best benefits that other companies can't or don't provide. Unlike startups, you don't have to worry about the company going belly-up, nor do you have to work unreasonable hours.

We have free food in the form of many cafes all over the area, each with a varied menu of foods. There's even a "concern" program that allows employees to call certain specialists for free advice. For example, you can ask a lawyer for some legal advice or talk to a therapist, amongst other services.

The company even offers up to 3 months of paid medical leave.

Aside from benefits, job security, and exciting projects, everyone there is very intelligent, and good peers/team-mates are essential in any corporation.

Cons

Large corporations have a certain bureaucracy and more red tape than startups, naturally.

Promotions at Google require either someone to nominate you (which is rare) or self-nomination during regular performance review cycles.

Performance review cycles are a big pain and a context interrupt. Many share this view, though it is believed to be a necessary evil.

Advice to Management

Not high up enough to have an opinion on this and get involved in company politics. I have only worked here about a year.

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