Meta

I just left Google and joined Facebook, and felt so much happier. The reasons are:

1. The real impact At Google, I joined a team whose product is only used by less than 1000 people. Even for that product, I was assigned to do a peripheral part whose functionality actually doesn't matter at all. Just for that module, I had to write unit tests for every silly part of the code and took long iteration cycles. I admit those are good engineering coding trainings; however, taking precious time in my life to work on something that doesn't matter is just a waste of my life.

In Facebook, things just move so much faster. There are standard software engineering review processes, but not as rigid. Just during training (boot camp) weeks, I had tasks to change very important parts of Facebook's core code, and the second day after I checked in my code, it got shipped to almost 1 billion people. As a software engineer, I cannot recall a moment I felt better about my job.

Then I joined a team that's extremely important to Facebook's revenue. A mistake in the code I changed could cost Facebook millions of dollars a day. However, Facebook just trusted us, allowed us to make mistakes, and have quick iteration cycles to test ideas fast. If I made a coding mistake in my team at Google, it might cost Google nothing in terms of revenue, as my product was small. However, the development process was so strict I could not have a chance to try my innovations or test my ideas. But in Facebook, that's all possible.

1. The organizational structure Google's organization is now very structured and hierarchical. Facebook is having more layers, but the working style is still flat and social-network style. Speaking to people in different teams, forming an idea, leading a virtual team, and completing it – this style is still valued. My boss is more like a mentor, helping me navigate through the ideas, rather than an authority telling me what to do.

1. I don't quite like the office decoration style. It's a little bit stressful and factory-like.

2. The compensation is better than Google but not as good as other smaller companies.

3. Despite good acquisitions for solidifying the company's position in social media and social networks, there is still uncertainty about its future.