Google reviews

I loved working at Google until I was unlucky enough to be transferred into a team with a bad people manager. This manager ruled through confusion and an iron fist, most likely because it was clear that the entire team was smarter than this manager. I had no clear direction on my role, or even what the outcome of the project the team was working on, no matter how many times I asked. I quickly became bored and frustrated and soon realized that I was not learning anything new, and the transferrable skills I did bring were not being utilized. That's when I started looking outside the company, and here is what I found at my new job: 25% increase in salary, 50% more vacation time and 150% increase in bonus target. Once I left, I realized just how old fashioned Google really is regarding Management, Performance Reviews, and other HR-related issues. Perf and Calibration were abandoned by most companies years ago because it doesn't work in identifying the best performers, but at Google it defines you forever. Lastly, during orientation the advice given to the Nooglers is "don't be a jerk". It turns out that I have never worked at a company that had more jerks than Google. The egos and arrogance I encountered were off the charts. It was easy to overlook when I liked what I was doing, but once I was put under the bad manager my eyes were opened to the ugly reality of working at Google.

You will get burned out eventually which is why the majority of the employees don't last more than 3 years. You are expected to work day and night, no matter what role you're in, and be available when away on vacations. Management will stress over and over that they wan you to check out for PTO, but when you do, it backfires and I've had 9 different managers and all were the same. I believe it comes from the culture that you must work 24 hours a day. Majority of the staff is young, and they love to hire right out of college because it keeps fresh ideas but also because they can suck more time out you. The peers you work with are not friendly, competitive to the extreme, and will throw you under the bus during review cycles so their performance review will give them a 1-up during calibrations and promotions. Also, don't expect to get promoted often, if at all. Also, if you don't like company re-orgs then this isn't the place for you. It's expected your job responsibilities will change regularly, as often as they re-org themselves.