It's what you make of it
Pros
- Working with smart, effective people: The average intelligence level here is considerably higher than anyplace else I've worked, and the people tend to be very diligent. When I need assistance from another engineer or another team, I typically get quick and effective help. Office politics exist, but compared to anywhere else I've worked they're not a problem. - Compensation / perks: I'm very satisfied with my compensation. The assorted perks are pretty valuable as well -- the food and fitness facilities are my favorites. - Work/life balance: From reading other reviews here it seems that experiences in this area vary. But mine have been excellent. I rarely work over 40 hours a week, and when I do it's because I personally feel engaged by what I'm working on, never because of pressure from my manager or team lead. I almost never check work emails during evenings or weekends, and when I come in to the office in the morning I don't find that they've been emailing me during that period. I actually have gotten gentle pushback from my team lead when I asked if he could log in from home later in the evening to review/approve a change I wanted to submit.
Cons
- Impostor syndrome: The flip side of working with so many smart and effective people is that it can be difficult to recognize your own value; if you're used to being the smartest guy in the room and suddenly you're surrounded by people who are at or above your ability, that can be a bit of a blow to the ego. I eventually worked through this, but it took the better part of a year. - Slow ramp-up: One of the drivers of impostor syndrome for me was that it took me a lot longer to find my footing and get effective here than at other jobs. Some of that is on me for not asking more questions, but I think more proactive support from leadership might have helped. The environment at Google is very unique and there's a lot to learn before an engineer can get things done. - Living in a bubble: The perks and so on make life at Google very comfortable. I can imagine that leaving that bubble will get difficult.
