end of an exciting day
wow, the past day has been pretty interesting. lots of activity and some lessons learned as well.
i suppose the biggest lesson was how fast information travels nowadays. my old blog was pretty technically focused and as such, attracted a very specific audience. i guess i just figured that's how it would work for this new blog; it could serve as a place for me to put up my stories about working at google so my friends could all read it and i wouldn't have to repeat the same thing 20 times a day.
the second lesson was that in today's blogosphere, speculation runs rampant. i suppose i should've anticipated this one as well, but i hadn't learned the previous lesson yet, so i didn't really think too many people other than my friends would be reading this thing. oops!
anyways, here we are after the flurry of activity, and i wanted to address the most common criticism people have been posting around: i must be crazy/stupid/irrational/etc. becuase since i knew what i was getting myself into when i joined google, i shouldn't be complaining. while i do admit that i am a little of all of the above, i would encourage people to realize that life is all about compromises and trade-offs. in this particular scenario, before i made my decision to leave microsoft and come to google, i very carefully weighed many things, including (but not limited to):
as far as voicing my opinion on different matters, well, it just depends on the person. some people are more open about issues that bother them, others keep thoughts internally. i think part of the beauty of the blogging movement is that for the first time, people worldwide are empowered to voice their opinion. i choose to exercise that privilege :)
anyways, if you don't give feedback, how will things ever get better?
p.s. for all you conspiracy theorists out there, this is not a PR/HR stunt and yes i am a real person :p
i suppose the biggest lesson was how fast information travels nowadays. my old blog was pretty technically focused and as such, attracted a very specific audience. i guess i just figured that's how it would work for this new blog; it could serve as a place for me to put up my stories about working at google so my friends could all read it and i wouldn't have to repeat the same thing 20 times a day.
the second lesson was that in today's blogosphere, speculation runs rampant. i suppose i should've anticipated this one as well, but i hadn't learned the previous lesson yet, so i didn't really think too many people other than my friends would be reading this thing. oops!
anyways, here we are after the flurry of activity, and i wanted to address the most common criticism people have been posting around: i must be crazy/stupid/irrational/etc. becuase since i knew what i was getting myself into when i joined google, i shouldn't be complaining. while i do admit that i am a little of all of the above, i would encourage people to realize that life is all about compromises and trade-offs. in this particular scenario, before i made my decision to leave microsoft and come to google, i very carefully weighed many things, including (but not limited to):
- overall compensation, including the benefits packages
- mission and values of the companies
- career growth potential and opportunities
- scope of work i would be doing
- working environment and atmosphere
- location
as far as voicing my opinion on different matters, well, it just depends on the person. some people are more open about issues that bother them, others keep thoughts internally. i think part of the beauty of the blogging movement is that for the first time, people worldwide are empowered to voice their opinion. i choose to exercise that privilege :)
anyways, if you don't give feedback, how will things ever get better?
p.s. for all you conspiracy theorists out there, this is not a PR/HR stunt and yes i am a real person :p
posted by markjen at 1/26/2005 08:07:00 PM
22 Comments:
glad to hear your site's back up... apparently, this blog generated much attentiom, as i saw the article on news.com... glad to hear google's cool about it :P
It must suck bad to work at google. Not much upside left since the early employees have already cashed out hundreds of millions of dollars. How does it feel to work next to a millionaire? I bet you have to work 5 times as hard to keep your job there while the old-timers play ping pong and pig out at the cafeteria.
You can always play servant scooping their dog's poop and hope they give you a fat tip. :)
You misspelled "BECAUSE" twice. :P
Well, If it was for your friends, why advertise on adwords that appear on the google results? I was searching for something like 'google filetype:mpg' and bingo on the side, there was the ad for your blog. That's how i found it. ;)
Good God man, what a chilling effect this can have on your experience at Google. Good luck having people there trust you with the most basic info, gossip, etc., since you blog about them and say you might write a book someday...
Was "work environment while alienated" a factor in your "computation?"
Started looking for a new job yet using Google? :P
Where's the "hide comments from ass-hats" button?
He should tatoo "Don't Be Evil" on his forehead so his "millionaire" co-workers won't hire a hitman.
Can you say Scarlet Letter?
Arent we just in love with ourselves? Another friggin egomaniac hits the internet
Whoever reads and follows this waste of internet space needs to get another life!
Like the blog. As someone who is in the recruitment pipeline at MS, your experience is very interesting to me.
Keep it up!
Seattle
What an incredible whiner. I would kill to have even a third of these benefits. Just goes to prove that people will complain about anything.
I find the speed of information trasfer across the blogger community and "legitimate news sources" to be stunning. As search engines crawl deeper and deeper into the obscurity of the web, nuggets of knowledge are found and dissiminated to the community as a whole.
I'm glad everything worked out for you, I'll be watching your blog, and if you get the chance check out mine Everything Ecommerce and Long Tail Marketing.
Googol isn't that great. I like the A9 search engine better (http://www.a9.com).
I'm starting a pool. How long do you think it will take until they fire this guy's ass? Obviously, he's not actually WORKING, he's bored and surfing the web all day at googol.
Cool posts. Keep it going - and I don't really give a damn if you complain or praise google, please don't try and justify yourself to some pompous twats on the other side of the blogosphere.
It's great to get a different view of googleplex and the bay. :)
Google might have a lot of smart people working there, but I wonder if they can keep hiring good ones with their techniques..
5 round interviews might have worked in the past when you knew that they were going public and getting a job there will mean big bucks when they go IPO.
Now, what do you get after 5 rounds of interviews. A meager salary and a strike price that makes your shares almost worthless unless they keep posting blockbuster quarters.
That's just a bit too much work so I can go work on a place where they'll allow me to bring my dog and I get free lunch. I think I'll go work elsewhere in the valley. There are better places with less hassle to get in.
I suspect the smartest people at Google these days are the PR wizards who dreamed up this amazingly effective viral marketing campaign. Well done!
Carmi Levy
http://writteninc.blogspot.com
Google can kiss my ass!
As a Google employee, I'm amazed...no shocked you haven't been fired yet. It's the best company I've ever worked for and I've worked in many large companies before Google. To get hired, and then to post negative comments about the company that pays your bills AND to cause this PR disaster, you should turn in your letter of resignation. You joined an Internet SEARCH company and you didn't have the intelligence to realize that what gets posted on the net can be retrieved by anyone??? ESPECIALLY posting on Blogger which sends out feeds? How on Earth did you get hired? Ugh.
Ah clam it, google is nothing special. It's Netscape Version 2.0. Let's just see how arrogant they are when they start losing market shares and go the way of Netscape/AOL. Have you seen A9? http://www.a9.com , I get the same results from A9 as I would with google, so why should I patronize google anymore given what a bunch of ass they have become?
I like big butts and I cannot lie
I have read about this blog on PC World's daily news site and have decided to check it out. I can't believe the poor judgment you exercised. It is no surprise at all your employment with Google was terminated. If you don't like your job, its compensation, benefits or anything else, then just find yourself a new job! Don't use your own employer's blogging service to badmouth your employer!
Look; as a blind guy, I have real, serious issues! Technology inaccessibility often locks me out of many excellent employment opportunities! You have it all; the world is designed for the sighted, not the blind. So I really have no sympathy at all for your situation. Get a new job, exercise better judgment next time and realize that there are lots more people who are much less fortunate, despite their effort and hard work, than yourself. Keep your nose clean!
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