[varelse]

For me, allocation, period. For all the investment made by Google in hiring me, and all the personal debt I accrued in leaving my previous employer and renting an apartment in Mountain View, it all came down to getting hosed by Google's version of the Hogwarts selection hat.

All attempts to address this were blocked by mid-level management, leaving me no other options other than continuing a job I hated or leaving. Even engineers within google who had worked with me in the past and vouched for me couldn't make a difference.

Google's allocation process is akin to Russian roulette and I got the chamber with a bullet in it.

So I left.

Now there is hope. Just like Jamba Juice lets you order off-menu smoothies, Google will let you pick what you want to do if you can find a team that will accept you. They just don't talk about it. Insist on it and I suspect you'll be fine. I wish I'd known that bit before I went there.

[notmyhnname]

Thank you for the insight. It will be helpful in my (I hope) upcoming negotiations.