Ask HN: Starting at Google in a few weeks. Any tips?

[dsshimel]

A little background: I graduated from college in 2010 and have been employed a developer ever since. In a few weeks I'll begin my role as a software engineer for the Quickoffice team in the NYC office.

I think working at Google will be a great opportunity for taking my career to the next level, and I want to maximize my experience there. Do any of you current or former Googlers have any tips, suggestions, or advice for becoming a top contributor and getting the most out of my time with the company? Also, would any NYC Googlers want to meet up for lunch?

Thanks!

[nostrademons]

1. Network widely. Get to know your Noogler class, and setup lunch/dinners with them for a few months after Noogler training ends. Get to know the folks who sit around you, and eat with them. Try to meet folks in other departments as well. Your network will probably be your single biggest asset in trying to navigate Google's often byzantine project structure.

2. Your starter project will probably be pretty boring. Suck it up and do a bang-up job on it. Starter projects are usually a way for your team to get a sense of what you can do. If you establish a reputation as someone who gets shit done early on, good projects will come your way.

3. Stay away from - well, I can't exactly say in a public forum, but basically any mailing list or internal app where you get long centithreads or pictures of cats. Corp G+, however, is pretty useful for getting plugged in to what the general zeitgeist at the company is - what concerns the rank & file employees have, what projects people are excited about, interesting new infrastructure that's available, teams you may want to join.

4. 20% time is a great tool for getting to know a potential team and letting them get to know you, and a terrible tool for starting something new. When you first start, you should probably be heads-down on your main project, and dive in there. But once you've got a chance to see some of the other interesting projects in the company, don't be afraid to 20% there and transfer if you like the experience.

5. Find and attach yourself to a good manager, do good work for him, and ride the coattails of shared success. Managers vary wildly in quality at Google. Experienced engineers (those with >1 year of experience in a department) all know who the good ones are. If you get a bad manager you will stagnate, find your projects are continually ripped out from under you, and come up short at promo time. If you get a good manager your career will be one success after another, and eventually you'll get a reputation as the "go to" guy in a domain. That's when you get your pick of high-profile projects.

[dsshimel]

Thanks for the advice! That all sounds very reasonable. I thought I read that 20% time had gone away; regardless, I'm sure I'll have so much to learn on my first project that diverting any time away from it would be counterproductive.

Regarding good managers: I'll probably need to stay on my first project for at least one to two years. If my manager turns out to not be so great, what's the best strategy? Find out who the good managers are and work towards transferring to their team? Is it better to move horizontally based on the nature of the project or based on the team?

[codezero]

Congrats, look forward to seeing what peoples' advice is!

If nobody chimes in, here are some possibly helpful Quora links. They shouldn't prompt you to sign-in/sign-up BTW.

http://qr.ae/t3txB What are some things a Googler should do or experience before leaving to work elsewhere?

http://qr.ae/t3tHP What exactly should you do in your first few months as a Noogler to make the most of your Google experience?

http://qr.ae/t3tQM What happens during one's first month as Google Software Engineer?

http://qr.ae/t3nGN What is it like to work at Google?

And why not:

http://qr.ae/t3nKN What is the most frustrating thing about working for Google?

http://qr.ae/t3nsf What's the worst part about working at Google?

[dsshimel]

These are great, both for the career advice and for the glimpses into the cultural side of Google. Thanks!

[javadi82]

There is plenty of good advice on this question from ex-Googlers at Quora - What advice would you give to someone who just graduated and is about to join Google that you wish you had when you joined Google? - http://qr.ae/t3Ac8 (does not require login)

[anayini]

I found that looking at the code of the best developers there was super useful. In particular, look at literally anything that Jeff and Sanjay write.

[glbrew]

Either kick someone's ass or become someone's bitch on the first day; there is no other way you'll be able to make it.