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0 pointsgonehome4y ago0 comments

IIRC (don't work at Google myself, but friends do) - you start out of college as an L3 and are expected to make promo twice to L4 and then L5.

Once at L5 it's okay to just stay there and do good work, the pay is still really good and you're not expected to go beyond that unless you want to (and you're capable of it).

The main issue I've heard is that to go from L3 -> L5 there are incentives around 'impact' and launching products (or leaving for another company/startup and getting hired back).

This means people are incentivized to ship something to get promo, but working on an already shipped thing is bad for career progress.

An oversimplification, but seen through this lens Google's many chat apps make sense.

0 comments

GoatOfAplomb4y ago

Some years ago, the official ladder descriptions changed to reflect what was already unofficially the case in (most of?) the company. Roughly: you can hang at L4 pretty much forever, as long as you're willing to keep learning new things as required for your role.

That leaves the pressure of getting from L3 to L4, which, admittedly, people do feel. But L3->L4 is also a much more straightforward promotion. It's not nearly as sensitive to finding the right project/right team/right boss, and the promo comes more from your impact on the project than your project's impact on the product/company.

lrem4y ago

I work with many brilliant engineers who have been in Google for 5-10 years and are at L4. The pay is good enough if you don't have a large family to support and they simply can't be arsed to play that game.

ganafagol4y ago

Complaining at a high level. People with 3 kids make do with jobs at Walmart and McD.

"Pay is good enough" yeah sure.

klipt4y ago

> People with 3 kids make do with jobs at Walmart and McD.

Very difficult in the Bay Area given the housing costs. I guess it's possible if you lucked into a below market rate apartment and qualify for government assistance like Medicaid and food stamps.

1 more reply

manigandham4y ago

How much more is “good enough” when you’re already in the top 1% of the world?

lrem4y ago

You're top 1% in the world working in a SF McDonald. You're in the top 1% in the US when you're about L7-8 in Google, according to https://www.investopedia.com/personal-finance/how-much-incom... and levels.fyi.

2 more replies

DonHopkins4y ago

There's a difference between "make sense" and "can be explained".

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsgonehome4y ago0 comments

IIRC (don't work at Google myself, but friends do) - you start out of college as an L3 and are expected to make promo twice to L4 and then L5.

Once at L5 it's okay to just stay there and do good work, the pay is still really good and you're not expected to go beyond that unless you want to (and you're capable of it).

The main issue I've heard is that to go from L3 -> L5 there are incentives around 'impact' and launching products (or leaving for another company/startup and getting hired back).

This means people are incentivized to ship something to get promo, but working on an already shipped thing is bad for career progress.

An oversimplification, but seen through this lens Google's many chat apps make sense.

0 comments

GoatOfAplomb4y ago

lrem4y ago

ganafagol4y ago

Complaining at a high level. People with 3 kids make do with jobs at Walmart and McD.

"Pay is good enough" yeah sure.

klipt4y ago

> People with 3 kids make do with jobs at Walmart and McD.

Very difficult in the Bay Area given the housing costs. I guess it's possible if you lucked into a below market rate apartment and qualify for government assistance like Medicaid and food stamps.

1 more reply

manigandham4y ago

How much more is “good enough” when you’re already in the top 1% of the world?

lrem4y ago

2 more replies

DonHopkins4y ago

There's a difference between "make sense" and "can be explained".

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse