Maq Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/lifeatgoogle/benefits.html#ta If anyone has ever worked or visited Google, I would like to hear first hand about their experience working/visiting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnoTheDev Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 If you look at what they have in terms of facilities and the relaxed environment it seems a fantastic place to work. However I remember the BBC did a piece on working for Google and the employees were saying that it's not all it is cracked up to be i.e. developers get pushed to breaking point, if you don't work all the hours under the sun the chances of promotion are none existent. Quite shocking really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcombs_31 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I think the environment is clearly designed to trap you at work. Pretty smart actually, and depending on your lifestyle, could be really nice. I think it should be expected with those benefits that more is expected of you. It is basically designed to make google your home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.josh Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 hey if you're young and single and otherwise an anti-social bum, I bet its heaven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roopurt18 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 When I started programming my goal was to get into game development. Lo and behold I landed in database development. Having known a few veterans of the gaming industry, I hear the entry level people work insane hours, make almost nothing, and are supposed to just take because they work IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY!!1!!!!!ONE!1!! Suckers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.josh Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 When I started programming my goal was to get into game development. Lo and behold I landed in database development. Having known a few veterans of the gaming industry, I hear the entry level people work insane hours, make almost nothing, and are supposed to just take because they work IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY!!1!!!!!ONE!1!! Suckers. yeah...I've heard quite a few horrible stories from some people I know who work for blizzard... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xylex Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 A bunch of people from my high school work there I found out at my reunion. Mostly on the marketing side of things and not the development, but they all seemed pretty happy with the company. Most of them were using some of those perks/convenience offerings regularly. And they did say that the developers they worked with worked hard but liked working there. And on the game stuff, one of my professors was telling us about a memo out of EA that said that since the developers has been putting in such long hours for so long trying to get a game out that they should go ahead and take Sunday afternoon off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maq Posted May 29, 2009 Author Share Posted May 29, 2009 A bunch of people from my high school work there I found out at my reunion. Mostly on the marketing side of things and not the development, but they all seemed pretty happy with the company. Most of them were using some of those perks/convenience offerings regularly. And they did say that the developers they worked with worked hard but liked working there. And on the game stuff, one of my professors was telling us about a memo out of EA that said that since the developers has been putting in such long hours for so long trying to get a game out that they should go ahead and take Sunday afternoon off. Are you talking about Blizzard or Google? I assume Blizzard since you mentioned games. If so, does Blizzard offer similar benefits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynewex Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I feel sorry for people who let work become their life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xylex Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Sorry, I meant work at Google. Don't know anyone at Blizzard (now Activision BTW). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel0 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 I feel sorry for people who let work become their life. Well, some people regard their job as being paid to do their hobby... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roopurt18 Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 "All we are is dust in the wind." Doesn't really matter what we do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PugJr Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 "All we are is dust in the wind." Doesn't really matter what we do! Until someone discovers longetivity vaccine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingerRobot Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 By offering all those perks, Google no doubt get the best out of their employees though. Treat your employees shit, they produce shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.josh Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 "All we are is dust in the wind." Doesn't really matter what we do! Until someone discovers longetivity vaccine. but until then, we have viagra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbin Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 A bunch of people from my high school work there I found out at my reunion. Mostly on the marketing side of things and not the development, but they all seemed pretty happy with the company. Most of them were using some of those perks/convenience offerings regularly. And they did say that the developers they worked with worked hard but liked working there. And on the game stuff, one of my professors was telling us about a memo out of EA that said that since the developers has been putting in such long hours for so long trying to get a game out that they should go ahead and take Sunday afternoon off. Multiple people from your high school work for google? Weird! Did you live near Google complex (Googleplex or what ever google likes to call it) or something? Or just a massive high school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xylex Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 It's literally on the same street as Google, just a few miles down it, so it's not too surprising. Map if you care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynewex Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 I feel sorry for people who let work become their life. Well, some people regard their job as being paid to do their hobby... I can understand that, but you can have your hobbies ruined when you're forced to do them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liquid Fire Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Well if you are getting the benefits that google offers and don't expect to be working harder that most than you are crazy. They basically provide with wil almost everything you need, the goal being you can work better (and more) for them. It is no the working environment for everyone. As far as getting into the gaming industry, the best way I think is to try to break in on your own (or with some friends). Getting into a big established company is pretty hard (Like Blizzard or EA) and chances are you will be doing a lot of the crappy work for quite some time. Go alone or a small group of people allows you do do things your way and you wont be doing only grunt work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrg_alpha Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 I have been in the games industry for a decade (not as a programmer mind you.. as an artist). Obviously, the corporate culture varies from company to company. When I started out, I was at a company that made the staff split the costs of the office water cooler supply for example. In another company I worked for, they offered a gym, free fruits on Wednesdays, games room , etc.. So while it may be bad at one place, it may be good at another. I have never worked at EA, but I have heard all the horror stories regarding it. I know a programmer at EA Vancouver who once told me, 'If you love to work long hard hours, EA will love you'. The now infamous EA Spouse Letter made the rounds like wildfire and got the entire industry's attention (later on, the woman who wrote the letter eventually revealed herself). So it is no secret that all eyes were on EA at that point. The company has definitely amassed a terrible reputation. From what I hear, there is a new CEO at EA (well, been a few years now I think) who has worked hard to repair EA's damaged image (think of a kinder, gentler EA). Not sure how that has worked out so far.. But again, the culture will vary from place to place. Many variables govern the happiness of employees, ranging from perks to even other workers / manager skillset / qualifications / personalities to work place environments, pay rates, work hours, etc... As far as I'm concerned, no matter how good the work environment and people involved, when crunchtime hits, it hits, and sometimes quite hard. I have personally fallen ill due to prolonged crunchtime (I must have come very close to burnout). In some cases, crunch time could be boiled down to poor management, or poor employee work ethics / skills, larger than manageable game scope, (or a combination of those with potentially other factors as well). In my case, we had a great team in place, with good management in place...and still got hit hard. I had my share of it all (not just the crunches, but game development in general) and ultimately walked away from it. I have seen marriages collapse due to one spouse spending too much time at work and not enough with their significant other and children. I saddens me to see good marriages fall apart over a game that no one will give a rats ass about 6 months after release. One big problem with game industry is that it is mainly youth driven. Many 18 to early 20-somethings dominate this area. Thus most are not married, nor have children. For them, making games is a 'dream job' (and it certainly can be, depending on the persons involved, the project, and the company). But herein lies the crux of it all.. Some (many, most?) companies understand this and make the most out this situation by generally exploiting their most valuable assets (their people) for the sake of pleasing shareholders. Sure, it is a business, and companies do indeed have an obligation to create the best return on investment for their owners.. but I personally feel that there are smarter ways of dealing with this as opposed to running people into the ground. After one point, I decided that crunching full tilt wasn't worth it anymore (despite any bonuses, work place perks, etc..). Sure, I'd put in some extra hours.. but I realized as time and age catches up that a good life balance is important to my well being. Priorities shift as you mature and gather more professional / life experience. So perhaps Google people are in a similar boat to many of those the games industry (not talking work environments, pay rates and the like.. but work loads, stress, etc..) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbin Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 It's literally on the same street as Google, just a few miles down it, so it's not too surprising. Map if you care. Oooo.... Weird. As far as getting into the gaming industry, the best way I think is to try to break in on your own (or with some friends). Getting into a big established company is pretty hard (Like Blizzard or EA) and chances are you will be doing a lot of the crappy work for quite some time. Go alone or a small group of people allows you do do things your way and you wont be doing only grunt work. Yeah, but chances are, the game would fail miserably if it even got finished. Large companies already have money (well... sometimes), and thus can pay employees during development of games. In your scheme, how exactly would you actually make money until the release of the game? Also, what if the game failed? Oops there goes a year of your life and you're now waaaayyyy in debt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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