Raj Vikramaditya, Bengaluru-based software engineer, shared his thoughts on three years spent at Google. The post gained over 97,000 views on X (formerly Twitter). Vikramaditya, also known as ‘Striver,’ noted the benefits and disadvantages of working at the tech company.
Advantages: Work-Life Balance and Benefits
Vikramaditya praised Google’s exceptional WLB, writing, “They take care of almost everything you can think of—food, gym, spa, trips, parties.” He stressed the importance of employee good will:.
He also praised the quality of Google’s codebase, saying, “Once you dive into it, you’re in awe of the quality, design, and overall architecture.” For him, being surrounded by top-tier talent at Google was an inspiring and motivating factor: “Being around such talent is inspiring.”
Vikramaditya also added that there are financial and non-financial benefits, like extra pay for on-call shifts, peer and spot bonuses, and access to excellent internal tools. He also praised the company’s well-maintained documentation, which facilitates smooth team transitions.
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Challenges Faced: Slow Approvals and Limited Scope
However, on the flip side, Vikramaditya also found some drawbacks of working at Google. One such issue was slow approval processes, which he understood as a necessary risk-aversion measure of a large company.
He also mentioned that a “limited scope” is quite common for employees, mainly because most teams do not develop end-to-end features and many pieces of infrastructure are pre-built. This makes it not so steep of a learning curve unless you are one of the core teams. Finally, Vikramaditya mentioned that switching teams is tough and promotions are as well. The work done by a team usually does not add up to promotions in other teams, so in those teams, the promotion cycle tends to be slower.
Take a look at the viral post:
Completed 3 years at Google today 😇
Pros and Cons 👇🏼
Pros 🔥
– Incredible WLB (Work-Life Balance): They take care of almost everything you can think of—food, gym, spa, trips, parties.
– The codebase: Once you dive into it, you’re in awe of the quality, design, and overall… pic.twitter.com/PlrAHmFavz
— Striver (@striver_79) December 6, 2024
Social Media Reactions
This post by Vikramaditya generated a vibrant discussion on social media, people commenting there. One reader shared an individual reflection. “We both started working roughly around the same time but its two different companies and that makes all the difference to our lives. I dont think its changing anytime soon.”
Another user thanked him, saying, “Congrats and thank you for sharing your journey and insights.” Some focused on the positive aspects, with one comment reading, “All I read was Pro’s.”
Vikramaditya’s candid reflection on his Google experience has provided valuable insight into life at one of the world’s top tech companies.
