Awesome perks, chance to work with the best and brightest
Pros
- There are many opportunities within the company - Google has hired some of the best names in software development, and don't be surprised if you get a chance to work with them. - Free food at all offices, at MTV and NY the perks are just incredible - onsite gym, massages, lectures from luminaries in all fields - Depending on your project, you will learn a lot about industrial strength software engineering and deployment.
Cons
- Don't work in a small office (< 200 engineers) if you can help it. You will feel disconnected. Culture and connections are Silicon Valley centric. - Many great projects are worked in, many get cancelled for opaque reasons, which can be tough if you are on the team. - It is a big company, even though everyone is smart and trying to do the right thing, there are still big company politics and the feeling of being a small cog in a very big wheel. - Management tries to be transparent, but sometimes when they can't or don't want to, it blows up in their face. - Mountain View employee culture is one of entitlement. In particular, I recall that when a new cafe opened up (the 19th one or so on campus) but was reserved for a group working on a confidential project, that there was open complaining about "its not fair, why don't we get to go to that cafe?"
