Google Reviews

Pros

Google pays me very well. The staff is very very nice they make you feel welcome. You also get a free lunch.

Cons

It isn't very organized or clean. There aren't very many bathrooms and the bathrooms they do have are always full or being used.

Advice to Senior Management

Manage your building better. Higher a better maintenance crew. In future buildings add more bathrooms so everyone can use one of them.

Pros

Very open communication from senior management all the way down to interns
Vested interest in employees and personal development (GoogleEDU)
Smartest / most creative people I've met

Cons

Slow recruiting and conversion process
Such a large company that it's difficult to be organized (in terms of knowing how to get a certain piece of information or resource)

Advice to Senior Management

Speed up the recruiting process because you lose valuable candidates when you wait too long to give decisions

Pros

We work on a lot of really great stuff that is leading the Internet Revolution. We have a lot of autonomy to work on different projects and make our own decisions.

Cons

Management is sometimes a little disconnected and the bi-coastal structure sometimes makes it hard to collaborate effectively and move forwards with projects.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep doing what you are doing. Best company in the bay Area. Don't lose sight of your roots and always be thinking of your employees

Pros

Everybody who's paying attention knows how great the perks are. Between on-site gyms, massage, a wide selection of health benefits, 401k and stock grants, competitive salary, and of course the free, gourmet meals, it's one of the cushiest jobs in Silicon Valley.

The technical challenges are interesting, and the code base is enormous. Engineers are encouraged to fix any and all problems, on their own teams or completely separate projects. There is a lot of freedom to do anything that interests you, as long as you have time.

Cons

Having good management seems to be a non-goal, at least below the highest levels. The only requirements for becoming a manager are having good enough technical skills to reach the correct job level, and expressing interest. Because of this, middle management is extremely hit-or-miss. Employees are often expected to figure out how to grow on their own, with little or no guidance, even for those fresh out of school. Many managers still have technical responsibilities, and let their people-management responsibilities fall by the wayside.

It is unclear so far just how Larry Page taking over as CEO will affect the company as a whole, at least in terms of work environment.

Advice to Senior Management

Continue to be transparent about company direction and motives. When you hire the best and brightest, they don't want to feel like they're being lied to.

Pros

the perks working here are very enticing

Cons

no room to really advance. You're just a number.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to your employees!!! Don't be a Hi.P.P.O

Pros

See your company and maybe your work in the headlines.
Work with some of the best and brightest co-workers in the world.
Work with applications that millions of people use and enjoy.
Great food, good benefits and bonuses.
Information exchange inside the company is quite open, making it easy to find out about opportunities.

Cons

Can be hard to transfer to a new project, which can lead to the need to excel at something you don't like in order to earn your way out of it.

The opportunities for 20% time are real, but you may not have enough time and energy to make use of them.

Management is often hands-off and not necessarily helpful/encouraging. Find peers to encourage and support you.

Pros

Google provides great perks and benefits to their employees! You are surrounded by bright and competent people.

Cons

If you're not an engineer, there are much fewer career advancement opportunities. It is really easy to gain weight with all the delicious food.

Advice to Senior Management

Please continue to provide additional career development and management classes/training.

Pros

Pick a passion and run with it. You make your career at Google, not your manager.

Cons

MBA/Mckinsey management takeover has depleted the entrepreneurial spirit in some groups (but not all).

Pros

Great benefits, smart people, good connections, looks great on resume, interesting projects, provides transportation if applicable, lots of resources and funding for projects

Cons

Hierarchical, lots of levels of management, not a design focused company, "the more features the better" perspective, some copying of other startup ideas.

Advice to Senior Management

focus on new products are are simple and innovative rather than stuffing every possible feature in each product.

Pros

Great benefits, great culture, enthusiastic team

Cons

Low pay, interview process is extremely rigorous.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep on doing what you're doing!