how likely is it that google would move out of ireland?

pwd

ie: is it a good move to try to get a job there if you're working in an indigenous corpo

damnyanks

Google are desperate for the "right people"

Try and get a job there first (its tricky from what I'm told) then worry about them moving out (Which isn't very likely likely in the medium term). They are still making a fortune, they've invested heavily in Ireland and a few months ago they announced 500 new jobs or something like that.

penexpers

I think the only circumstances under which they would move is if the corporation tax rate here changed.

information

penexpers wrote:

I think the only circumstances under which they would move is if the corporation tax rate here changed.

Also when the democrates get to power in America they plan on restricting companies using foreign countries to shelter profits from US tax, so this could force Google to return to the US.

As dammyanks said try getting a job there first and then worry about it, Google are good stable company, but pay is not massive.

pwd

Thanks for info.
Anybody work for them or know what it's like? What sort of hours would you work?

mickoneill30

pwd wrote:

Thanks for info.
Anybody work for them or know what it's like? What sort of hours would you work?

Another point. The IDA has a scheme at the moment whereby if you commit to invest a pile of money in R&D then they'll give you a bundle of money (they match what you put in). I'd say that's a big incentive for companies to move work to Ireland.

My company is investing a pile over the next 5 years and last year our office made piles of presentations to get projects moved from the US to Ireland to take advantage of the grants. I'd say a lot of US companies are doing the same.

feylya

pwd wrote:

Thanks for info.
Anybody work for them or know what it's like? What sort of hours would you work?

I know a few people that work there. It depends what sort of work you're doing. One guy that left where I am 2 months ago already wants to leave Google.

pwd

feylya wrote:

I know a few people that work there. It depends what sort of work you're doing. One guy that left where I am 2 months ago already wants to leave Google.

Sounds worrying. Why does he want to leave? What is he doing there?

feylya

He's doing linux support for the users. He just says the environment he's in is terrible, no different to any other helpdesk.

There's 3 guys in work interviewing with them at the moment and the interviews are bizarre. They keep cancelling and rescheduling the interviews at the last minute too...

pwd

are they going for helpdesk positions too? I'm looking at a database development position.
How are the interviews bizarre?

bananarepublic

i would be interest to see what feedback turns up on google dublin , the google hq and new york office are pretty legendary free gym, doctor, restuarants , grant for using hyprid cars etc.

However i have yet to here any real positive feedback from ireland yet , accept weird interviewing processes . Anyone heard about the lap tests there pretty amazing .

The share options are now fairly worthless as it would be hard to see if doubling its value from 450 dollars etc. Therefore has pay increased to counter act this . Also i think their pensions in ireland is quite low they will match up to 7% of your income as long as you but the same in.

Also cant seem to find any europe info at vault.com re salaries , the only info the other sites are showing is a median of 33000 euro which is pretty crap.
Anyone know what the management salaries are?

By the way Google are here for the forseeable future at least 15 years i d say due to the IDA conditions. As long as Gerry Adams doesnt get in here down South it should be alright as Sinn Feins increase in corporation tax is a nightmare scenario. i think he doesnt have a clue.

pwd

what are lap tests?
Googling interview questions for google shows strange questions like being shrunk and put in a blender.
I'd also be interested in salary figures for devlopment/database positions.

bananarepublic

sorry meant the lab tests for the programmers interviewer stages.

damnyanks

There was a pretty useful post about Google ages ago, do a search.

Google have all the various perks to keep you in hte office, much like other big american tech companies.

The salary isnt above industry standard from what I understand, but the various perks you get do add up.

These sorts of companies are for people who enjoy technology / motivated about their work. It's not like in a bank where you are expected to do the bare minimum.

jester77

Now is as a good a time as any to apply if you are an engineer. There's currently a world wide freeze on hiring for other positions as they have a quoto of engineering positions that need to be filled.

gerrowadat

Couple of things on the thread to comment on (background is I'm a Google Engineer/Manager/Mangineer in Dublin).

I repeatedly read that we don't pay well, which is false. I've no idea where this comes from. We're benchmarked to local industry standards, and our bonus is -extremely- generous, as are the perks (there's now a gym, two cafes, all the various bits and bobs).

Encouraging people to stay late - We allow people to come and go as they please, but it's not true that we have things set up to encourage people to work crazy hours. In fact, I've had to ask people to take it easy. We're subject to EU labour laws here, and also laws of basic common sense.

Our interview process is not very weird. We do 4 or 5 interviews, which is normal for a lot of multinationals. It's a new thing to people in Ireland I guess, and it allows us to be sure we have the right person. I guess also our practice of continuing to ask questions until either the interviewer or interviewee doesn't know the next bit puts people off.

Mr. Incognito

I guess also our practice of continuing to ask questions until either the interviewer or interviewee doesn't know the next bit puts people off.

It should. Um......so, you like cake?

Tom Dunne

gerrowadat wrote: »

Couple of things on the thread to comment on (background is I'm a Google Engineer/Manager/Mangineer in Dublin).

I repeatedly read that we don't pay well, which is false. I've no idea where this comes from. We're benchmarked to local industry standards, and our bonus is -extremely- generous, as are the perks (there's now a gym, two cafes, all the various bits and bobs).

Encouraging people to stay late - We allow people to come and go as they please, but it's not true that we have things set up to encourage people to work crazy hours. In fact, I've had to ask people to take it easy. We're subject to EU labour laws here, and also laws of basic common sense.

Our interview process is not very weird. We do 4 or 5 interviews, which is normal for a lot of multinationals. It's a new thing to people in Ireland I guess, and it allows us to be sure we have the right person. I guess also our practice of continuing to ask questions until either the interviewer or interviewee doesn't know the next bit puts people off.

Don't you think you are a bit late to this discussion, considering it is from April last year?

gerrowadat

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Don't you think you are a bit late to this discussion, considering it is from April last year?

It's /Never/ too late to nitpick on the internet. Serious business.

Tom Dunne

gerrowadat wrote: »

It's /Never/ too late to nitpick on the internet. Serious business.

So what, you go around digging up all old Google threads to set the record straight?

Ok.

gerrowadat

Maybe a little. It kinda dicks me off that people still have the same old misconceptions, especially the 'we don't pay well' one. No idea where that came from.

nesf

gerrowadat wrote: »

Maybe a little. It kinda dicks me off that people still have the same old misconceptions, especially the 'we don't pay well' one. No idea where that came from.

Please don't dig up ancient threads on this forum. I appreciate the sentiment but it's unnecessary and it's likely that the people who posted above mightn't be around any more and couldn't respond to your comments.

cronos

gerrowadat wrote: »

I guess also our practice of continuing to ask questions until either the interviewer or interviewee doesn't know the next bit puts people off.

That is the most anoying interview style in the world. If you know it puts people off dont do it.

gerrowadat

nesf wrote: »

Please don't dig up ancient threads on this forum. I appreciate the sentiment but it's unnecessary and it's likely that the people who posted above mightn't be around any more and couldn't respond to your comments.

Fair enough so. :-)

gerrowadat

cronos wrote: »

That is the most anoying interview style in the world. If you know it puts people off dont do it.

It's also the most effective at finding out if people are wafflers. Depth of knowledge and reasoning ability can't be faked.

BostonB

gerrowadat wrote: »

...Our interview process is not very weird. We do 4 or 5 interviews, which is normal for a lot of multinationals. It's a new thing to people in Ireland I guess,..

I think multinationals have been in Ireland quite a while a few decades or so. So not that new maybe. 4 to 5 interviews would be normal for high end positions. However (and I don't have first hand experience of Google, just 2nd hand, colleagues at work etc) seems to do this for all positions. Indeed the more senior positions have many more interviews. If Google find it works for them, then that's all that matters. But its not the industry norm, in my experience, or that of anyone I know. Theres a lot of Google interview/salaries/conditions stories on the web. for example ... http://developeronline.blogspot.com/2007/12/google-interviews-part-i-summary.html So its not hard to see where the info is coming from. So I don't see why you'd be surprised about it. Also IT in Ireland is small, so everyone is going to know someone whos done a Google interview. I only know one person myself, and they got through the process successfully.

cronos

gerrowadat wrote: »

It's also the most effective at finding out if people are wafflers. Depth of knowledge and reasoning ability can't be faked.

I think a written test followed by a discussion of the answers would provide a far better knowledge of an applicants skills. Your method is just annoying and will make the applicant feel they are getting every question wrong as they always end the question by saying I dont know.

damnyanks

cronos wrote: »

I think a written test followed by a discussion of the answers would provide a far better knowledge of an applicants skills. Your method is just annoying and will make the applicant feel they are getting every question wrong as they always end the question by saying I dont know.

You mean you'd prefer it that way. I've interviewed people before who claim to be experts in X

They know the main points of X but after a few questions for more details it appears they actually know the very basics and were hoping to wing it.

I've never been to a interview where the whole team and then some more didn't interview me.

cronos

damnyanks wrote: »

You mean you'd prefer it that way. I've interviewed people before who claim to be experts in X

They know the main points of X but after a few questions for more details it appears they actually know the very basics and were hoping to wing it.

I've never been to a interview where the whole team and then some more didn't interview me.

Yes while I would perfer it this way, it would also be a better system.
If you want to go into a lot of detail with the written test then you can no problem, I have no issue with that. It is possible to go just as indepth with written questions and a discussion. This also shows the person that they did not get each question wrong they just got parts wrong. It also means the nerves caused by getting one question wrong dont affect the next question. As in the written version you wont know if you were right or wrong.

gerrowadat

cronos wrote: »

I think a written test followed by a discussion of the answers would provide a far better knowledge of an applicants skills. Your method is just annoying and will make the applicant feel they are getting every question wrong as they always end the question by saying I dont know.

This is just another way of doing things, which may or may not work. We find this way works for us.

I personally try to explain the process beforehand, once people know they're being asked stuff until we run out of follow-ups, a clever person will work out that "I don't know" isn't the wrong answer.

cronos

Google isnt the only company that uses this tecqunique and its the approach I dont like nothing to do with Google. In fact I would love to work in google over the summer. I understand that the point is to get the candidate to admit that they dont know everything about a particular topic and they sould not bluff things if they dont know them for sure. But I still think all this could be achieved via my method to an equally high standard with less hassle for everyone.

valen

BostonB wrote: »

4 to 5 interviews would be normal for high end positions. However .. seems to do this for all positions. Indeed the more senior positions have many more interviews.

So, there is a rule that no one can be given more than 8 interviews, including phone screens, unless they get sign off from the head of HR; there was loads of bad feedback from people getting five interviews for a job and being told "Well, you wouldn't get hired as a network admin, but maybe try sysadmin..." and being given another five interviews. Now, the recruiters have to work a lot harder to make sure you are going for the right role, first. It's my experience it's working too - three years about about 1 in 30 got throw the interview process. Now it's down to maybe 1 in 7.

I've interviewed about four prospective 'Engineering Directors' in my time, and I'm really glad I get to interview my bosses' boss; I don't want to be run by a guy who doesn't know his arse from his elbow technically.

It does cause a problem when hiring Irish engineers though. Most of my previous job interviews have been a half-hour chat over a pint in a pub. You get in because you know someone that trusts you. It works well. Though Google prefer to hire through referrals too, it's not over a pint in a pub, so it has freaked out a few friends of mine that had no idea what to do in an interview.

As for pulling out of Ireland; we are hiring more engineers here. Our other big engineering office, Zurich, is getting loads of non-english speakers. People whose first or second language is English seem to prefer Dublin. And the strong euro helps compete with the American and London office. We'll have an office where the people are, more than anything else (which is why we have so many feckin' engineering offices all over the place...I saw we are advertising for engineers in Trondheim, Norway and some place in Sweden in the Arctic Circle!

I'm amazed that manufacturing multinationals like Dell are still here; they moan about the cost of electricity and transport hassles, as well as high wages for manufacturing....but they are still here. The government must be doing something right.

Cronos; a written test ? Yeach. You don't get the personal feedback then...and we don't hire good engineers who aren't personable too.

John

BostonB

valen wrote: »

So, there is a rule that no one can be given more than 8 interviews, including phone screens, unless they get sign off from the head of HR; there was loads of bad feedback from people getting five interviews for a job and being told "Well, you wouldn't get hired as a network admin, but maybe try sysadmin..." and being given another five interviews. Now, the recruiters have to work a lot harder to make sure you are going for the right role, first. It's my experience it's working too - three years about about 1 in 30 got throw the interview process. Now it's down to maybe 1 in 7....

Sorry bit slow today. But what has google changed that resulted in the change of success rate.

valen

BostonB wrote: »

Sorry bit slow today. But what has google changed that resulted in the change of success rate.

I think hiring enough recruiters so they have a proper chat with people and put them forward for the right job first time, rather than trying a few different possible jobs. They are also getting better at filtering out people not likely to get past the interviews in the first place.

(Warning, I'm talking about engineering recruiters, the only ones I've dealt with).

John

BostonB

You'll definately pick out the people who are good at interviews anyway.