adamyntium

Category: workplace

  • How to lift up your laid-off friends

    How to lift up your laid-off friends

    There’s practically no wrong way (or time!) to reach out to someone who has been laid off; they’re almost certainly going to be happy just to hear from you.  But there’s also an option to be a super-awesome supporter 🙂

    By now we likely all know someone who was recently laid off and, understandably, we want to reach out in a respectful & effective way.  Often, though, we may not be quite sure what to say.  Or, worse, we procrastinate getting in touch and then later feel awkward about writing a ‘belated’ short note of support.

    Today I realized that fitness classes –  one of my ‘happy places’ – are actually instructive in this context!  Many of them have movements delineated as “Level 1” “Level 2” and so on, with level 1 being the minimal but important foundation (showing up and making even a small effort).  When reaching out to others, just the basic action itself (level 1) is meaningful and worthwhile!

    So with that said, here’s how I think about ‘levels’ when it comes to messaging someone who’s been laid off:

    Level 1: Say something. Anything. And at any time!

    EXAMPLE:
    “Hey, just wanted to let you know I miss you, and I’m really sorry about the situation!”

    I can’t imagine that any laid-off person is going to be ungrateful if your wording isn’t super-eloquent.  And I practically guarantee you they’re not going to turn up their nose because you wrote 6 weeks vs. 6 hours after they were axed. They’ll just be happy to hear from you, period. In fact, maybe even waiting a bit is a smart move — especially if you weren’t especially close — since laid off folks can get deluged with well-wishes initially but then weeks later… crickets.

    Level 2: Explicitly ask how (and when) you can help

    EXAMPLE:
    “Hi, [name], I’ve been thinking of you! Please let me know what I could do that’d be most helpful right now (or later)!”

    Note that this is a small but significant improvement over the more generic-sounding “I’m here if you need anything” or “Happy to help in any way I can”… because it’s more actionably worded:
    – It encourages vs. just casually welcomes the person to request help
    – It invites them to be specific about what they need
    – And it also makes it clear that you’re eager to help… even if they just want space now and help later!

    Level 3: Describe specific things you have valued about that person and/or suggest how you can help them

    EXAMPLE: 
    “Hey [name]! I’m really sorry about this crappy layoff situation. We all miss you and were reminiscing about how awesome you were for our team. You did such an incredible job retaining the [x] account with your smart, actionable ideas. And your presentation skills were amazing; I’ll never forget when you pitched to [exec] and got immediate approval for that huge project when no one else could win her over!

    I’m happy to write you an endorsement here about any of that, or even encourage [exec] to write one for you… would that be helpful? I also have some high level contacts at [other great company], let me know if you’d like me to connect you with one of them! Or just tell me what I can do for you, even if it’s just taking you out for drinks or mini-golfing or something; I’d love to see you!”

    I personally always found notes with specific examples to be really heartening because this accentuated that I was, indeed, a valued member to the team due to particular skills I brought to the table vs. just a nice person or someone who “worked hard”, etc.  Future employers will care a lot about the former, not so much about the latter, and being reminded that we are future-employable is great for peace of mind 🙂.

    You can choose any of the above options depending upon your relationship with the person, the expected incremental impact of your help, and, yes, the amount of time and energy you have at the moment.

    Just write something! Simply knowing that you thought of them will often make someone’s day.  (Hmm, that probably applies well beyond the layoff context as well, but I digress!)

    Ah, but where to send the message?

    LinkedIn is usually a safe and reasonable option in this space, but here are some other options:

    • Text:  Company directories may include phone numbers of employees who opted in to publishing them.  
    • Email:  You can often find someone’s email address via their web site if they have one or even via a plain web search.
    • Social media:  e.g., Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, or Instagram DM.  Do check whether the respective account is active vs. dormant, though.  A message sent to, say, an IG account that hasn’t been updated in 4 years is unlikely to be read.
    • Friend:  “Hey, [mutual colleague/friend], do you know a good way I can get in touch with [person]?”

    And lastly, after sending a message, realize that there’s a huge variance in what (and when) you could hear back!

    You might receive a heartfelt outpouring of emotions (from confused to sad to angry), a brusque “Thanks”, or even nothing at all.  Know that this is more of a reflection of that person’s current state of mind and energy level vs. what they feel about you or your note.  Take comfort in knowing that you did a good thing (thank you! 🙂)

    If you’ve been laid off, you almost certainly have your own take on all of this!  Does the guidance above match your preferences?  If not, how would you encourage folks to reach out?

  • Facebook’s Horizon Workrooms: don’t believe the anti-hype

    Facebook’s Horizon Workrooms: don’t believe the anti-hype

    Everyone’s hella snarking about the FB Horizons Workrooms project (collaborative work in virtual reality) but mark (ha!) my words…

    • 99% of them haven’t tried it.
    • 95% of them didn’t bother actually RTFA (“Who is gonna pay thousands of dollars per person for this??!?” [it costs $299])
    • Nearly everyone will be “WOW! This is revolutionary!” when Apple eventually copies, er, makes their own version (in fairness, Apple will introduce it in a far more polished way) 😀
    Introduction to Horizon Workrooms, by Oculus (a Facebook company)

    I haven’t tried Horizons Workrooms yet because, well, it’s not like Google is gonna go all-in on this for our remote work… and other than Google stuff, I’m generally not collaborating on projects (and I don’t think all my fellow non-profit Groupmuse Foundation board members have the Oculus Quest headset this software requires).

    But it seems reasonably useful to me. In particular, I’ve really appreciated spatial audio in gamings and social meetups on various apps!

    I know that a ton of us are really Zoom’d out at this point (including me), but there are some very key aspects of VR collaboration that mitigate many problems with ‘regular’ video conferencing:

    • No more constant eye-contact. Seriously, every colleague literally facing every other colleague is so unnatural and sometimes even unnerving, not to mention fatiguing!
    • You no longer see yourself on camera. Whew! Also a big stress relief.
    • And the aforementioned spatial audio is a surprisingly helpful way of quickly getting clued in on who is speaking. It’s just more natural to hear voices coming from different “locations” vs. all blended together via your laptop speakers.

    Not Yet Frequently Asked Questions

    (but I thought I’d answer them anyway)

    “But Adam, won’t the ads be annoying?”

    I’d be surprised if this product gets ads shoved in it, since it’s targeted at professionals vs. consumers. I expect it’ll be a loss leader, a way for Oculus to get people to buy their hardware, or something with a freemium upsell in the future.

    “How can we trust Facebook with private conversations?!”

    If they hope to get big companies onboard (and that’s their path to major profit on this I’d think), they’ll need to include pretty ironclad guarantees re privacy. And lying in that context would screw them over big time.

    “But… cartoon characters? With no legs? This looks like a kiddie game!”

    Fair. But, as I said, this thing runs on $299 headsets, and it has head and hand tracking but no other physical tracking. With the available computing power at that price point (and without a required PC in the background), any attempt at animated photo-realism would be a pretty painful Uncanny Valley experience.

    “Wouldn’t this be uncomfortable for 8 hour stretches?!”

    First of all, those of you in 8-hour-stretches of meetings on the daily… you have far bigger problems worry about than the uncomfortableness of a headset. But that extreme aside, yeah, I can’t imagine a typical VR headset being comfortable for particularly long stretches and, besides, the Quest’s battery only lasts 2-2.5 hours.

    But for collaborations that last, say, 1 hour… heck, I’ve spent far more than that playing mini-golf on my Quest without any adverse effects :).

    “Speaking of adverse effects, don’t people get nauseous in VR?!”

    Yep, they sure do, but usually from games involving motion (roller-coastering, running, falling, etc). I would be really surprised if many folks felt sick from a virtual collaboration app in VR.

    Curious to know what you think!

    Have you tried this yet? Or even just socialized in VR before? 🙂
    Any sort of collaboration you’d be interested in tackling with this?

  • How employment at prominent tech firms stymies open communication

    Let me first get the disclaimers out of the way:

    • I have worked at Google since March, 2006.
    • I do not speak on behalf of Google in this blog, nor do my views necessarily dovetail with those of other Googlers; I’ve historically held more of a public-facing role than most Googlers, so I have heightened sensitivities.
    • I believe prominent technology firms — certainly including Google — contribute many things to the world that improve communications and societal openness.
    *  *  *

    Do people who work at Google / Yahoo / Microsoft / Facebook resent the fact that they can’t genuinely speak up on the Internet and have to do so anonymously, in most cases?

    This really hit home for me, and I decided that I’d outline the many ways in which I (and presumably many others) are forbidden from communicating in some ways and — more commonly — feel uncomfortable expressing ourselves in specific ways or on a variety of topics.
    Stuff I am not allowed to discuss…
    This is perhaps the most obvious category, the list of what employees like me are typically forbidden from communicating. 
    • Confidential information on products and services my company is working on.
      And this isn’t just due to obvious competitive-market issues, but also for reasons of strategic public communications.  Due to events in the news, something we’re working on (and have been working on for well before these events transpired) might be seen as insensitive or inappropriate… and we know that after things die down a bit, the public will embrace rather than resent this new product or service.  Other considerations:  we might want to release with a bigger splash, we’re required to be silent due to third-party agreements (hardware partners, etc.), we don’t want a ton of public pontificating based upon a very rough alpha, and so on.
    • Issues my company is currently involved with in a legal context or is likely to become involved with in the future
      For Googlers, this means no comments about “search neutrality,” or intellectual property issues with regards to YouTube, and so on.
    • Private user information we’re entrusted with
      Such information is quite stringently controlled at my company (and I’d presume at other companies as well), but aside from the technical and legal (not to mention ethical!) safeguards, I think all of us know that it’d be long-term career suicide to even be perceived as engaging in untoward behavior in this area.  
    Topics that I’m allowed to discuss, but could result (or have resulted) in unpleasant situations
    • Competitors’ products and services
      If I suggest a limitation of iPhones, for instance, I may be accused of being brainwashed by my company (which works on the Android operating system)… or, at minimum, I may simply worry that I’ll be perceived in negative ways (catty, manipulative, etc.).  On the flip side, if I profess love for a competitor’s product, it’s a pretty sure bet someone will retort, “See?  Even Googlers avoid [Google’s product in this space]!” which can then, I kidd you not, snowball into headlines like, “Googlers snub [Google productname] in favor of [non-Google productname].”  Aside from the ridiculous assumption that because I am not using and enjoying both products, there’s the equally-stupid one outspoken Googler = all Googlers.
    • Hot button societal issues that my company is associated with.
      Like Privacy. Net neutrality.  Not only are there often legal circumstances surrounding these issues which make talking about them verboten anyway, it’d be just a minefield to jump into online or offline conversations on such heated topics.  I could be mistaken for someone speaking on behalf of the company (especially since I’ve appeared in Google-official videos about Privacy in the past), or simply harangued as a Google shill.
    • Frustration over my own company’s products
      As much as I love a lot of the stuff that comes out of my company, there are also products and services we provide that, well, I don’t really like or I like but am dying to see improved.  But what could I possibly gain by criticizing them in public?
      • If I feel that the only way to see changes I’m hoping for internally is to apply external pressure, then it’s probably time for me to consider changing employers.
      • If I don’t think many people will even notice my criticisms, why am I even bothering to express them?  Even if just one person sees it — someone who works on that product — I’ve at minimum made someone really sad, and probably just burned a bridge.  Who knows?  That person might be a future teammate, and — depending on the fierceness of my criticisms — that relationship could be mighty uncomfortable!
    And, as someone who may again in the future speak on behalf of my company to the press or at conferences:
    • Controversial views (e.g., anything on religion, politics, sexuality…)
      By articulating such views, especially if forcefully, I could negatively affect the comfort of interactions with or even treatment from journalists, conference attendees, bloggers, etc.
    • Specific blogs, media outlets, bloggers, journalists, etc.
      Whether it’s highlighting certain outlets’ lack of ethics or professionalism, or schaudenfreudically giggling over sophomoric online slugfests, it’d be all fun and games until I was asked to interview with one of these news networks / blogs / newspapers.
    *  *  *
    So what’s the loss here for you and society?
    • You get a less nuanced, less comprehensive view of how and what specific people think.
    • You get less information and fewer (potential useful) opinions from specific people than you otherwise would.  On a related note, more misinformation on the internet remains uncorrected.  In some cases (e.g., minor misconception of a product’s specs), the damage is pretty insignificant.  In other cases, the misinformation is pretty harmful, causing users to do unnecessary work or politicians to make unnecessary or even harmful laws.
    • Causes (political, societal) which could use the open support will often not receive it.
    But we can’t blame Corporate Communications policies
    At least at Google there’s no required pre-screening of our external communications.  We have a pleasantly enlightened group of Corporate Communications folks; they get social media, and they have never to my knowledge discouraged us from blogging, tweeting, etc.  The vast majority of the speech-limits I’ve described above are self-imposed, and certainly cannot be blamed on company policies.
    Anonymity?
    Sure, I and others could write under nom de plumes, though of course we’d still be forbidden from disclosing company secrets and the like.  But in addition to running the risk of being uncovered, I feel that this’d be a slippery slope emotionally; if I started criticizing or defending Google products as someone other than myself, I’d probably feel sucked in to the ensuing debates, and I’d become more and more uncomfortable “living a lie” so to speak.  So, at least for me, writing under something that’s not my real name or dominant internet nickname (“ThatAdamGuy”) isn’t a good choice.
    And on the whole, these big companies are still a net gain for societal communication and openness
    Look at the information shared around the world with Twitter, or YouTube or spread through large networks of friends (and often then ultimately the world) via Facebook.  I may feel occasionally muzzled and frustratingly so, but in the grand scheme of things, I remain convinced it’s for the greater good.

  • Insane transparency — Seeing or even setting what your colleagues earn

    At Google, we have pretty radical transparency, at least in Engineering where I sit.  With few exceptions, we can all see what every colleague is working on (via the Project Database or “PDB”), what they’ve recently accomplished (via weekly self-composed “Snippets”), and even what their core contributions have been to the company (their Google resume).  Through our performance review system, we can not only review our peers (and have them read exactly what we wrote about their strengths and weaknesses) but even review our bosses.

    I think on the whole this transparency is outstanding… ethical and useful.  But one part is missing, right?

    – We can see what people are working on.
    – We can see how people are performing.
    = We can see what they accomplish.

    but…

    – We CANNOT see what their compensation is.

    and beyond that…

    – We do not have a direct SAY in their compensation, only quite indirect input into promotions.

    Let me make one thing very, very, very clear here:


    I believe that total compensation transparency (beyond one’s own private understanding of his or her own salary and compensation mechanisms) IS A BAD IDEA.  Let me repeat that.  I am NOT seriously advocating that companies disclose the salary of each employee within or even outside of the company, nor do I suggest that employees be empowered to set and adjust their peers’ compensation packages.

    But… what if?  And why does salary remain so strongly one of the last taboos in this increasingly hip world of transparency?  What is it about human nature which makes us (even me!) shudder at the thought of this specific set of ideas?

    *  *  *

    Notwithstanding my quite-likely rational revulsion to the idea of compensation transparency, it would seem that there are some good arguments for such openness:

    • This might fix (what rank-and-file consensus would deem) stunningly inappropriate salary packages… on either end of the spectrum.  That do-nothing middle manager?  He’s making WHAT?  Not any more he isn’t!  That super hard worker in internal systems who stays late and doesn’t get the glory of working on glamorous projects?  Totally increase her salary!
    • People would (at least in theory) be paid more along the lines of what they’re currently worth vs. what they had the savviness to negotiate.
    • You could potentially stress out less when asking for a raise because either you’d have full knowledge of where you are on the pay scale or, in the scenario in which peers set your pay, it’d be out of your control.

    But I do believe there are far more arguments against radical compensation transparency.

    • Biases based upon “visible wealth” might skew perception and adjustments, resulting in harmful demotivations.  Have you seen the car that manager drives?  She surely doesn’t need more money.  Let’s dock her pay (even though that may drive her out of the company, to the firm’s detriment).
    • That aforementioned super dedicated hard worker in internal systems?  Her low profile and lack of direct revenue impact may cause many to perceive her as less driven, less worthy of compensation star status despite the actual criticalness of her work in the background.
    • Study after study has shown that our perception of and happiness with compensation is driven less by raw numbers or trends or even buying power, but rather keeping up with the Joneses.  In other words, getting a raise of $5000 is apparently not nearly as satisfying as earning $5000 more than one’s teammate.  Can you imagine the drama involved with compensation transparency given this aspect of human nature?!

    *  *  *

    And here’s an even crazier additional proposal:
    What if you could actually set your own pay (again, with the group transparency)?  As in, each quarter or year, literally determine how much you’re paid (though obviously if you asked for $10 million, the company could fire you on the spot due to reasons of insanity).

    • Rich folks who were working just for the love of it could more easily adjust/decline “excessive” salaries.
    • People might temper their pay a bit out of embarrassment, realizing that they really shouldn’t be earning 8x what their equally-worthy colleagues do.
    • People who needed a bit extra short term (for a house payment, etc.) could temporarily front-load their salaries.
    • When an individual employee accomplished an admirable but not very visible achievement, they could again temporarily increase their pay.  Or when they realized that they’d been slacking, they could dock their pay.
    • Or if an individual felt like taking a couple of extra days off, they could take that as “unpaid time” without form filling and bureaucracy.

    There’s some precedent for this self-determination at work; Netflix, for instance, lets their employees take vacation “as needed” without a preset limit.  And vacation is a type of compensation, right?

    *  *  *

    What do you think?  Again, please remember that I’m bringing this topic up not to advocate change but to philosophically examine our thoughts on compensation, transparency, taboos, and so on 😀

  • Zap ridiculous disclaimers, reform CEO pay in one fell swoop

    Stupid disclaimers.  You know ‘em, and you probably either ignore them or laugh at them.  Slightly enhanced samples that are either spoken at 420 words a minute or that take up a bazillion lines of tiny tiny text on the back of ads in news magazines.

    • “Warning: Stunt driver on stunt track in stunt car.  Do not drive like this [except in Rome]”
    • “Warning: Medication may cause sniffling, itching, numbness in extremities, permanent paralysis, or death. [+ 31415928 more lines that no one bothers to read]
    • “Remember, drink responsibly!  [Also, be nice to your mom.  Put up the toilet seat.  Don’t be prejudiced.  Love a geek today.]
    • “Results not typical.  Your results may vary. [Let’s face it… 99.9999% of people on this diet don’t lose an ounce.  We just managed to find the one freak who had liposuction after taking our product.]

    Completely useless, aren’t they?  Somehow I don’t think we’re gonna hear stuff like this from beer-bongin’ frat boys:
    “Hey Sarah, I’m concerned about you!  I mean, Mr. Jose Cuervo insists that we drink responsibly, and I just don’t think you are!  Can I get you an orange juice instead?”
    “Whoa, dude!  Didn’t you listen to that ad?  It said DON’T drive like this!  Come on, pull it back to 55 man!”

    *  *  *

    And then there’s the seemingly unrelated issue of corporate compensation.
    Forbes magazine lists some of the worst (most unproductive) CEOs and notes their compensation, including:
    – Richard M Kovacevich, Wells Fargo, $72.04 million
    – Edward E Whitacre Jr , AT&T, $49.01 million
    and, brace yourself:
    – Barry Diller, IAC/InterActiveCorp, $295.14 million (over half a BILLION dollars in the last 5 years, and ranked as one of the 15 most unproductive CEOs in the entire survey)

    Which raises some questions:

    1. If compensation is intended to reward good performance, why are so many outstanding leaders (in the public and private) sector making five figure salaries while many total losers and ruthless-jerk CEOs are making more than 100x their salary?
    2. If we also assume that compensation is intended to incent good performance, shouldn’t we ask: do any humans really *need* $xx millions per year to get out of bed and work hard for the day?  Given that there are, absolutely without a doubt, an enormous number of extremely intelligent and hardworking and respectable folks who would do wonders for a company at $x milion or even $xxx thousand per year, well… WTF?!

    Admittedly, I’ve kind of stacked the deck in my above examples a bit:  I mean, really, who loves their bank?  Or their phone company?  Personally, I find AT&T to be one of the most unpleasant, irresponsible, and customer-non-centric companies out there, but then hey, maybe that’s just me ;-).

    *  *  *

    Never fear, I have the answer to both problems… a way to get rid of moronic speed-read or 1pt font disclaimers while effectively shaming the grossly overpaid CEOs who perform worse than would Paris Hilton in a dramatic Shakespearean theatre role.

    In another article, Forbes complains that trying to do anything about CEO compensation is likely to either be unsuccessful or backfire, perhaps resulting in a further crapification and obfuscation in shareholder reports.  But my idea wouldn’t have that problem.

    Ready for it?  Replace the disclaimers with two required placements of Consumer and Stockholder Truth:

    • On every TV, radio, and print advertisement, the following must be sanely presented: “Last year, the [company-name] CEO made $78 million, median [company-name] worker: $11,000.  Stock has decreased 17%.”
    • On every stockholder quarterly / annual report, the company must present a “Compensation and Performance Summary” in one page, in normal font.  It’d include exactly what the CEO and other key executives took home, how the company did (particularly in its sector), and so on.  No forward-looking B.S., no big long charts.  Just a one page, ideally-bulleted summary.  I mean, hell, I don’t have time to read 50+ page shareholder reports, do you?  Didn’t think so.

    Okay, so I’m kidding a bit with the first part of the idea.  But seriously… don’t you think that there’d be some hell to pay for CEOs who were (effectively) publicly outed as greedy and incompetent asses?  And, in an ideal world, also some come-uppance for the lazy or thoughtless jerks who approved their compensation structure?  My favorite is when *especially* bad CEOs are finally shown the door… and then they get a $100 million dollar severance package or the like.  Often times, this happens around the same time that free coffee is eliminated from break rooms and lots of minimum wage folks are let go with two weeks pay.

    *  *  *

    Having seen what I perceive to be more sane and more humane economic structures and practices in place in Europe and Australia, I admit that if I could wave a magic wand and force exec pay to be no more than 10x worker bee pay, I’d do it.  But yeah, that’s never going to happen here in America.  So instead, I’d love to see executive losers simply get tomato’d in the public eye and forced to resign in shame.  Can you imagine, for instance, an “American CEO Idol” combined with a “CEO Gong Show” and “CEO Survivor” where CEOs have to defend their performance and keep others happy or get voted out of the cushy work world?  Not quite sure how instructive it’d be, but it’d sure be entertaining :-D.

    *  *  *

    Related BLADAM entries:
    – The Free (and Stupid) Market

  • Getting hired by Google

    I recently noticed that a fellow Googler posted some thoughtful tips about interviewing at Google, and — now that I’m a bit more comfortable blogging about Work — I figured I’d contribute to the conversation a bit by offering my own, unofficial tips.

    Note the unofficial part. I work in Search Quality; aside from occasionally being asked to interview candidates (like most Googlers) — I have nothing to do with our recruiting, recruiters, etc., nor do I pretend to speak for the HR folks. The stuff below is based on my own observations and opinions.

    * * *

    Application and interview tips
    Broadly: be interesting, be humble, demonstrate outstanding competence in your direct area, briefly highlight your well-roundedness (academically, workwise, and personally), and clarify how you are an excellent
    fit with both the position you’re applying for and Google overall.

    Admittedly, with an insane number of applications a year, it is a bit of a numbers game.  Some outstanding people get rejected.  And, though I haven’t witnessed this personally, I’m sure some jerks get offers.  Luckily, Google’s been overhauling its hiring processes, and I’m optimistic that particularly the percentage of great people getting overlooked (in relation to the number of apps) will decrease.

    Some specific tips and notes:

    • Write a decent cover letter

      • Write with a tone that’s professional yet warm… not stiff or dry.  Your (discernible) voice should come through.
      • Keep it to one page (max!) or less.  Maybe even a lot less.
      • Convince Google of the fits described above — that’s critical!!!
    • Your resume can be in PDF, Word, HTML, or text formats (unless otherwise requested, of course!)

      • But note that it will be ultimately printed out.  This means that reasonable pagination can be helpful and also suggests that a comprehensive 20 page document is perhaps not a great idea.  When you want your recruiter and interviewers to know more about your background & interests, links are your friends. 

    • Respectful persistence can be appropriate

      • If you genuinely have another offer on the table, let your recruiter know! If the recruiter promised to get back with you in [x] days, and in [x+1 or x+2] days you haven’t heard back, politely e-mail them.
    • If you have a friend at Google who can articulately and sincerely vouch for you, that can work in your favor.

      • Your association / relationship with that person matters.  They’ll be asked how they know you and how well they know you (and your skills).
    • Passion matters and is skillfully perceived.  You’re probably wasting your time unless you really are
      excited about a particular position.
    • Getting turned down for one Google position does not mean you’re ineligible to apply for another position down the road.
    • General interview advice that probably applies for pretty much any company:

      • Ask thoughtful questions.
      • Allow time for traffic and parking and finding the right building. Google — at least the Mountain View campus — is a big place!
      • Dress one or two steps better than you expect your interviewers to be.  Less than that, and people may wonder about your judgment. More than that, and people may think you’re clueless or arrogant.

        • The “right” dress at Google probably varies by department. Engineering folks tend to be more informally dressed than sales folks.  If you’re interviewing for a senior management position, I’d probably dress a bit more formally than you would for an intern interview.  But the official advice also really makes sense here:  dress comfortably.  If you feel comfortable and confident, it’ll show.
      • Get a good night’s sleep the two nights before.  Sleep deficits are cumulative.  If you have a
        morning interview, make sure you’re getting up early the two or three mornings before to get yourself ready to be mentally and physically alert during your interview time.  On a similar health note, drink and eat smartly the day of your interview.  Hunger pangs are distracting.
      • Invest in a good pen to take to interviews.  The heft and reliability can be a real-even-if-small confidence booster.  Taking occasional notes can help you remember info or questions for later, and also might indicate a sense of thoughtfulness and interest to your interviewer.
      • On the whole, think of interviews kind of like first dates.  You don’t want to do all or even most of the talking.  You’re there to impress, to learn, to help determine whether there’s a good potential for a relationship.  First impressions are important.  Show you are caring and thoughtful by asking good questions.  Avoid having spinach in your teeth (floss beforehand!).

    Possibly-little-known factoid:

    No Googler — not even Larry or Sergey — can singlehandedly extend an employment offer to anyone.  While candidates don’t have to go through as many interviews nowadays, most candidates — regardless of level — typically interview with quite a few peers; team-fit is critical!

    * * *

    I expect to offer some more Google-thoughts in the future, but — as a reminder — this is my personal blog, and as such, I expect to generally blather on about anything I feel like discussing, ranting, dissecting, punning, lamenting, etc… which is more likely than not to be boring to the impatient sort.

    Oh, and one last thing: please keep comments on-topic as a courtesy not only to me, but to the cool folks reading my blog. Thanks!

    * * *

    Related entries:
    – A blunt note to HR folks and interviewers
    – How to evaluate your current job & career… and thoughtfully consider future options

    and lastly, for a blast-from-the-past… some perspective & a bit of cranky ranting…

    – What do you do? (self = job?) And how are you?

  • How much would YOU pay not to be obligated to tip?

    I’ve had it with tipping.  The more traveling I do—for business or pleasure—the more I despise the uncertainty, the uncomfortableness, the need to have petty cash on hand.  When will someone—an influential someone—say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?!

    Tip too little, and you risk imperiling the quality of service you receive in the future from that person… plus you may look like an idiot or a miser in front of friends and business acquaintances.

    Tip too much, and you look like a chump… and your wallet is made thinner (sometimes much thinner).  And you feel like a moron for being taken advantage of.  Heck, in some countries, you risk really offending someone!

    This is one of the many reasons why I love Europe: you typically round up to the nearest euro when you eat out, and that’s that.  Adding to the coolness… for takeout food and pretty much else, what you see on the billboard or pricetag is what you pay.  15EUR?  You pay 15EUR; taxes, fees, etc., all included.

    Now, back to the insanity that we endure in the States… Here’s just a sampling of recommended tips from a recent AAA (Automobile Association of America) article:

    $2-$3 to your shuttle driver, $2 per suitcase to the skycap, 15-20% for the taxi driver, $2-$3 for a shoeshine, up to $5/night to your hotel maid, $5/day to a pool attendant (?!), up to $3 per round to the bartender and $20 (!) to your sommelier.

    Sick yet?  I am.  After all, where’s the $5 we should be giving to our professor after a fine lecture, the $3 to the garbage man when he picks up our smelly refuse, $5 to the guy who trims our garden, $4 to the busboy in your work cafeteria, and $10 for your colleague after he helps you draft a memo.

    But that’s ridiculous, you note.  Isn’t the colleague already getting a salary?  Why should you be responsible for bribing him to do a job that he’s already supposed to be doing?

    And you may further argue, hey, but the waiter is getting a crap salary… if it weren’t for our tips, he’d practically starve.  But, I’d retort, why the hell is it OUR (awkward) responsibility to make up for employers’ cheapness?  And who the hell picks 1) who gets tips and 2) how much a “proper” tip is by profession and location?

    Don’t get me wrong:  I think that everyone deserves a living, decent wage.  And I’d be quite pleased to have 15% or whatever automatically tacked on to my restaurant bill… so that the cost of my meal actually covered an appropriate salary for all involved with the occasion.  What about crappy service?  I’d do what I do when I encounter crappy service or products anywhere else:
    – Firmly yet politely complain to the right people.
    – If the matter remained unresolved, simply refuse to patronize the establishment again and warn my friends.

    …and, of course, the opposite for good service (yes, I *do* write “thank you for the outstanding service” letters, sometimes by hand… and I wish more people did this).

    Frankly, I doubt most folks are primarily motivated by money in their jobs anyway.  Does giving the waitress an extra $1 cancel out the urgent and occasionally rude demands we sometimes inflict upon her?  Not to her, I’d bet.  In fact, I’m pretty sure she’d rather we stuffed the dollar back in our wallet and treated her with respect and patience.

    By extension, one could even see tips as demeaning… suggesting that “those kind” of people are only apt to do a good job if they’re thrown fish (dollars) like trained seals.  You don’t see people giving tips to lawyers and doctors, and no, it’s not purely a pay thing.  Frankly, I’m betting my bartender friends make quite a bit more per hour than most of my lawyer friends… honestly.

    Of course, with all this said, I’m not only angry, but also rather resigned and un-optimistic about the crappy tip-required culture of ours ever being reformed.  I mean, what would it take?  If Our Goddess Angelina stopped tipping tomorrow, she’d just be vilified in the Enquirer and nothing would change.  If Bush didn’t tip next week, people would just (probably correctly) assume that he was unable to compute the tip even using a calculator.  No, I think it’d take an act of God, or maybe a good-looking denizen from outer space.  Until then, I guess I better just remember to keep a lot of ones in my wallet and just grit my teeth when I say “thank you.”

  • How I blew off Google… and more pre-Google career tidbits

    Happy Googleversary!
    As I was getting ready to board the Google Shuttle home recently, a colleague (who started at Google on the same day I did) poked me and jokingly wished me a “Happy Googleversary!”  Right then it hit me that, yeah, I had been at Google for a full year.  Wow!

    Also in the last few weeks, coincidentally I presume, many folks — particularly fellow alums — have been e-mailing me to ask about what it’s like at Google, how they can get a job there, etc.  I will be e-mailing all of
    them back (sorry for the delay!), but in the meantime it’s prompted me to do something I’ve been planning to do for a while:  write a few (okay, maybe more than a few) words on how I ended up at Google and what my thoughts are about working there.

    How I blew Google off
    As many of you likely know, I was fascinated with Google for years before I started working there.  In fact, in 2000, I featured Google in a department newsletter I wrote for the then-high-flying high-tech PR firm — Niehaus Ryan Wong (“NRW”) — which I worked for as an Interactive Strategist.  In 2001, my entire department was laid off and so I got to Google for “how can I save my pride and find a cool new job?”  I ended up using my online communication skills to keep me sane and mostly in the black doing consultant / contractor stuff.

    I think it was in early 2002 that I made a pretty big mistake, however. The conversation went something like this:

    Friend:  Hey… I got a job at Google… you know, the search engine… it’s really great!  I think it has some huge potential, you should work here!  Want me to submit your resume?

    Me:  Congrats!  But… it’s in, what, Mountain View or something?  And — no offense — how interesting could working on search really be?  And I’m doing just fine on my own, but thanks!

    Yes, I now rank that as one of my most severe and painful bouts with cluelessness.  I wised up not too long after that and applied for a couple of jobs at Google; got some interviews and the recruiters ultimately told me
    politely and firmly that I had a good attitude, fine credentials blah blah blah, but wasn’t a good fit for the positions.  And looking back, it’s clear they were right.

    The good life… and how I grew weary of it
    Over the next few years, I enjoyed working as a consultant / contractor with some super companies, a bunch of great people, and some understandably demanding but usually interesting clients.  But despite the cool projects and decent money and improving professional reputation, I grew weary.  I missed having a set of regular colleagues I could banter with and learn from face-to-face.  I missed having a mentor.  I wanted, also, to mentor others… and not just online.  I got tired of flying back and forth to Los Angeles for a client; ’twas a nice client, but I hated the city and the traffic that plagued it.

    Most of all, I felt wistful about never having worked for a medium/big company, never getting to really have a feeling of ownership in a company that provided products/services internationally.  I wanted to be even a small part of something big but not faceless, have an impact, have significant room for growth careerwise and otherwise.

    As you’ll see below, I am thankful to have found this in Google.  It’s not a utopia; there are things about the company that greatly frustrate me, there are days in which I feel overwhelmed and stressed.  But these days are few in number and gratifyingly dwarfed by the days in which I am very, very happy to be surrounded by people I respect, doing things I see as valuable, for a company that excites me and treats me ridiculously well.

    A few words about companies I worked with or even just interviewed with pre-Google
    Before I talk more about Google, I thought I’d share with you a few quick personal thoughts about some companies.

    Some companies I worked with before Google:

    • Plaxo: Very smart people. Collegial office conveniently served by a shuttle from Caltrain. Fascinating problems to solve. And their core product is hugely useful, increasingly well-designed, and truly has no equals. No need to send out “update my info please” notes; just enjoy the network effect of having lots of addressbook info updated. My interviews here were friendly, hands-on (“Okay, show me how you’d do this…”), and challenging.
    • Intrapromote:
      Friendly, hard-working, supportive folks who’ve been doing SEO for quite some time… and who happen to have one of the more concise, unpretentious, and underrated SEO blogs around. Through Intrapromote, I got to work on some pretty huge online campaigns with major Fortune 500 companies and the experience opened my eyes to a lot of tough issues that large sites face every day. The
      interview process with Intrapromote was refreshing: very open, informal, and sensible (no lame questions, no useless under-pressure crap).
    • Virgin Digital:
      I’m saddened by how this service flamed out in the U.S. The execs I worked with here were admiringly passionate about music and about enabling people to share their love of and insights about music with each other. They were motivated by the right ideas but — given that the service didn’t survive — unfortunately hobbled by either a lack of resources, bad luck, poor execution or all of the above. My
      interviews were… well, not really interviews. This was a case of, hey, Adam, we know your work, we’ve had some good chats, when can you start on this project? That’s not to say that Virgin’s consultant/contractor hiring was haphazard or careless, but rather that the President (who hired
      me directly) was pragmatic, efficient, and no-nonsense… operating on an intuitive (and, I humbly think, accurate :-P) sense that I was a decent and appropriate fellow to work with.

    And companies I interviewed with and received offers from immediately prior to
    working for Google:

    • Art.com: Classy and friendly people, very nice office overlooking the bay, and a damn neat product. The recruiter I dealt with was helpful and instantly likeable. All of my interviews were comfortable, reasonable, and — most importantly — truly two-way… conversation, not interrogations.
    • Microsoft’s MSN AdCenter: The MSN AdCenter campus is in beautiful Redmond (nice!) near one of my favorite cities (Seattle… yay!) but… located adjacent to a shopping mall away from the main MS campus (yuck!). Interview questions tended to focus on what I’ve done, and how I might handle client situations. Not terribly surprising. Suggestion to the AdCenter team and all other companies, for that matter: If you’re having a final-stage candidate do a full day of interviews, invite him to lunch with some of his potential-future colleagues. Giving him a box lunch to eat alone in an office is not only a bummer for the candidate, but robs you of the opportunity to see how he or she relates to others… and that sort of interaction, IMHO, can be quite revealing ;-). On a more positive note, I was relieved and pleased at how thoughtful my MS recruiter was throughout the process. When I told the guy I had an offer from Google, the fellow didn’t throw any chairs, but rather was extremely kind and supportive and urged me to take the time to make a decision that was best for me.

  • Being under the microscope

    I’ve been at Google about four months, and it’s been a hell of a great ride so far.  I really need to write more about this later, but in a nutshell… my colleagues rock, the flexible and trusting environment is awesome, and I’m very excited about what I’m working on.

    However, I do have to admit to sometimes being a bit freaked out :o.

    I spend a good chunk of my morning reading relevant industry news and also thoughtful blogs from Webmasters and others all around the world.  I glean a lot of great ideas (and yes, sometimes also bugs) that I share with colleagues here at Google. 

    A few days ago, I came across a pretty untraditional note, and I thought, hey… wouldn’t it be kinda funny if I actually went ahead and mailed Al a Tylenol packet?  So I did.  I figured he’d get a chuckle, maybe share it with some friends or even post a quick update on his blog.

    I had no idea that something this silly would capture this much attention!

    Anyway, yeah, this little mailing was indeed sent on a whim from a random Googler (me!), and though I’m a bit shocked by the response, I’m glad that my letter ended up entertaining not only Al, but also lots of other people.

    Along with many others here at Google, I’m working on some very cool projects dealing with Webmaster communications.  But aside from all of that official stuff, I’m reminded that it’s clearly the little things now and then that give a human face to this company.  Not to mention that when one of us Googlers decides to be a bit wacky, it’s far from a private moment 😛

  • A blunt note to HR folks and interviewers

    I wrote this quite a while ago, both to vent my frustrations and also to sincerely urge HR folks and interviewers to improve their practices.  I’ve had pleasurable experiences with most of the companies I’ve interviewed with in the past, but there has still often been quite a bit of room for improvement.  Also, I figured my rant below might make for a useful counterpoint to the plethora of interviewee-advice pages out there :-D.

    *  *  *

    Dear HR folks and interviewers:

    Write or call back when you say you will.  If you don’t, apologize.

    Don’t ask us about our salary history.  That’s rude and completely irrelevant.  Perhaps we were working for the Peace Corp.  Maybe we were wildly underpaid at our last job.  Or crazily overpaid.  Instead, tell us (at least a range of) how much your position is paying and we’ll let you know if that’s aligned with our expectations.

    Make job descriptions descriptive… complete with some day-to-day details.  Cut the jargon and market’y crap.  When your Craigslist ad contains verbiage about “best of breed solutions” and “every customer is #1” and “we offer GENAROUS [sic] benefits! [ahem, such as?]” we don’t know whether to laugh hysterically or run screaming.

    Make the interview day pleasant.  Let us know the names and positions of each person we’ll be interviewing with.  Don’t have us sitting in a room alone for 45 minutes wondering what’s going on.  Maybe even take us out for coffee or lunch with a potential colleague or a group of colleagues if we’re one of the finalists for a particular position.

    Consider starting off with at least a brief bit about your background to help establish a friendly rapport.  Help us see you as a (real, well-rounded) person we’d like to work with, not an adversary or mere interrogator.

    Be respectful of us and our time.  Don’t manage your scheduled phone interview call time on a “+/- 20 minute” basis.  Don’t be on a speakerphone.  Both of those behaviors scream to the candidate “You’re not very important and I really don’t want to be interviewing you.”

    Don’t be cheap-ass about reimbursements.  Reimburse us (promptly, please) for our transportation from the airport, for crying out loud, and the sandwich we grabbed in the terminal so we wouldn’t be starving when we sat down with you at the office.

    Make sure you have our latest resume, not one that you got from the recruiter 6 months ago.

    Remember that interviewing is a two way street.  You’re not just there for grilling us, you’re there to make us excited about your company and the position we’ve applied for (or you’ve recruited us for!)

    Cut it out with the stupid “strengths and weaknesses” questions.  Ask us to tell you about a favorite project or least favorite project, talk to former managers about us, anything where you’re bound to get more interesting and less fake commentary (e.g., “My weakness is that I tend to get too into my work and forget to eat lunch sometimes…”)

    Do share some of our key answers and info with future interviewers at your firm so we’re not asked the same question 5 times in one day.

    If someone at your company is consistently an unpopular or lousy interviewer, don’t have them interview people!

    Ask what we like in a job and work environment.  Ask what makes us happy.  Ask what stresses us out.  This is the sort of thing that’ll help determine if your job is a good match for us (and visa versa).

    And, for the love of God, if at all possible… please don’t make us fill out an application—by hand!—after we’ve already given you a detailed resume and other documentation with all the same info on it.  At least let us type it… please?  We’ll all be much happier 😀