With Low Expectations, Pleasant Surprises are Possible
Thursday, November 5th, 2009 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I've felt down or blue a lot in the past few days. At first, it was probably from eating milk chocolate fun size candy bars, but there was also a fair bit of self--doubt and existential moroseness. Thinking it through, I figured I'd internalized my perceived outside chance at getting hired by Google. Consciously, I knew my good answers were more frequent than even hits by guys in the World Series, but I had lots of time to think through all the little mistakes I made and things I said that, when written down without the full context of the moment, sound pretty dumb. I even had a dream in which I got a call with my recruiter and I asked for a list of reasons my points got docked.
So fully expecting I wouldn't get hired, but knowing that it wasn't a certain fate, I answered the phone this morning. I waspleasantly surprised elated to hear that the hiring committee was impressed and thinks I should be Google's next employee. As Neo said... Whoa.
There's still some paperwork and reference checking (but no pointer arithmetic) to do, so it'll be a week and change before I get an official offer, but I have now officially reached the easy part.
I could ask to be part of the Mountain View office, but I think it will be easier to start in Boulder with a closer group and a more familiar environment. If I decide later that California is the place to be, I can ask for a transfer. I'm sure I'll have a few chances to visit the fabled Googleplex in person regardless.
In summary: Yayberries!
Edit: I think the self-doubt I had is tied to doing consistently A minus work. My GPA was 3.8. My SAT and PSAT scores were high, but not high enough to qualify for merit scholarships or (probably) to get into top technical schools. A lot of code I've written has been good, but far from perfect. I spend time doing well-rounded things rather than being driven to near-perfection on a narrow band. While I'm generally happy, there's often a nagging sense that I could be top caliber, but I'm not quite. But since I'm clearly well above average, I'm not satisfied doing solid B work or being the big fish in a small pond. So the call I got this morning is a vote of confidence that I can be a growing fish in a big pond of excellence.
So fully expecting I wouldn't get hired, but knowing that it wasn't a certain fate, I answered the phone this morning. I was
There's still some paperwork and reference checking (but no pointer arithmetic) to do, so it'll be a week and change before I get an official offer, but I have now officially reached the easy part.
I could ask to be part of the Mountain View office, but I think it will be easier to start in Boulder with a closer group and a more familiar environment. If I decide later that California is the place to be, I can ask for a transfer. I'm sure I'll have a few chances to visit the fabled Googleplex in person regardless.
In summary: Yayberries!
Edit: I think the self-doubt I had is tied to doing consistently A minus work. My GPA was 3.8. My SAT and PSAT scores were high, but not high enough to qualify for merit scholarships or (probably) to get into top technical schools. A lot of code I've written has been good, but far from perfect. I spend time doing well-rounded things rather than being driven to near-perfection on a narrow band. While I'm generally happy, there's often a nagging sense that I could be top caliber, but I'm not quite. But since I'm clearly well above average, I'm not satisfied doing solid B work or being the big fish in a small pond. So the call I got this morning is a vote of confidence that I can be a growing fish in a big pond of excellence.
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Date: 2009-11-05 08:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-05 08:36 pm (UTC)Congratulations!
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Date: 2009-11-05 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-05 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-05 10:51 pm (UTC)I've always felt this way, too. It sucks being the smartest guy in the room. You never learn anything. Far better to be a medium sized fish in a medium sized pond, among people of equal skill. It's more fun and you learn more.
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Date: 2009-11-05 11:01 pm (UTC)Wootleberries!
Date: 2009-11-05 11:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-06 12:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-06 12:35 am (UTC)Great googly-moogly, you get to work for Google. Something few people get to do and many are jealous about.
-DL-
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Date: 2009-11-06 02:08 am (UTC)I think the narrow-band type people end up going crazy. New-age companies realize that. Congo rats!
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Date: 2009-11-06 02:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-06 03:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-06 04:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-06 01:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-07 06:27 am (UTC)