Google India Work Experience

EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS

PERKS

1. One fine Monday morning, I had a single ten rupee note in my wallet. I checked my wallet again on Friday evening and it still had that single ten rupee note in it. At Google, I don’t spend a dime during weekdays. I reach the office in an office-provided cab, eat at the free Google cafes, have snacks and dinner at the office itself and then reach home in one of the office cabs. One of my favourite perks of working at Google India was sleeping in the office cabs on my way to home after a hectic day at work. Also, the cab service is only offered in India. In the US, Google provides a shuttle service but the cab service doesn’t exist in any other country (to the best of my knowledge).
2. Talking about wallets, the security is pretty great. You can leave your wallet, watch, laptop etc. anywhere in the office and can expect to find it back in the same place the next day or with security. In my 2 years at Google, I never heard of anyone’s stuff getting stolen.
3. Most roles allow for some overseas travel opportunities. I went on a business trip to Europe. I followed all the guidelines for daily allowances (which is pretty generous) and wasn’t asked a single question about it. I had drinks when I wanted to and had all kinds of exotic food on the company’s card. Some Companies are cost-driven where whereas Google is Value-driven. (The cost of asking for business justification for each & every bill is more expensive than letting the employee do some productive work in that time. See point no. 4 under culture)
4. Google offers generous dental and vision insurance on top of health insurance. I underwent LASIK surgery and it was covered by Google’s vision insurance completely. Generally, LASIK is considered a cosmetic surgery and is not covered by most insurances. I know a couple of Indian Googlers who will never leave Google just for the amazing health insurance that it provides to some of their family members who need permanent medical attention.
5. During employment, if you undertake any professional course that is related to your job, then Google reimburses 2/3 of the total cost. In the case of personal development, Google reimburses 1/3 of the cost. Guitar lessons, Dancing lessons, learning a new language etc. come under the purview of personal reimbursement. I have used personal reimbursement a couple of times and it was a smooth process. (Upload the bills and fill in a small form and done)
6. Much has been said about Google’s food over the interwebs. I don’t have anything new to add to it, but you realize the importance of it during the weekends when you have to get your food. (I am a bachelor who lives alone and doesn’t like to cook)
7. Other perks that I have enjoyed during my tenure in Google India include an on-site Gym, playing table tennis, pool, Xbox, foosball, concierge service which takes care of all your daily errands like dispatching a courier, paying bills etc. (not free but nominal), laundry service (not free), mail room where you can order all your Amazon and Flipkart goodies :D. Also, there is an in-house coffee shop(free), library in the office, culture club, theatre club, football club, cricket club, and basketball club (in Hyderabad at least).
8. Google tries its best to care for you. They celebrate every employee’s work anniversary by decorating their work desk and offering them some massage points which in India translates to 60 minutes of free massage.
9. Free Goodies. Does the team have an extra budget? Great, let’s order some goodies. Organization have some cash leftover from the annual budget? Great. Let’s order some goodies. I have received Google t-shirts (5–6), a couple of hoodies, external hard disks, wireless speakers, headphones, backpacks, selfie sticks, neck pillows, keychains, pen drives, coffee mugs etc. in just 2 years. The amount of money Google spends on each employee is staggering.

A lot of other companies would pat themselves on the back for saving some money from a party budget and carry it over to the next year. Not Google.

Talking about goodies, the granddaddy of them all – the annual Christmas gift awarded to each employee. I received a Nexus 5X last Christmas and an Android One phone the year before on Diwali.

CULTURE

1. Google allows you to be yourself. They don’t have a one screw fits all bolts policy. Come at what time you want & leave when you want to. There is no concept of attendance or normal office hours. One of my colleagues who got an exceptional rating last cycle had the habit of coming to the office at 3 pm. (In his defence, he did work till 12 in the night.)
2. You can wear whatever you want to. No dress code bullshit. You are not judged on how well your shirt is pressed.
3. One of the unsaid rules of working at Google is to be Nice and Respectful. People hold doors for you. You will hold doors for people. Expect to hear the word “Thanks” (or some variant) every other sentence.
4. Elimination of bureaucratic bullshit. Google tries its best to eliminate hassles for its employees. There are proper channels for everything. Have a question about your latest pay slip? Mail an email alias and get your concern addressed in 24 hours or less. Need to get some expenses reimbursed? Go to an internal portal fill out a form and be done. You don’t have to jump through the hoops to get things done. This is true for pretty much everything.
5. There is an internal memes site ( check out Eric Schmidt’s book for more details) where you can criticize the CEO, senior VPs, management etc. without any repercussions. You can voice your disagreement and it is OK!. You can respectfully agree to disagree. Also, Googlers are the first to be up in arms against any decision taken by the company that may not be in the user’s best interests. ( Integrating G+ with YouTube was an unpopular decision internally and people weren’t shy when it came to expressing their disagreement)
6. Google India celebrates multiple festivals every year by decorating the office and preparing special food on those days. It also has to Bring Your Children to Work multiple times a year where they install make-shift slides & playhouses in the office for children. Also, there are multiple initiatives organized by Googlers and for Googlers to give something back to society.

WORK

Your work will largely depend on which organization you join and on your skill sets.

1. Annual increments every year are quite generous. The only time people bitch about their increments is when they compare it against their neighbour. “I only got 20% while so and so got 30% last year blah blah”. Increments are dependent on your current base salary and your appraisals.
2. You can say NO to projects. If the project doesn’t interest you, then you can decline to take it You need to convince your manager. Most managers will agree to not give you some project which you don’t want to undertake.
3. Google has a pretty good internal mobility program. But the competition is very immense. (See point no.1 in the Needs Improvement section)

Bottom line :

You will come to work for Google India for the brand and leave to pursue better quality work elsewhere (either in Mountain View or with another company). Google India is a very good employer and treats you well but once the honeymoon period is over, it is the quality of work that will keep you satisfied (or dissatisfied) at the workplace and no amount of free chocolates or other freebies will be able to compensate for it. So choose your role wisely and don’t expect flying unicorns or something. Do keep in mind that all the free stuff will cease to excite you… just like your cell phone isn’t exciting anymore and just like your last car or clothes stopped pleasing you after a couple of days/weeks.