

Ask HN: Where should I work? Facebook or Google Search? - newtechjob

I'm having a tough time making a decision, so why not try to crowdsource it:<p>I'm a software engineer. Both offers are about the same in $$$ (at current prices) and the jobs at both are flexible as to what I could work on.<p>Which would you go to and why?<p>Vote up either one of my choices and reply under it if you want to comment.<p>Thanks!
======
jacquesm
Google without a doubt.

Facebook is just another chapter in the geocities/myspace/facebook sequel,
true, they've done a better job than any of their predecessors but they'd
almost have to by definition.

One day there will be the 'next' facebook, I doubt we'll see a 'next google'
any time soon.

I'm no friend of either company (Google to me is way too opaque given the
amount of control they've got) but when choosing between those two the choice
for me would be easy.

~~~
pg
Interesting. I disagree with each one of those sentences.

I think the choice would be pretty close, not something where you could pick
without a doubt.

Facebook is definitely not just the social network du jour, just as Google
wasn't the search engine du jour when they appeared. (Though people could have
claimed with equal plausibility that they were.)

Thus while there may be a "next Facebook" in the sense of the next hot
startup, it won't be doing the same thing.

And I feel like I'm a friend of both companies, both in the sense of knowing a
lot of people at both, and thinking pretty highly of both. And choosing
between the two of them would be hard.

~~~
jacquesm
Time will tell. Facebook is in my circle of friends already past it's peak.
The frequency of visits and interaction with the site is dropping and more and
more profiles are left to gather dust.

Google is a very mature company with iron control over their monetization,
they're in for the long haul. The OP specifically wrote working for google
search, which is their core product and that's something that matters when
selecting an employer.

Facebook gives me a 'cowboy' feeling and I wouldn't be surprised if in the
long term they'll just be another footnote.

I used to think pretty highly of google but their last couple of years have
been less then stellar, so I can't see either as a decision without downsides,
but overall at least for me google clearly wins out.

Facebook's origins and CEO will forever leave a mark on that company.

~~~
gbookman
_The frequency of visits and interaction with the site is dropping and more
and more profiles are left to gather dust._

Although their growth has slowed, Facebook's still growing traffic at a decent
rate, having passed Yahoo for the #2 most visited site last month.

Also, according to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (ex-Googler who oversaw the
creation of AdWords) more than half their users log into Facebook at least
once a day. Seems like Facebook's firing on all cylinders to me.

~~~
jacquesm
Facebook is still 'new' to plenty of internet users, but it seems that
facebook presence has a lifespan associated with it, my own experience was
something like: "Neat, let's use this", "reconnect with a bunch of old
friends", "nothing exciting happening and now that I've reconnected why bother
keeping it up to date".

As for that quote above, I meant for that to be in the context of my circle of
friends, not the general public. And probably there are an above average
number of 'early adopters' in that small group.

Are there any public figures on facebooks 'churn' ?

~~~
rms
Facebook, for better or worse, has become fundamental to the social lives of
Generation Y. There's certainly churn among older users, but I think it's
almost an accident that Facebook has become so popular with an older crowd.
The core users aren't going anywhere.

Facebook is on track to become the #1 most visited web site. I don't think it
will hit that milestone only to fail.

~~~
albertsun
As a member of Generation Y, Facebook used to be fundamental to my social
life, but over time it the amount I engage with it and the amount other people
in my social circle engage with it has rapidly dwindled.

~~~
rms
But you and many of your friends still check it every day, right?

------
starkfist
facebook is still pre-liquidity event.

google has more options for working outside of mountain view. if you're on the
right team, you can go work in nyc, london, a farm in arkansas, etc.

there are more Bs and Cs at google. they hired a lot of duds during the great
hiring spree of 2007-2009.

google is almost like having a regular job. if you don't have a psycho as a
manager, you can live like a semi normal human being, leave work at 6pm, have
hobbies, etc.

facebook will be more life-consuming.

I find it hard to believe that you got an offer at both places and didn't get
a gut feeling about which one you'd rather work at.

~~~
rms
Did all of those duds employees at Google still have really high GPAs and SAT
scores?

~~~
starkfist
Probably. Just like they did at Enron, LTCM, Lehman Brothers, etc...

------
rms
Google and Facebook have somewhat different corporate cultures. You may be
more comfortable with one culture than the other.

Otherwise, go with Facebook. Your Google stock options can't appreciate that
much faster than the broader US stock market. With Facebook, you still might
have the (not?) irrational exuberance of an IPO.

------
sayrer
Mike Shroepfer, VP of Engineering at Facebook, hired me at Mozilla. I'm quite
happy where I am, but let me tell you, that is someone you want to work for.

* <http://www.crunchbase.com/person/mike-shroepfer>

------
samdk
You can make polls here: <http://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll>

This is not really a decision someone else can make for you though. Especially
given absolutely no information about you.

~~~
cpach
You need a certain amount of karma to make a poll.

------
sz
[http://www.businessinsider.com/the-origins-of-facebook-
and-m...](http://www.businessinsider.com/the-origins-of-facebook-and-mark-
zuckerberg-2010-3)

This is who you would be working for at Facebook.

------
keefe
Google does more right and contributes much more to the world than facebook.

------
jolie
How do you perceive the culture of the groups you'd be working in?

------
newtechjob
Google

------
newtechjob
Facebook

