

Ask HN:  I was just acquired by Google.  What should I expect? - j_baker

The startup I work for (Apture) was just bought out by Google.  On one hand, I'm excited.  I have heard nothing but good things about how they treat their staff, especially engineers.  On the other hand, there's no way to go from working for a company with 12 people to a company of 60,000 people and not be a bit overwhelmed.<p>Can someone hear give me an idea of what to expect?  Are there any habits I may have to break?  How does the Google Experience tend to be different for "acquired" engineers versus "hired" engineers?
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rachelbythebay
Unless you are uniquely valuable, you will undoubtedly go through a standard
hiring process. Expect to not be hired for your "own job" -- it's not yours
any more, it's theirs.

Seriously. For most people at an acquisition, this is the end of the road.
They get a couple of weeks or months and then they're gone.

Go look at what happened with Skud. She didn't fit their idea of an engineer,
so she got a "fixed term", no bonus, and in July that was it. She was out.

<http://infotrope.net/2011/07/21/a-note-to-google-recruiters/>

Also, look up what happened with AppJet/EtherPad and Wave. Some of it is right
here on HN:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2320172>

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dholowiski
Any idea what happens if you don't meet their requirements? (Eg, no university
diploma) - can you get acquired but not hired?

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j_baker
I don't have a college degree and I was offered a job. Believe me, there's no
chance in _hell_ google would hire me if I put in a resume. Hell, even if they
like my resume, they wouldn't have likes my crap interview performance. :-)

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notphilatall
Email me (address in profile), I joined Google in 2010 from Slide. I think
you'll be pleasantly surprised :)

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bdr
The email field isn't visible to other users. You have to put it in the
profile field.

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colladude
have you already seen the post by an operations developer at Zagat ...
[http://blog.falconindy.com/articles/google-bought-me-the-
fir...](http://blog.falconindy.com/articles/google-bought-me-the-first-two-
days.html) ?

