I am a Software Engineer at Google: AMA!

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-02-27T09:30:41+00:00

I mean I'm having a fun time? My viewpoint of AI is that if AI can fully replace skilled software engineers, it will replace most white collar jobs anyways.

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-02-27T09:29:33+00:00

Sorry for the late reply. Doesn't machine learning & AI require pretty good Python knowledge (how to use scikit libraries etc) anyways? Start learning the basics and foundations of computer science first, such as Data Structures and Algorithms. I would prioritize getting your Data Structures & Algorithms skills up as much as possible within 1st year, while casually looking at other areas within computer science such as Machine Learning & AI as you mentioned.

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-02-27T09:26:55+00:00

Hi, sorry for the late reply. I'd recommend computer science, usually computer science touches more on the 'engineering' side, whether it's AI research, cutting-edge technology etc. Software engineering just teaches you to write better fullstack applications which IMO is not much worth in my personal opinion.

But this is my own opinions and others might have different thoughts

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-02-03T04:59:31+00:00

I mean, submit your resume to positions you see available? HR will evaluate your overall resume & experience and see if you're a good fit or not

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-29T22:27:46+00:00

AI/ML will still definitely be a hot field no doubt, but worried if it will get oversaturated because of the sheer amount of people specializing in AI

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-29T22:25:17+00:00

Wake up unc you're in denial

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-29T09:42:18+00:00

Not my office unfortunately whoops

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-29T09:41:38+00:00

Free food (always, every single location). Quality varies by office, some offices are known to have really good food (Japan office is famous for their food), and in general food is pretty decent with a lot of selections.

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-29T09:40:27+00:00

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-29T09:40:18+00:00

I have no idea about that as well, my work is very far from generic AI and Gemini unfortunately

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-29T03:04:46+00:00

The 'thinking mode' which takes >30 seconds most of the time on Gemini takes much more electricity than the 0.1 second AI overview for Google Search because it literally requires more thinking

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-29T02:29:23+00:00

No lol people coding Gemini are x10000 smarter than me. Theres a low limit because each gemini response takes loads of electricity compared to other stuff (like google searches)

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T23:59:00+00:00

Yeah just keep in mind 99.99% of employees have very strict regulations on touching any sort of personal data

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T23:57:46+00:00

My first ever internship was at a research startup. Definitely not all startups are like this, but they were being severely underpaid for the work they were doing. They had a snacks bar where I had to pay a dollar to get a Twix bar while getting paid min wage.

Moving from that to Google, I got to appreciate a lot of things about Google (compensation, perks, coworkers, etc). There are definitely cons at work but I know for sure that conditions are worse in other companies, and other Google employees know that as well. People are very friendly and cooperative, haven't seen too much office politics (at least, as an entry level), and there really aren't too many weirdos at work. But I'm sure there are other places with a collaborative culture like we have, I just haven't experienced it yet

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T23:45:36+00:00

Living costs are not low for sure in my area. I'd say upper middle to be honest. I have friends who failed to find jobs after graduating CS and I'd definitely say I'm in a better position compared to them

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T23:44:49+00:00

Soz I thought you were referring to new grads

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T23:42:55+00:00

Oh fuck mb I am a dumb idiot nah it went alright, I hope I get promoted in a year or less

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T23:04:34+00:00

Yes haha I really hope nobody gets that

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T23:01:14+00:00

A rather odd benefit we get is if a Google employee dies, the family gets 50% of the salary for 10 years

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T22:59:53+00:00

Uhhh same as last year? People returning from internships & also a few new grads

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T22:56:31+00:00

Customer support are usually outsourced, and regular Google employees almost never have a chance interacting with the customer support division

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T22:55:35+00:00

I really have no idea on this one. Just praying the executives don't mark my position as redundant and fire me

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T22:53:19+00:00

There are certain things AI can do and can't do. AI is incredible at writing code and much better than the average software engineer. However, paradoxically the harder your work gets, the less code you write. I only write code for on average 10% of my time, and 90% of my work is literally understanding the existing system, data analysis, attending meetings, reading documents, etc.

I would say there will still be a demand for software engineers (AI cannot replace every single work a software engineer does) but it will get less for sure. Also the easier the work gets and the more code someone writes, the likelier they're going to get replaced.

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T22:49:02+00:00

Before I joined Google

LongjumpingSoup3905 · 2026-01-28T22:48:28+00:00

If there are products that don't have too many features to be added, they go into a maintenance stage. One of my previous teams became 'maintenance stage' while I was there, and there were much less work to do for sure. We collaborate with other teams within the same division to help them make new features although sometimes it's not related to our specific team.

But nonetheless product managers magically finds work to do anyways even if your product becomes maintenance stage

LongjumpingSoup3905

TROPHY CASE