Even when I get a meaningful project, all I do is copy code from the internal codebase and patch things together until they work. I was promoted only once. Now that I'm thinking of jumping ship to other interesting companies, I'm having serious doubts that I really learned what I should have learned during all those years. Especially since I'm considering companies with a higher hiring bar than Google. Should I start by preparing a checklist of technologies and dive into each of them for a month and continue from there?
Hi there, I did the exact same thing as you at Google Sydney , before eventually deciding that I must strike out into the wilderness. In the few years since I left; I worked as a solutions architect managing a team, a team lead, a remote dev, and now in a startup. Front-end, back-end, flip-side, all the ends.
So I've been deliberately trying different angles of my career to see what suits. I'd describe this process as grueling, "challenging" is too friendly. I honestly think I would have been happier staying at Google, farting around, and being social.
I agree with a lot of the comments here. If you stay at Google, make the most of it by progressing deliberately in your social life.
If I'd've stayed, I could have comfortably raised some kids with my wife by now - but that's still on the todo list. If you leave, just jump right in. I didn't study anything, I just picked it up as I went along. Basically I'm saying you can be happy either way. If you leave, know what you're getting yourself into.
