Twitch Vs. Google, According to a Software Engineer Who Worked at Both

Goutam Nair, 29, has been a software engineer at Google’s Mountain View headquarters since Could 2022.

Previous to Google, Nair spent over three years as a software program engineer centered on machine studying at Twitch in San Francisco. He additionally accomplished a two-and-a-half-month software program engineering internship in 2018 at one other Magnificent 7 company.

Primarily based on his experiences, Nair shared his insights with Enterprise Insider on Google’s and Twitch’s interview processes, onboarding constructions, and work cultures — equivalent to which one had a bottom-up work tradition and which one was extra fast-paced.

Each interview processes have been relatively related

Nair discovered the interview process at each corporations to be “pretty related,” he stated, with robust emphasis on problem-solving, coding abilities, and system design.

“Every firm evaluated candidates for each technical experience and cultural fit,” Nair stated, via 4 to 5 technical interviews after which a cultural-fit evaluation.

Nevertheless, he discovered Google’s technical interview course of to be the toughest out of the Big Tech companies he is interviewed at.

“It actually examined my core understanding of laptop science fundamentals and making use of inventive options to different issues,” he stated.

He added that Google’s interview course of additionally concerned a further course of designed to match each candidate to a group that fit with the candidate’s abilities and pursuits. This differed from his expertise with the opposite corporations, which he stated sometimes have candidates interview instantly with the hiring group.

Onboarding: methodical vs. fast-paced

Nair discovered Google’s onboarding course of to be extra welcoming, he stated, as a result of firm’s emphasis on neighborhood and knowledge-sharing.

He appreciated that his first few weeks in his job included a well-structured “Noogler” — new Googler — orientation program.

“We have been cut up into groups, and every group was liable for proposing and implementing a small undertaking from scratch,” Nair stated. “After implementation, we might current the undertaking to management.”

He stated it felt empowering to current to management only a few weeks after becoming a member of, including that “it made the atmosphere really feel much less hierarchical.”

In distinction to Google’s longer and extra methodical onboarding processes, Nair discovered Twitch’s onboarding to be “fast-paced,” aligning with its startup-like culture.

As a brand new rent, he felt he was anticipated to ramp up shortly, have what he referred to as a “self-service strategy to studying,” and begin contributing within the first week.

“In my first month, I bear in mind leaping into debugging a important subject in certainly one of our main techniques,” Nair stated. “There was little hand-holding, and I needed to depend on documentation and my group’s Slack channels to figure issues out.”

This trial by hearth was each hectic and exhilarating to him.

“It was hectic since we needed to dig deep into our techniques to know the basis reason behind the outage as quick as doable and decrease the downtime, but in addition thrilling to have the ability to execute and collaborate with teammates beneath strain like this,” Nair stated.

A bottom-up work tradition and a powerful sense of neighborhood

Google typically encourages a “bottom-up” strategy, Nair stated. Engineers can pitch initiatives that come from inside their very own group, relatively than ready for directions from the highest.

“I’ve labored on a few such initiatives that merely began off as an off-the-cuff dialog between colleagues over lunch, obtained constructed into full-fledged options, and at the moment are typically out there to everybody,” Nair stated.

Nair at present works in Google’s Ads organization, specializing in search advertisements.

“At first, it was fairly mind-boggling and onerous to understand the dimensions of those giant techniques that serve billions of customers and clients the world over,” Nair defined, one thing he stated feels distinctive to Google.

He added that the dimensions of his work implies that cross-functional collaboration is the norm, and he repeatedly works with the infrastructure, product, and even authorized and coverage groups.

“This creates a tradition the place folks take possession critically and consider carefully earlier than delivery something,” he stated.

At Twitch, Nair felt that the work tradition was extra casual and infrequently prioritized velocity and iteration over perfection. In his expertise, staff had excessive ranges of autonomy to suggest and implement new initiatives.

There was additionally a powerful sense of neighborhood embedded inside Twitch’s tradition, he stated, each internally and externally.

“We have been inspired to work together carefully with streamers and content material creators,” he stated, including that the corporate organizes a semi-annual TwitchCon, the place neighborhood members can meet streamers and content material creators.

He discovered classes from each Google and Twitch

Reflecting on his two Massive Tech experiences, Nair stated every firm taught him different classes.

He stated he could not think about a greater studying expertise than he had at Twitch, saying, “It sharpened my means to maneuver quick, make unbiased choices, and adapt shortly to altering priorities.”

Alternatively, “Google empowered me to suppose huge and innovate,” Nair added.

Nair believes that what it takes to succeed at these two Massive Tech corporations is comparable.

He stated, “Engineers who take initiative, collaborate effectively, and hold enhancing their technical experience are inclined to thrive in these environments.”

Do you’ve gotten a narrative to share about touchdown a job in Massive Tech or AI? Contact this editor, Jane Zhang, at janezhang@businessinsider.com.