You have a couple things mixed in here, some of which ring true to me and others very false. The true ones are the stuff about the interview process. I think a day of whiteboard programming is a poor way to assess experienced candidates. It does make you feel like a cog. (I also don't really know how to design an alternative process that doesn't increase the level of bias.) But most of your stuff about what it's like after you accept an offer rings very false. I haven't worked anyplace with better work life balance (and relatedly, really good family leave benefits) or more opportunities for challenging work and career growth. I don't find it hyper competitive (but I'm never sure how much this is a function of where I'm located or what I work on). You're right about transparency though. Having a full view of what's going on at my company is something I miss from previous jobs.
When you work for a company as large as Google unless you are very senior, you are a cog. I am not making a value judgement.
I work at a small B2B SAAS company. We bill an implementation fee, an ongoing licensing cost, and costs per feature. If I create a new feature for a customer whether it’s a one off integration or something that will be in the product, everyone from the CEO to the customer knows how much value I personally bring to the company. That doesn’t scale and can’t work in a larger company.
You have a couple things mixed in here, some of which ring true to me and others very false. The true ones are the stuff about the interview process. I think a day of whiteboard programming is a poor way to assess experienced candidates. It does make you feel like a cog. (I also don't really know how to design an alternative process that doesn't increase the level of bias.) But most of your stuff about what it's like after you accept an offer rings very false. I haven't worked anyplace with better work life balance (and relatedly, really good family leave benefits) or more opportunities for challenging work and career growth. I don't find it hyper competitive (but I'm never sure how much this is a function of where I'm located or what I work on). You're right about transparency though. Having a full view of what's going on at my company is something I miss from previous jobs.