Karan Saxena’s Post

3 years ago, I switched from @gmail.com to @google.com as I joined Google. One of the amazing things about the work culture here is Blameless Postmortems. Once, production broke down, and I attended my first post-mortem meeting. There was no: - blaming the team - penalizing the team  - telling them that they failed. The focus was on fixing the issue and devising a way to prevent repeated mistakes. I believe every engineering team should adopt this culture as it helps everyone: -learn better -collaborate more -identify mistakes faster -and continuously improve themselves Remember, You can only make SWE teams great by giving them the space to make mistakes. Blameless postmortems are the way to go and build a great team. -- P.S: I am starting a paid system design course in a few weeks. It’s suitable for software engineers with 5+ years of experience. Please fill this form if you’re interested: https://lnkd.in/g8E88eMB

I am very happy and thrilled to announce that I will be joining Google as a Software Engineer in Mountain View, CA next month! This is truly a dream come true for me, and I feel so proud to represent such a great company that has inspired me ever since I was a kid. Reflecting on my journey, I think of the late-night coding and learning sessions, the countless extracurriculars, and the hundreds, or even thousands, of hours of practicing LeetCode and building personal projects. All of that hard work and commitment has truly paid off, turning a dream into reality. I’m deeply grateful to my family, friends, colleagues, and mentors who have supported me throughout this journey. Your guidance and encouragement have been invaluable. Also, a huge thank you goes to my team and my interviewers. Meeting and talking with Googlers has been one of my favorite parts of this journey, and I’m incredibly excited to work alongside such talented individuals. That being said, a special shoutout goes to my recruiter, Paul Do, who guided me through the recruitment process and helped everything go extremely smoothly. My personal tip for anyone aiming to join Google as a SWE: focus on understanding the concepts behind LeetCode problems rather than practicing blindly. Master the fundamentals of data structures and algorithms, and learn when and how to apply each one effectively. I recommend starting with NeetCode to familiarize yourself with the most important algorithms and their practical applications. Once you have a strong foundation, practice LeetCode independently to enhance your problem-solving skills, judgment, and coding proficiency. Over time, you’ll get the hang of it :) Extra tip: mock interviews are a game-changer—make the most of them to simulate real SWE interviews and refine your approach. I’m excited to embark on this new journey at Google, contribute to impactful projects, collaborate with brilliant minds, and continue learning and growing in the Bay Area! #Google #SoftwareEngineer #ComputerScience #BayArea #Tech

When I joined Google, I thought my toughest learning phase was over. I couldn’t have been more wrong. 🗓️ 2018 – My first Google role: Payments I was thrown into microservices, internal frameworks, android-dagger, web-guice and complex systems. I thought my years at BlueStacks had prepared me for everything. Then, in a team meeting, a senior engineer asked me about the scalability trade-offs in a code snippet I had written. I froze. It wasn’t that I didn’t know the answer—it was that I hadn’t even thought of the question. 🗓️ 2021 – Transition to Android Automotive OS Here, the learning curve wasn’t just steep—it was quite literally vertical. ActivityManager, WindowManager, SystemUI, StatusBar, Insets Framework, OS Level coordinated transitions, Multi-User… It felt like a different world. One day, my mentor casually remarked: "Remember, when you optimize code here, you're optimizing literally for 3-billion devices." That’s when I realized: No matter how much you know, there’s always a bigger problem to solve, a better question to ask, and a better way to approach it. The key? Stay curious, stay humble. Software engineering is less about what you already know and more about what you’re willing to learn. #softwareengineering #leetcode #LifeAtGoogle #programming

🚀 Embrace the Journey: From Code to Innovation 🚀 As software engineers at Google, we are the architects of the digital future, the pioneers of innovation in the ever-evolving landscape of technology. Each line of code we write, every algorithm we design, and every problem we solve contributes to shaping the world around us. But beyond the lines of code and the algorithms lies something far more profound: the relentless pursuit of innovation. It's about daring to dream big, pushing boundaries, and challenging the status quo. It's about turning ideas into reality and transforming the impossible into the possible. In our journey as software engineers, we encounter obstacles and setbacks, but it's how we navigate through them that defines our success. It's about resilience, adaptability, and a relentless drive to keep pushing forward, even when the path ahead seems daunting. At Google, we're not just building products; we're building experiences that enrich lives, empower businesses, and connect people across the globe. We're not just writing code; we're crafting solutions that tackle some of the world's most pressing challenges, from climate change to healthcare. But perhaps most importantly, we're not just engineers; we're dreamers, visionaries, and changemakers. We have the power to shape the future, to leave a lasting impact on generations to come. So let's continue to push the boundaries of what's possible, to innovate fearlessly, and to inspire others to join us on this incredible journey. Together, we can create a future that's not just bright but extraordinary. #Innovation #Technology #SoftwareEngineering #Google #Inspiration #DreamBig #PushBoundaries #ChangeTheWorld

When I got into google a lot of people messaged me asking how to get into a big multinational company like Google. Here's what helped me land a role there. I don't come from a top-tier background, and getting into Google was a dream come true. So, when a Google recruiter called, I was actually feeling discouraged. I didn't think I had the skills for a company of that caliber. Plus, my knowledge of data structures and algorithms barely extended beyond linked lists. Naturally, I started prepping the way any candidate would – I opened Leetcode and began solving problems. Arrays, stacks, queues, linked lists... but the moment I hit "trie", I started questioning myself. Do I really want this for my career? As an embedded engineer, where would I ever use these concepts? After some reflection, I logged out of Leetcode. I decided that if I didn't get an embedded role at Google simply because I wasn't fluent in some rarely used data structure or algorithm, then so be it. So, when you ask me what helped me get into Google, it's this clarity about what I want to do. It's my desire to continuously learn and improve my understanding of my chosen field. Even though no project in my current role requires me to learn Rust, I'm doing it. I want to be able to make informed decisions about using Rust or C, not just because some YouTube video or post tells me to. In my opinion, you only need two things: The desire to learn and the confidence to pursue what you want!!!! #motivation #embeddedsystems #continuouslearning #careerdevelopment

One thing I learned from Google's culture: "Assume good intentions." About five years ago when I began my journey as a software engineer, I found it challenging to digest feedback at work. 👩🏻💻 Comments on my code review or design doc like "I don't think this library is suitable here" or "Have you considered other options?" were hard to take in. But as I ventured on, I began to appreciate one principle deeply ingrained in Google's culture: "Assume Good Intentions" 💡 This mindset helped me understand that these comments were not meant to bring me down but to help me grow and become a better engineer. 🌱 With this perspective, I became more accepting of my current state and more collaborative with my team. ✨ This approach has truly fostered my willingness to grow and my deep respect for my team. What are your thoughts and experiences on receiving tough feedback? Feel free to share in the comments below. If you want more insights like these, follow me for more career stories or join my weekly live sessions on lu.ma/anniewangtech. Let's grow together :) #LifeAtGoogle #Google #SoftwareEngineer #Feedback #CodeReview

Why do I love working at Google? 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌. 𝚆𝙵𝙷. 𝙰 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 ... Here's what happened - 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚌. 𝚆𝙵𝙷. 𝙰 𝚋𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚗 𝚊 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊 (𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎), 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚖𝚒𝚝 𝚊 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖. 𝙰 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚣𝚣𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝! 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: https://lnkd.in/g9gxP-XG I bumped into this "puzzle piece" today and it reminded me of how lucky I am to work alongside the brightest and humble Engineers. Each one is beaming with ideas, very supportive, and ready to solve complex problems... Reflecting, here are some of the key things that I absolutely, 100% love about working here - 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀:  - Everyone is very supportive and accommodating of others' ideas/opinions. - No suggestion is discarded until it is objectively proven impractical or incorrect. The default is to analyze the idea using the first principles approach. No idea is stupid or dumb. - I feel heard. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿: - Remember, your teammate might be seeing what you are not. - We trust each other and always focus on the problem, not the person. No blame games. No finger-pointing. - Diversity of thought matters - Junior, Senior... all are the same. 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿: - New ideas are celebrated and promoted. - We reinforce and find ways to convert the idea to reality. - Fail fast, dust yourself (and others), learn, and succeed sooner... 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱: - You know... :) Looking back, I got lucky - the stars aligned, the interviews went well and I tumbled into a role at Silicon Software Group! And... life changed! I've tap danced to work every day for the past 5 years... Thank you, Google! ❤️ #lifeatgoogle #google #embeddedsystems #hardware