Hi, so I've been in Google for about 2 years now. I'm not being considered for the September promo cycle and there's a probability that I might not be even for the next cycle. By that time it'd have been 3 years of me as an L3 here. It is an org issue. Last time, there were 0 promotions in my org from L3 to L4. This time, it'll barely be 5. So I'm not optimistic. I've been good at work so far so I'm obviously a bit salty about not being considered for this cycle. About a month back, I also had a personal crisis so I'm not in a good mental space right now. I also don't really enjoy my work here. I interviewed for Rubrik L4 but failed it. This is the worst I've felt in a long time. I need some advice on what I should consider ahead:

1. Stick it out here and be hopeful about a promo next cycle.

2. Go for SDE 2 at Amazon, LinkedIn, Microsoft, etc. This would definitely mean a salary cut. I have considered Glean, Databricks, Stripe but I don't think they're hiring for L4 currently.

3. Since I'm from a Tier 1 IIT, I can land a few HFT interviews. I'm considering C++ quant dev positions. Would this be a good idea at this stage or am I too late?

4. Try for a startup. I'm open to this option too but can someone suggest names of the ones that will pay at par with Google?

Please be kind.

Hi everyone! I’m planning to apply for an MS in CS / related tech programs and would really appreciate a profile review, especially regarding ambitious, target, and safe universities.

My profile

• Undergrad: B.Tech CSE from a Tier-1 IIT in India
• CGPA: 8.76
• Industry Experience: Uber internship, 2+ years at Google
• Research Experience: UGRC in graph algorithms, BTP in computer networks - P4 programming language ML algorithms (funded by Ciena USA)
• LORs: Can get 2 from college profs with whom I researched, 1 from my manager
• Publication: No papers
• Currently exploring programs in the US and Europe
• Considering giving GRE next month

Universities I’m considering

• Cornell University
• Carnegie Mellon University
• UC Berkeley
• UCLA
• UC San Diego
• UIUC
• Georgia Tech
• UT Austin
• University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Purdue University
• ETH Zurich
• EPFL

I’d especially like advice on:

• Which of these would be ambitious / target / relatively safe for my profile?
• Is my profile competitive enough for top-10/top-20 US CS programs and Ivy League universities?
• Are there any strong universities I’m missing, especially considering tech placements and ROI?

Would especially appreciate input from people who applied with a similar profile or recently went through MS CS admissions.

Thanks!

Never studied system design. If anyone has gone through the process, can they help me with the kind of questions they ask? I have roughly a week to prepare for both algo coding and system design rounds along with my FT job :(

It's been 2 years of me working at a FAANG company and I absolutely hate the work here. I'm from a tier 1 college with a decent CGPA and JEE rank. How do I switch to an HFT? I'm fine with either trading or dev work. I've been applying to jobs through LinkedIn but I'm not receiving any calls. How do you actually break into this space? Should I cold dm people asking for referrals?

Hi, I've been thinking of switching to quant recently. So I'm a 2024 graduate from a Tier 1 college and a 3 digit JEE rank.

Currently I'm a SWE at Google and have interned at Uber. I have no experience whatsoever in finance or markets. But all of my dev work has been in C++.

Do you think I have a shot at quant dev roles in companies like IMC, Millenium, etc.

If yes, how do you suggest I start preparing? I'm also interested in quant roles, any advice on that front would also be appreciated.

In the task, I felt like Farah was scolding Shreya unnecessarily. And I've noticed that she also favours Ak. I do hope that they call Ak out and do something about it or I'm literally not gonna watch the show anymore.

I used to follow this guy before he became famous because I genuinely thought his fashion reviews were funny. But over time they got so repetitive and lowkey felt like bullying. And then when I saw him stand by Shreya I thought that was kinda cute but man, the complete flip he took as soon as he saw that Shreya wasn't gonna be liked by people in the season. He's a truly bad person and not a good friend. He shouldn't get a free pass for all the cursing also. Even Shreya didn't use such crass words for him. But my bro thinks that just because he's gay, people would think him calling her bkl would be "slay". I'm so done with his rona dhona and then turning into the nastiest personality at his own convenience. He's the kind of friend who turns out to be mentally exhausting because he/she is aways living with a victim complex, but at the same time they'll be the bitchiest to their enemies which is very concerning. They'll always turn on you as soon as they find a better group of friends, or people who will benefit them more.

He's evil. Period.

If a straight guy would have said half the things he spits out, he'd be cancelled.

Hi, so I've been stuttering for a few years now. I've always been academically smart, always at the top of my classes, went to the best university in my country and I work as a software developer at a great company.

I had to present my work for promotion today. And despite preparing and reharsing many times, I fucked it up. I started speaking very fast and just before the presentation, I felt a huge lump in my throat and as soon as I stuttered on the first word, I went down a rabbit hole. I stuttered at almost every word after that. It was honestly very embarrassing.

I don't understand what to do here. My stutter is so weird because it mostly shows up in high stake presentations or when I'm very excited to talk to my friends or family and speak very fast. I understand that I should speak a bit slowly but I can feel the blocks forming for some words as I start a sentence and it ends up making me very nervous.

I've so many dreams for myself and today I'm feeling super depressed because I realised that I'm probably never going to be able to present my ideas clearly.

I wish I could just be normal. I felt like killing myself for the first time today.

Also it's very strange that whenever I reharse on my own in my room, I speak very fluently. So I don't even see the point of rehearsals. Even when I'm usually talking to person in 1 on 1s, I rarely stutter. One more thing that I noticed is that when I'm explaining on a whiteboard the stutter reduces a lot.

Can someone please help me? Any help is appreciated. Will speech therapy help?

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I've been on goodreads for years. But honestly the UI kinda sucks. You can't search for people seamlessly, it's very slow and I also noticed that you can't filter the reviews by the number of stars.

Are there any other apps that you guys use to socially connect with other readers or maintain a track of the books you've read/TBR?

I am a software developer and me and a friend have been thinking for a long time to develop a more mainstream app for readers. Thoughts?

I'm not sure what to feel about this book. I picked it up randomly thinking that the blurb sounded interesting and that it'd be a thriller. But this is just the surrounding plot of the book. It's about Rika a reporter, her best friend, Reiko and Manako Kajji, a woman held for the murder of 3 men. Rather than the murders themselves, it's about Rika's conversations with Kajji and how they affect her thoughts and lifestyle.
The book offers interesting insights about Japanese cuisine, culture, feminism, journalism and friendship.
I really wish that the culinary descriptions were a bit more concise, like I get it. It's just rice and butter. Don't drone about it for 5 pages.

Curious to know your thoughts about the book.

Fun fact, this book was suggested to me by the bookstore owner and had been lying in my TBR for a while. I finally picked it up a few days back and I'm in love. It follows the lives of three friends Sam, Sadie and Marx who create games together.
Things that I liked about the book:

1. Easy and interesting to read, I finished it in two sittings
2. The intimacy and chemistry between the three characters. How they all fit in together so perfectly
3. The inclusion of very subtle social commentary about sexism and racism
4. The fact that the only video game I've ever played is Mario, and the video game aspect of the story never bugged me.
5. The childhood chapters. Reading them made me feel so warm.
6. The vivid game descriptions.

Edit: I see many downvotes and comments saying that it's very bad. No complaints. Reminds me of when I wrote this post and got bashed left and right 👀 .