> One reason I was able to quickly become productive within Google was because the company had invested so many resources into training documents called codelabs.
Counter perspective here. The on-boarding training at Google for SWEs is indeed very extensive, spanning several weeks with tons of material. For example, the first code lab alone covers how all of Google's source is in a single repository, how to check it out, how it gets built on a server, how to do code reviews, what the coding style is, etc.
I threw it all out the window after my first two weaks. I was joining an Android team, and as it turns out, Android works completely differently. Different source repo, different SCM tooling, different build system, different development workflow, different deployment mechanisms, even different workstations.
And the company culture was different as well. For example, in the Life of an Engineer class, they impressed upon us Google's culture of openness by poking around the source tree for search, and showing how we already have access to its code! But the Android source tree is tightly controlled, and my access request required two weeks and VP approval. (It's still the case that the majority of Google SWEs do not have access to Android source, or the Android café menu.)
I eventually came up to speed the old fashioned way: poking around outdated documentation, trial and error, and lots of bugging my neighbors. So in my case, the Google on-boarding process was mostly useless and partially misleading. This illustrates one way that "reusable training materials" can go wrong, especially with a larger organization.
Counter perspective here. The on-boarding training at Google for SWEs is indeed very extensive, spanning several weeks with tons of material. For example, the first code lab alone covers how all of Google's source is in a single repository, how to check it out, how it gets built on a server, how to do code reviews, what the coding style is, etc.
I threw it all out the window after my first two weaks. I was joining an Android team, and as it turns out, Android works completely differently. Different source repo, different SCM tooling, different build system, different development workflow, different deployment mechanisms, even different workstations.
And the company culture was different as well. For example, in the Life of an Engineer class, they impressed upon us Google's culture of openness by poking around the source tree for search, and showing how we already have access to its code! But the Android source tree is tightly controlled, and my access request required two weeks and VP approval. (It's still the case that the majority of Google SWEs do not have access to Android source, or the Android café menu.)
I eventually came up to speed the old fashioned way: poking around outdated documentation, trial and error, and lots of bugging my neighbors. So in my case, the Google on-boarding process was mostly useless and partially misleading. This illustrates one way that "reusable training materials" can go wrong, especially with a larger organization.