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I worked in smaller companies and now I work at Google. I enjoyed working for smaller companies so much more. I would never make a change from a small company to Google for the same pay. I think you will be shocked by how political and non-meritocratic Google is. Living abroad is also far from being all roses.

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Never worked at a FAGMAN company but from what I've heard this is all true, no disagreement. I personally avoid such companies for the reasons you've described.

That being said, given the not so great, let us say, cutthroat culture that naturally will present itself in such places, the two big wins are salary, and arguably, CV padding. If I had "worked at Google" on my CV that would likely count for a lot, and I'm sure that can be framed as a dollar value on some level. This is something to consider even if intending to stay for only a couple years.

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