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David, Site Reliability Manager at Google: Advize Career Interview
A winding career path, starting with post-college struggles and open-source contributions, led to roles at Lockheed Martin, a Google competitor, and Bing.
This journey, including founding a FinTech company, culminated in a Site Reliability Manager position at Google, driven by a desire to work on planetary-scale systems.
The role involves managing engineering teams, improving Google Cloud's reliability, and handling on-call duties. Success requires "human empathy" and "mechanical sympathy," efficient task-switching, and a pessimistic imagination.
The most rewarding aspects include mentoring junior engineers and solving complex global problems. Challenges involve navigating team dynamics and delivering difficult feedback.
The software industry's ability to solve real-world problems is highlighted, along with advice for aspiring professionals to focus on impact and leverage entry-level roles for experience.
A key lesson learned is the importance of recognizing personal fatigue. Early engagement with professors during undergraduate studies fostered a flexible career path, and embracing identity can unexpectedly create advantages in tech.
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
David Fayram
Site Reliability Manager
University of California, Santa Barbara
None
Computer Science
Energy and Utilities
Cyber Security and IT
Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, LGBTQ
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Career Path Of A Site Reliability Engineer At Google
David's career journey, beginning with post-college struggles including "odd jobs" and temp work, led to open-source contributions and roles at Lockheed Martin, startups like Powerset (a "credible competitor to Google"), and eventually Bing. This winding path, involving founding a FinTech company and recognizing gaps in their leadership skills, ultimately culminated in a Site Reliability Manager position at Google, driven by a desire to work on "a system that was planetary scale."
Main Responsibilities of a Site Reliability Manager at Google
As a Site Reliability Manager at Google, David's main responsibilities include managing a team of engineers and leading projects focused on improving Google Cloud's reliability, including "on-call duties" and reviewing design documents for new products. David's role highlights the unique Google philosophy of requiring managers to remain strong technologists, focusing on delivering software that is "more valuable than it costs to run."
A Day In The Life Of A Site Reliability Manager At Google
A Site Reliability Manager's day at Google begins early, addressing "ongoing incidents" and coordinating with global teams to resolve them, ensuring the allocation of necessary resources. Much of the work involves long-term planning, "organizing what lots of people are going to do over the course of many, many months," alongside typical managerial responsibilities, with coding and documentation taking a secondary role.
Most Important Skills for a Site Reliability Manager at Google
David, a Site Reliability Manager at Google, emphasizes the crucial need for both "human empathy" and "mechanical sympathy" in the role, highlighting the importance of understanding both the people and the technology. Efficient task-switching, fueled by the ability to "visualize how computers...can fail," and a pessimistic imagination to anticipate problems are also key skills developed through practice, according to David.
Favorite Parts of Being a Site Reliability Manager at Google
David, a Site Reliability Manager at Google, finds immense satisfaction in mentoring junior engineers, fostering their growth and enabling them to achieve "more ideal selves as a software engineer faster than" David did. The unique, planetary scale of Google Cloud's infrastructure also captivates him, offering the chance to solve complex, geographically diverse problems like "routing traffic around" international issues or addressing Europe-specific software failures.
Biggest Challenges Faced by a Site Reliability Manager at Google
David, a Site Reliability Manager at Google, finds the most significant challenge in the role to be the delicate nature of teams and the evolving needs of the company, noting that "teams are delicate things." This includes navigating difficult conversations, such as delivering negative feedback and absorbing the anger of team members regarding company decisions while maintaining sanity and providing support.
Favorite Parts Of Working In Software As A Google Site Reliability Manager
David, a Site Reliability Manager at Google, finds the most rewarding aspect of the software industry to be "this idea that we can solve problems that we see out in the world," even acknowledging the occasional downsides of a "disruption or co-option" mentality. The ability to tackle challenging issues using software, across diverse fields like physics and medicine, is what fuels David's passion for the career.
What Type Of Person Thrives In Software According To A Google Site Reliability Manager
David, a Site Reliability Manager at Google, highlights the diverse talent within the software industry, stating that "it really takes all kinds," and advises against limiting oneself to a specific title like "Python programmer." Instead, the focus should be on developing broad skills applicable across various fields, recognizing the transferable nature of abilities and the potential for career transitions, given the industry's evolution and the ever-changing skillset demands.
What A Site Reliability Manager At Google Wishes They Had Known Before Entering The Tech Industry
David, a Site Reliability Manager at Google, advises aspiring professionals that while coding is essential, "the actual value is making impact and organizing the effort to build products," not the coding itself; experienced professionals prioritize impactful work over coding.
Entry-Level Positions For Aspiring Site Reliability Managers At Google
While Google hires directly from college, particularly those with internships, a more practical entry point is gaining software experience through various entry-level roles, "leverag[ing] the training" offered. Seeking infrastructure or networking positions provides valuable, immediate exposure to reliability challenges.
Significant Career Lesson from a Site Reliability Manager at Google
David's most significant career lesson is the difficulty of recognizing personal fatigue and burnout; the advice given is to "listen to yourself," because pushing oneself too hard, a common tendency in software engineering, ultimately harms one's career more than helps it.
College Experiences That Helped a Site Reliability Manager at Google Succeed
David's undergraduate success stemmed from engaging with professors during upper-division classes, leading to exposure to "research and collaborations with industry." This early exploration of diverse software applications, rather than hyper-specialization, fostered a flexible career path that David credits to "professors that gave the opportunity to sort of look in on that and realize it."
How Identity Has Influenced a Site Reliability Manager at Google's Career
Navigating a career as a non-binary individual in tech has presented challenges, including encountering "folks who have been outright angry," but also unexpected advantages. The need for support naturally fostered strong professional networks built on shared experiences, proving that "embracing that identity...can be a little bit of an advantage."
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