Landing at the Plex

Friday, April 20th, 2007

Google Eyes

Today I’m thrilled to let everyone know that I’m no longer unemployed and landed at an all-time favorite company of mine, Google. I went through my phone screens, gave my presentation, went through a day of interviews, and voila. Here I stand with a smile on my face knowing I’ll be joining the most spectacular upstart in business history.

My Role at Google will delve heavily into prototyping rich UI’s as a User Interface Engineer within the User Experience group. And as far as I’m concerned, it really doesn’t get any better than that. I get to do what I love, get paid for it, and in some cases get to put my work out in front of a bagillion people (number not accurate (but probably not far off)). Lastly, I think some of that free food might actually help put some pounds onto that stick figure of mine.

What about all that Yahoo stuff?

I had made it quite clear during my interview process about my prior involvement with Yahoo and Yahoo UI. As a matter of fact, if anyone is unaware of the fact, I wrote a JavaScript library built on top of YUI. I’ve made several screencasts demonstrating how to use YUI, and of course written several tutorials on what you can do with YUI. The list goes on.

Life goes on

It’s time to start fresh. I have my reasons for leaving the places I have, and now I’m really excited about the place I landed. My goal at Google is to ultimately fall in love again with the reason I got into web development in the first place. I am passionate about what I do, and I am positive that Google is going to be a place that will allow me to do just that. To me Google is a place where innovative ideas are fostered, and you’re constantly surrounded by intelligent people to make those ideas better.

Don’t bloggers go there to die?

That’s a stereotype. A stereotype, however, that I once believed as well. I believe blogging is good for my soul, and I always love sharing what I learn. I will continue to blog, but of course under restrictions of not sharing private company information such as unreleased products, future plans, and the next April fools joke. That’s strictly for HR to handle and I will have no part of it. You can expect to see a modified about page in the near future on this site discussing some of these guidelines. I will learn more about this policy as I discuss it with Google. Nevertheless, I guarantee, I will not die.

Now what?

Life is back to normal. I can stop sitting around the house and get my lazy butt back to work! Cheers to a new job!

65 Responses to “Landing at the Plex”

Tobie Langel
April 20th, 2007 at 1:46 am

Congrats!

And please… don’t stop blogging.
Arnaud
April 20th, 2007 at 2:26 am

Will that mean you will stop your work on DeD ? It seems the section “What about all that Yahoo stuff” lacks some words :)
Harmen Janssen
April 20th, 2007 at 2:30 am

Congratulations Dustin!
Looking forward to see what innovative new Google-stuff you come up with :)
Jason Leveille
April 20th, 2007 at 3:26 am

Awesome for you Dustin. I hope you find the love bug you say you seem to have lost along the way. Is it going to be strange to shower on a daily basis? Are you going to shower on a daily basis?
Steve Ganz
April 20th, 2007 at 3:54 am

Congrats, Dustin! I’m sorry you didn’t land at LinkedIn, but at least we’ll be neighbors now. You’ll have to Segway down the street for some four square every once and awhile. I know I’m definitely looking forward to being your guest for lunch at the Plex. ;)
Deny Sri Supriyono
April 20th, 2007 at 5:20 am

congratulation, dustin!

btw, nice google you have there on your face, mate :))
Mike Stickel
April 20th, 2007 at 5:23 am

Congratulations Dustin! This here be some big news and I’m glad to hear it.
Michele Gerarduzzi
April 20th, 2007 at 5:48 am

Congratulations Dustin!
Thatâ€™s a fantastic achievement, and you certainly deserve it.
Jason Beaird
April 20th, 2007 at 6:04 am

My goal at Google is to ultimately fall in love again with the reason I got into web development in the first place.

Congrats Dustin! That’s a respectable goal too…
will
April 20th, 2007 at 6:23 am

Hey good job!!! I don’t even know you, but I’m excite for you!
Matthew Pennell
April 20th, 2007 at 6:41 am

Congratulations on the new job, Dustin! I thought Apple was where bloggers go to die…
RoQ
April 20th, 2007 at 7:54 am

I hate you!!!!

u rock
Henry Turner
April 20th, 2007 at 7:58 am

So does this mean you have to give up JavaScript and write all your UI code with GWT?
Alex Lemanski
April 20th, 2007 at 8:04 am

Congats on the new job!! Hope things go well and there continues to be quality content to fill my feed reader.
lordmarin
April 20th, 2007 at 8:18 am

Congrats Dustin for your new Job :)
EEEErak
April 20th, 2007 at 8:42 am

Cornflatulations!
Andy
April 20th, 2007 at 9:04 am

Congrats! So now you are a “Yahoogler”! I hope you can stick around with the blog, but it seems most struggle with that.
Brad Fults
April 20th, 2007 at 9:13 am

Jeez, all of the good people are going to Google! :)

(Obviously not a new revelation, but seemed worth repeating.)

Anyway, congrats and good luck.
Gels
April 20th, 2007 at 9:42 am

WOOO go Dustin! Good luck and hope you have a great time there.

All the best,
gels
Jim A.
April 20th, 2007 at 9:57 am

Dustin,

This is cool for you beyond words! And now I can stop saying “my buddy who used to be at Yahoo!” and start saying “my buddy at Google”. I have my “claim to fame” back again! ;)

Really, though, Google is know for innovation and brilliance. Seems you’ll fit right in.

I am concerned about D|C though–I was getting into it and would hate to see it die. I would fully understand, though.

Jim
Nicholas C. Zakas
April 20th, 2007 at 10:01 am

Congrats, make sure to keep in touch. ::cough:: traitor ::cough:: ;-)
Michael
April 20th, 2007 at 12:52 pm

Congrats!!! I would love to work there! Good luck and keep us up-to-date on your experience with google.

mike
Nate Klaiber
April 20th, 2007 at 1:06 pm

Im going to join the others in saying Congrats. I hope that you can be refreshed at your new place of employment.
Lance Fisher
April 20th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

Congratulations!

Just this morning I was watching a video of a Google tech talk where a couple guys from the Yahoo Pipes team presented their work. Which is really cool by the way. But here’s what I got out of it (at the risk of sounding too cliche): Yahoo was presenting at Google. They even use some Google code in Pipes. Doing good work, especially good web work, is not just about improving the company, but the entire industry, and to some extent the world.

Keep up the great work, I really enjoy reading all you write.
Elliot Swan
April 20th, 2007 at 2:44 pm

Awesome, congrats. :) Sounds like a good deal…
Joshua Lane
April 20th, 2007 at 5:06 pm

Congrats Dustin! Enjoy all the free food, free massages, free laundry service, free …well, perhaps I should list what ISN’T free instead? Lucky bastard.
Jonathan Snook
April 20th, 2007 at 6:52 pm

Many congrats! even if I am just a little bit jealous. ;)
links for 2007-04-21 « GevÃ£ Schaefer
April 20th, 2007 at 8:41 pm

[...] Landing at the Plex Ã‰, o Justin Dias se deu bem. AlguÃ©m ainda tem que inventar um nome para esses super especialistas em Javascript. (tags: web development javascript) [...]
Ahsan
April 20th, 2007 at 9:03 pm

Hey, Im happy for you :) Some day I will join you there, that is if you stay that long ;)
James Angus
April 20th, 2007 at 9:15 pm

Well done mate, I am myself very Jealous!!! ;-)
tihomir
April 21st, 2007 at 1:17 am

Congratulations !
Stoo
April 21st, 2007 at 2:06 am

This is great news, well done and well deserved. It’s sad tho that Google won’t let you share some tasters of the work you’ll be doing.

Hope you enjoy.

Stoo
Mathias Bachmann
April 21st, 2007 at 2:15 am

Maybe a chance for great Dustin-GWT-screencasts? :)

Congratulations and GOOD LUCK!

Matze
Googlified
April 21st, 2007 at 8:25 am

CSS Naked Day Founder Joins Google…

CSS Naked Day founder and ex-Yahoo employee, Dustin Diaz announced on his blog that he is “no longer unemployed and landed at an all-time favorite company” - Google.
My Role at Google will delve heavily into prototyping rich UIâ€™s as a Us…
Matt Sanders
April 21st, 2007 at 9:26 am

Congratulations Dustin!

My hopes are to one day join or start a team dedicated like Google. Good luck my friend!

Asanka

April 21st, 2007 at 7:41 pm


DED.register({
    namespace: 'G$'
});

G$('#withImagination .dustin').on('unemployed', function(interview) {
    this.fetch(interview.href, {
        before: function() {
            G$('#D|C').show();
        },
        after: function(google) {
            G$('#D|C').hide();
            G$('#dustin').setContent(google).fadeIn(
	       duration: 1, callback: function() {
	        	G$(#withImagination .YAHOO).fadeOut();
                 });
        }
    });
});

Ved
April 21st, 2007 at 10:05 pm

Congratulations and I hope you wont forget to keep DED Chain in constant development! Best luck in your new amaxing job! Ved
Tim B.
April 22nd, 2007 at 5:57 am

Congratulations Dustin. Pls, don’t give up on the screencasts !!
Andre
April 22nd, 2007 at 7:18 am

Congrats to your new Position! Great!

Andre
googler
April 22nd, 2007 at 7:21 am

Congratulations!
Sky
April 22nd, 2007 at 8:24 am

WOW coolï¼
Congratulationï¼

I was just rejected by Google as User Interaction Designer at Beijing.
Google is really wonderful.
Suchmaschinen Blog - Weblog » Ex-Yahoo Mitarbeiter Dustin Diaz in Zukunft Interface Ingenieur bei Google
April 22nd, 2007 at 9:30 am

[...] Suchmaschine Google hat einen neuen Mitarbeiter im Interface Engineer Team. Wie im Google Watch Blog berichtet, hat sich der vormals bei Yahoo! angestellte Dustian Diaz einen neuen Arbeitgeber gesucht und ist bei Google fündig geworden. [...]
MY SNG LIFE - æ‚¨çš„æ¯æ—¥æ–°é—»æ¥æº » Blog Archive » Googleçš„offer letteræ˜¯ä»€ä¹ˆæ ·åçš„ï¼Ÿ(GSeeker)
April 22nd, 2007 at 10:22 am

[...] Offer Letterï¼ˆè˜ç”¨ä¿¡ï¼‰ææ€•æ˜¯è¿™ä¸ªä¸–ç•Œä¸Šæœ€å—æ¬¢è¿Žçš„é‚®ä»¶ä¹‹ä¸€äº†ï¼Œå°¤å…¶æ˜¯å½“å®ƒç”±Googleå‘å‡ºï¼Œæ”¶ä¿¡äººè‚¯å®šä¼šéžå¸¸å¼€å¿ƒã€‚å¦‚ä¸Šå›¾ï¼Œè¿™å°±æ˜¯Googleå‘å‡ºçš„Offer Letterï¼Œæ”¶ä»¶äººæ˜¯Dustin Diazã€‚ ã€€ã€€Dustin Diazæ˜¯è°ï¼Ÿä»–æ˜¯Yahoo!çš„å‰å‘˜å·¥ï¼ŒåŒæ—¶ä¹Ÿæ˜¯è‘—åçš„CSS Naked Dayï¼ˆå³ åœ¨æ¯å¹´çš„4æœˆ5æ—¥ï¼Œç½‘ç«™æˆ–blogè‡ªè§‰åœ°å°†CSSæ ·å¼åŽ»æŽ‰çš„æ´»åŠ¨ï¼Œç›®çš„æ˜¯ä¸ºäº†æŽ¨å¹¿Webæ ‡å‡†ï¼‰çš„åˆ›å§‹äººã€‚Dustin Diazç»è¿‡ä¸€ç•ªåŠªåŠ›ï¼Œç»ˆäºŽè¢«Googleè˜ç”¨ã€‚ä»–è®¤ä¸ºGoogleæ˜¯ä¸ªç»§ç»ä»Žäº‹Webå¼€å‘çš„å¥½åœ°æ–¹ï¼ŒåŒæ—¶ä¹Ÿæ˜¯åˆ›æ„çš„å‘æºåœ°ã€‚Dustin Diazå°†ä½œä¸ºä¸€åç”¨æˆ·ç•Œé¢å·¥ç¨‹å¸ˆåŠ å…¥Googleçš„ç”¨æˆ·ä½“éªŒå›¢é˜Ÿã€‚æ²¡é”™ï¼Œä»–å°†ä¼šåŠ å…¥ç”±Googleç¬¬ä¸€ç¾Žå¥³Marissa Mayerå¸¦é¢†çš„å›¢é˜Ÿï¼ [...]
Bloglike
April 22nd, 2007 at 12:56 pm

But pay attention, don’t give us too many informations about your new employer.
They’re not very prissy to discharge you again…!
DG
April 22nd, 2007 at 1:31 pm

Hi Dustin,

Congrats on the job! & fresh start. Best wishes for every success in life.

DG…
http://www.ditii.com
Dustin Diaz: CSS Naked Day Founder Joins Google » D’ Technology Weblog: Technology News & Reviews
April 22nd, 2007 at 1:37 pm

[...] My Role at Google will delve heavily into prototyping rich UI’s as a User Interface Engineer within the User Experience group. And as far as I’m concerned, it really doesn’t get any better than that. I get to do what I love, get paid for it, and in some cases get to put my work out in front of a bagillion people (number not accurate (but probably not far off)). Lastly, I think some of that free food might actually help put some pounds onto that stick figure of mine. [Landing at the Plex] [...]
Gregg
April 22nd, 2007 at 9:36 pm

Much congrats…
Does this have anything to do with the very cool glowing Google orbs handed out at web 2.0 expo? jk.
seriously congrats.
Ian Lloyd
April 23rd, 2007 at 7:41 am

So, I’ll add to the flurry of comments, Mr Diaz, saying a big well done. Unemployed scrounger no more! Now, are you *sure* that’s how you spell bagillion? Surely it’s a bajillion? MAybe you could Google for it …
codewarrior415
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:05 am

Congrats!!! Don’t stop the blog.
Wally Punsapy
April 23rd, 2007 at 8:13 pm

Good luck Mr Diaz! I think the Big G will be best suit you and your skillz. Build something cool!

Congrats again! Yes, let’s grab some of that algorithmic grub at your plex.

Best of luck!
Wally
Mike Papageorge
April 24th, 2007 at 5:00 am

Hey Dustin, congrats on the new job at Google! Hope you do refind the looove :-)
Ahmet Usal
April 24th, 2007 at 5:12 pm

Really Congrats!

I hope I don’t miss screencasts with Nirvana and good luck for this dream job:)
Yahoo! like America
April 25th, 2007 at 1:50 pm

[...] As many of you know, I’ve decided to leave America all together, and accept a job at Google. And everyone knows that Google just leaves the world all alone to do as it wants. Yahoo! can be America - flagship of the Earth. Google has moved onto the moon, and I’m proud to jump on that rocket ship. [...]
mattymcg
April 25th, 2007 at 6:47 pm

Congrats, Dustin. That’s an awesome team you’ll be joining. Nice one.
Paul
April 27th, 2007 at 12:29 am

Let me add my congrats to the long list already going–Congrats Dustin. You are an incredibly gifted front-end developer and Google is lucky to have you. It was a pleasure working with you–even if in Guam (though I dissent with that description but understand your perspective on this).

Paul Boisvert
(somewhere in the jungles of Guam)
Anthony Ettinger
April 27th, 2007 at 12:59 pm

Great job in landing at Google…they are a pro-javascript environment…love their Finance site.

Congrats!
kentaromiura
April 27th, 2007 at 3:31 pm

Great for you dustin, is your occasion to do big things!
Jeremy Zawodny
May 3rd, 2007 at 5:20 pm

Good to hear you’ve found a new home. It’s hard to go wrong there…
Mike
May 9th, 2007 at 5:44 pm

I’ve been frequenting your site lately for a few neat little CSS tricks here and there (thanks Google) and I just discovered you got your new job on my birthday.

Congrats!
AjiNIMC
May 13th, 2007 at 11:45 am

Also you are added to the list of Google blogger’s list. Congrats http://www.idealwebtools.com/blog/smartest-dubmest-googlers/#comment-16381
SEO
August 1st, 2007 at 4:38 am

I hate you, you have achieved my ultimate goal in online development!

Seriously though, congratulations you can’t go wrong and Google were spot on snatching you for the team. :)
Meike
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:28 am

Congrats man! Working at Google has always been a goal for me, but I guess as web publisher, one is always working WITH Google
Tomek
September 3rd, 2007 at 5:37 am

Congrats, Dustin. Thatâ€™s an awesome team youâ€™ll be joining. It must be cool to work at google:) Regards
Musikduo
September 10th, 2007 at 2:23 am

Congratulations Dustin. I wish the best
Jachu
October 8th, 2007 at 11:18 am

Congratulations Dustin. Regards

./with Imagination