A Life Engineered Why Even Google Engineers Are Relearning Everything | Maddy Zhang
Dec 22, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Maddy Zhang—former Google software engineer and content creator—shares her journey of leaving Google and thriving in a competitive job market. Maddy delves into the bureaucracy at tech giants, valiant tales of interview resilience, and the importance of reframing rejection. She also offers strategic advice on interview preparation, overcoming imposter syndrome, and balancing job searches with full-time work. Plus, she shares her passion for biology and unique insights on the future of AI.
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Random Lockout Sparked Her Job Hunt
- Maddy Zhang lost corp access for four hours and realized she could be unexpectedly locked out of her job.
- That incident pushed her to start applying and interviewing to prepare for a possible sudden exit.
Internal Stacks Limit Transferable Skills
- Google uses many internal stacks so engineers can config internal platforms rather than build industry-standard tools.
- That makes skills less transferable and can slow productionizing and open-sourcing work.
Interviews Get Interrupted By Real-Life Crises
- During a technical screen, an interviewer left to handle a Sev1 incident and returned to finish the screen.
- In another case an interviewer lost power and the session was rescheduled, showing interviews can be disrupted by real-world issues.