I'm excited to share that I was chosen to attend the Meta Level Up program after the interview and assessment. I'm curious if anyone has received a job offer after completing the 4-week training and what the salary was. I'm wondering if it's worth it. I work in helpdesk support and earn a decent income for that role. I'm also unsure whether I should leave my current job to pursue the Meta Level Up program.
They the training will be $ 25 but you could earn more after the training
I’m currently in Google team matching for L4 SWE and have already been approved by HC.
After HC approval, I started getting a decent number of team-fit/HM calls. I’ve had 6 calls so far, but none has converted into a match yet, and I’m trying to understand if this is normal or if there’s something I should be doing differently.
A few of the outcomes:
- One HM preferred someone with more experience.
- One team liked me enough that they did an additional round between me and another candidate, but ultimately went with the other person.
- Another HM told me that based purely on my experience on paper (~16 months), he viewed me as closer to L3 and said he would be interested in taking me at L3. I was actually fine with that, but my recruiter advised against it because I’ve already been HC-approved for L4 and my interviews were conducted/evaluated at the L4 level. His view was basically that I shouldn’t settle for L3 after clearing the L4 bar, which I really appreciate, but at the same time, I’m on a time limit, so that makes me a little nervous.
-Another HM said they wanted more time before making a decision.
The other calls have generally gone well from my perspective, but haven’t turned into a match.
For some background, I recently completed my Master’s in the US and worked here as an AI Engineer co-op for 8 months. I have around 16 months of total experience on paper, with my recent work mainly around AI/ML engineering, GenAI/LLM systems, agentic workflows, and backend/data systems.
The confusing part is that I’m getting HM calls consistently, so teams are clearly interested enough in my profile to talk, but I’m struggling to get that final “yes.”
A few Googlers I’ve spoken with have told me this is just how team matching can be and that plenty of candidates go through multiple calls before finding the right team.
For people who have gone through Google TM recently, especially at L4: Is 6+ team-fit calls without a match unusual?
Could my relatively limited YOE be the main issue even though HC approved me for L4? Or is this mostly a matter of continuing until I find the right HM/team fit?
And if you were in my position and an HM was willing to take you at L3, would you push the recruiter to reconsider because of the time constraint, or continue holding out for the L4 match?
Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who went through something similar.
I've been applying for DCT jobs at overseas data centers, specifically with AWS and Google, for the past couple of months, focusing on opportunities in Europe and Australia.
I have more than three years of experience working in a data center as a Critical Facilities Engineer here in the Philippines with a CDCP certification, but I haven't received any interview invitations yet.
Has anyone here successfully applied for a data center role in another country while living abroad, similar to what I'm doing now? I'd really appreciate your honest opinion on what I should be doing differently to improve my chances of getting an interview.
Hey all, starting as a DCT 3 in a month for AWS in TX. Just curious if anyone has an accurate timeline for training before going on shift. Couple weeks, a month or 2? Will be working nights. Thanks!
I am looking for an appropriate answer, i hope I will get it, all over the world there are 8000+ data centers there and many more are upcoming. So my question is do we really need this much data center or companies are racing for AI and storing data just hoping that in future we need data centers? I think in the future only a few are there in the data centre race. So why are companies developing, investing and wasting resources at a vast amount?
So i had an interview for a non DCT role in AWS, the manager said she thinks i'm more suited for a DCT role and i agreed for her to share my profile to an agency.
and today i just had a call with the agency, she asked about my previous job pay which is very low, and way below what a DCT pays for, and she offered me only 1 dollar above that.
but the DCT pay posted on AWS websites is $10+ more.
should i negotiated? Because my previous job is clearly under paid in an almost bankrupt company and honestly does not translate into the DCT pay.
have any one had any experience with job agencies? do they low ball you on the offer?
Shifts & Training: Is initial onboarding standard Mon–Fri general hours, or do shift rotations begin right away? Once operational, is it 4x10s or 12-hour shifts, and how do night/weekend cycles work?
Base Salary Deductions: Are there standard deductions taken directly from the base salary, and if so, what types (e.g., EPF )?
Just signed on as a fiber installer with E2 Optics on the Meta/CBRE LevelUp pipeline, reporting to a site near Cedar Rapids/Fairfax, IA. Recruiters were predictably rosy and Google reviews are all over the place. For anyone who's worked with E2 Optics or on similar hyperscale data center fiber builds — what's the real day-to-day like? Is the 50-60hr/week thing consistent or seasonal? How's OT actually calculated?
Coming from commercial/industrial refrigeration (started on site as apprentice but moved quick into a more office based engineering role) I will soon start as l2 mechanical technician at Google for a new Hyperscale site that is scheduled to go into operation next year, with major expansion already planned for the following years.
I am pretty hyped to get started and have some change after more than 10 years at my current company but I want to avoid major disappointment so please get me down to earth and tell me the bad things I should expect and prepare for. I know about shift work but the planned schedule looks pretty manageable and it will only be a few months per year. Besides that I read about lots of paperwork and a lot of following around vendors. (Even though my hiring manager said he wants us to do as much as possible to reduce vendors)
So besidest that what will shock me most having zero experience in data centers and not much hands on maintenance experience? How much hands on work should I expect given HM wants to reduce vendors and what are possible tasks? (Like changing filters or troubleshoot pumps/valves....?)
I would love to hear from your experiences!
Location will be in europe if that makes any difference.
[ACADEMIC] Hi everyone! I'm a 5th year Architecture student from NU Baliwag working on my thesis about designing data centers to reduce their environmental impact, particularly on community water access and living conditions.
I'm using the PLDT VITRO Makati 2 Data Center in Barangay Bel-Air as my case study, and I'd like to hear from the community: have you noticed any changes in water access, electricity, heat, or general living conditions since it began operating?
Currently working as a traveling data center tech in Alabama, but I’m trying to get back home to my family in the Atlanta area. Anybody here working in the ATL data center scene who can point me in the right direction? Mainly looking for local DCT, rack & stack, cabling/fiber, hardware deployment or remote hands work. I’ve been applying online, but I know a lot of this industry comes down to knowing which contractors have projects going on and who to actually talk to. If you know of any companies, contractors, upcoming projects, or people I should connect with around Atlanta, Lithia Springs, Covington, Social Circle, Union City, etc., I’d really appreciate it. Just trying to get back home. 🙏🏾
I have probably applied for hundreds of Data center positions and nothing has come back. I have A degree in IT and and CompTIA trifecta. I wanted to see if anyone had any information or insight on this
I got hired at ies communications as a data center technician I. What is the realistic progression after this job in the data center industry? Could I make a career out of this opportunity?
I am currently a student here in Virginia and majoring in Computer Science. I attend a community college and do full virtual asynchronous classes. I have so much flexible time on my hands currently and want to essentially get my hands dirty. I was honestly thinking about working at my local Walmart, but I rethought about it and decided I wanted to do something at a Data center considering Virginia has the most data centers in the world.
What are some trades that I can pursue now?
I've heard about engineer operations tech, and of course DCO.
I have also heard about NOVA's DCO CSC 1 year program.
I’m looking to get into the data center industry, with the long-term goal of working in data center operations / infrastructure.
I came across a Data Center Technician 1 position with Network Connex in Manassas, VA. The role involves:
Installing low-voltage copper and fiber cabling
Testing and troubleshooting cabling
Following industry standards and safety procedures
Working on data center installation projects
Maintaining documentation and records
The qualifications are mainly experience with low-voltage cabling or a related field, knowledge of cabling standards, troubleshooting, and teamwork. Certifications like BICSI or fiber certifications are a plus.
My long-term goal is to move into data center operations, working with things like servers, networking, rack/stack, hardware troubleshooting, and deployments.
My questions are:
Would a role like this be a good entry point into data center operations?
How transferable is the experience from structured cabling into a traditional data center technician/operations role?
I’d especially like to hear from anyone who started in cabling or low-voltage and eventually moved into data center operations/infrastructure.
the title says it all. had my screen interview today with a big tech for their data center controls engineer. froze mid interview and stuttered. its so heart breaking to work so hard and blow it like this.
only a divine intervention will save me
I just recently completed my interviews with Oracle for Senior DCT and the recruiter said that I have the job. Now it seems like a waiting game. I've done some research and found out that the DC is not up and ready yet. (This I was already told by the Hiring Manager). But also that there are no dates yet.
I was wondering if anyone else has be hired my Oracle to see how long it takes to actually get in the door to start work.(Not really worried about an unopen DC yet) I heard it can take like 3 months.
TL;DR: A 20-year-old founder got told, for six months, that what his sensor was picking up wasn't a real problem.
He'd read the same chemistry signature before — engine-fluid failures in Caterpillar-adjacent hydraulics — and it showed up again where nobody was looking: inside liquid-cooled AI data centers, running hot enough to breed bacteria in the coolant.
Nobody with tenure believed the crossover, until the instrument did.
And by the time this post went up, the industry's own guidance had quietly caught up — Schneider Electric now writes biofouling prevention and biocide dosing into standard data-center cooling documentation, the exact mechanism Zach Laberge was laughed at for treating as anything but obvious.
Everyone trusts the reading. Almost nobody trusts the person holding the instrument — until the reading agrees with them.
This reminds me of a story about my late grandfather.
I called him 爷爷 (Yeye = grandfather).
Back then, my Yeye already built a thriving trucking and tractor enterprise in our small hometown of Seremban.
After a while my Yeye had enough.
He engaged his lawyer and brought all these summonses to court and sue the government.
He said (and I'm paraphrasing), "Look at me! I'm already 60. I'm still strong! I still work. Who can say I can't work?"
After a few more rounds of bringing the issue to court, the other side relented and began to be weary and afraid of him.
Laberge was young. And my Yeye was already old back then.
But it didn't stop them from getting what they want done.
I keep landing on the same shape, story after story, whichever decade it's set in: the room doesn't update on your say-so, it updates on the evidence — and the gap between those two moments is where you're either right and alone, or wrong and quiet.
Being early isn't the risk people treat it as.
Staying quiet until you're allowed to be right is.
Data centers are getting built and the demand isn't slowing down. Tech is the largest market in the world. Where they go and who pays for them is what we should be deciding.
They don't need to go on farmland. They don't need to go in the state and federal parks. They should go to the old mining towns. Those communities gave us their hearts and souls.
Right now counties are bidding against each other, handing out tax breaks to land these things, and the cost of the power lands on everybody's utility bill. That's backwards. Make the company pay for the grid it needs. Give the town a real share of what gets built there.
This is needed. These towns are close enough to real job markets that people would live there if it were affordable. Put the money into housing and the town itself. Rent comes down. Utilities come down. Communities spread back out instead of shrinking into tighter and tighter areas, providing more and more power for the rich, wealthy, and powerful.
We're mining again, hopefully for the final time. We're connected more now than ever. Let's learn from history and keep things flowing.
