Google Australia at MGSM

Posted by Jared Evans, Account Coordinator

Despite the GPS's best efforts to send us into the depths of Chatswood's woodlands (we should have checked Google Maps first), a team of Googlers arrived at MGSM last week to present at a careers information session for MBA students and alumni.

(Google was last week named the No. 1 preferred destination for US MBA students and we hope to emulate that in Australia!)

The aim of the evening was to promote the many career opportunities available at Google Australia and to create awareness of the nature of our operations here. Australian Googler #1, Kate Vale, Head of Sales and Operations, outlined Google Australia's foundations and gave an insight into our activities in Australia, our company culture and our aspirations for the future. The key message for the evening? "We've got a long way to go toward achieving our mission. We need your help to get there."

The audience of full time "MBAers", managers and professionals studying part-time yielded many job-seekers, which our recruitment team are quite excited about!

During the networking session afterwards, the attendees revealed a very keen interest in what Google Australia does beyond search, consumer products and providing an advertising platform. Many were pleasantly surprised to learn that Google provides business solutions.

We are extremely pleased with the positive feedback from those that attended and will endeavour to bring the presentation to similar arenas in the near future.

Thank you to all of you who gave your time last week. If you have any further further feedback to add, we'd be very interested to hear it!

More questions for software engineers

Posted by Ben Appleton, Software Engineer

We get a lot of questions about software engineering opportunities at Google Australia. Here are some of the most frequent questions people ask me about engineering careers.

Are you happy with the software engineering career you’ve chosen? What are the good sides? (& the downside?)

Before coming to Google I studied electrical engineering, mathematics, and a PhD in image analysis at the University of Queensland. I've always enjoyed solving problems and I've been coding from a young age.

The biggest downside to engineering is the large gap between solving a problem in theory and in practice - you can think that you've solved a problem, only to discover when you try to build the solution that it was far more complicated than you had imagined. On the other hand, it's a lot of fun to see millions of people use something that you've built.

What are the key skills required for working in your area?

In software engineering, very strong problem solving and coding skills are an absolute
must. Team work is also important as we work in small, self-directed teams; everyone’s contribution is critical.

What sort of advancement opportunities exist within your area? How easy it is to progress and what sort of career path exists?

On one hand I'd say that it can be hard to stand out at Google because we hire such talented engineers. On the other, Google is growing fast so there's a huge number of opportunities for motivated individuals.

MSc, PhD, Bachelors? What's the difference when it comes to recruiting people into your field?

At Google, we take candidates equally from Bachelors, Masters and Ph.Ds. I think individual differences dominate here - a bright candidate will stand out regardless. Having said that, I'd expect a PhD graduate to have a stronger understanding of CS theory whereas someone with industry experience will have stronger coding skills. A research MSc often suggests a motivated candidate who wanted to get a taste of research before moving to industry.

Academia or Industry -- Which is best if you want to do research?

In my experience, academia is the more flexible research environment, whereas industry research is generally better funded. Also, industry research has immediate application whereas academic research tries to look further ahead. Google provides a great combination of the two: you can build products quickly that are used by millions, underpinned by pioneering research and resources few others have access to. To get a feel for the sort of research we do, take a look at some of our recent publications at: http://labs.google.com/papers.html

Apart from completing their degree, what are the most important things a student should do to prepare for life after graduating?

Take courses that interest you and learn as much as you can, because you'll use everything. Try participating in competitions like the ACM and TopCoder; you'll get to meet other bright people and really stretch yourself.

University Programs in Australia

Posted by Will Blott, University Programs Manager

This year saw the launch of Google’s University Programs team for Australia and New Zealand. We’re looking to encourage more students to tackle some of the complex and highly rewarding technological challenges at Google Australia. There’s a myriad of opportunities (and it’s a lot of fun).

Program initiatives run year round with opportunities for both students and staff, including student competitions, scholarships, technical presentations and challenges, research grants and work opportunities amongst many others.

We get a lot of common questions when we visit Australian and New Zealand universities, so we thought we’d help shed some light on some of the most frequently asked questions by students.

What opportunities are there for students this year?

Our engineering teams are looking for as many good student software engineers as we can find . Opportunities exist for graduates, summer interns and through partnerships with Google’s Summer of Code.

Google’s Anita Borg Scholarships and Global Community Grace Hopper Conference Scholarships are provided to encourage more females to study ICT.

Do you have opportunities outside of Engineering?

Yes indeed. More positions will be announced on our student website later this year.

What type of student do you look for?

Within engineering, students who’ve studied computer science/engineering (or closely related fields such as Maths, Physics) from all degree levels: Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. For non-engineering roles, Googlers join us with all sorts of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

Degrees aside, if you’re smart, inquisitive, love to innovate, relish tough problems and working in teams with like minded individuals, then you’ll fit right in.

When should I apply by and what do I need to do?

Various opportunities become available throughout the year. See the student section of our website for more details. The application process is simple.

What are the perks?

There are so many! Where to begin…the food? The toys? World travel? The relaxed, informal environment? Jeans and t-shirt to work? The colleagues? Secondments to Google’s lunar base? (Just checking if you’re still reading)

Tomorrow, we'll answer the most common student FAQ’s put to Software Engineers.

G'day Google

Posted by Alice Boxhall, Software Engineer

You may have seen my post on that "other" Google blog: Google Australia is hosting G'day Google at the Googleplex in Mountain View next Tuesday, 8 May, 2007.

G'day Google is an open house we're hosting for IT professionals from Google and from other San Francisco Bay Area companies to showcase the exciting work that Google Australia and the Australian IT sector are doing. It's the first such event we're holding; hopefully there will be more to come.

I reckon we can convince quite a few Aussie expats to come home. And it shouldn't take much to convince a few California engineers to work here, either.

Joking aside, we're really keen to bring the best and brightest international software engineers down under, as well as bringing Aussies home. We want to give a boost to the Australian IT sector (which needs more skilled workers in this area) and keep innovations coming from Google Australia.