Landing a dream job with Google is just sinking in for software engineering students Ragil Prasetya and Travis Kirke, from The University of Western Australia, who will work as Software Engineer Interns at the technology giant’s Sydney headquarters.

The internship will see the pair use their skills and experience to help develop next-generation technologies for which Google has become world-renowned.

“It’s going to be the most awesome three months of my professional career,” Mr Prasetya said.

“I will be working on the Google App Engine – a system that allows you to build and host web applications on the same immensely powerful systems that power Google applications.”

Mr Kirke said working for Google had always been one of his ultimate goals.

“I will be placed within the Google Apps development team so I’ll be potentially working on mobile apps and Internet apps,” he said. “Apps and smartphones have really exploded − that’s where the future will be and I’m excited to be a part of that.”

Google looks for students who not only have a solid foundation in computer science, strong competency in data structures and algorithms and a technical fascination with “how stuff fits together” but are also creative problem solvers with new ideas who aren’t afraid to take risks to make a difference in their field.

The interview process reflected the competitive nature of Google’s talent quest, which both UWA students described as “rigorous”. It consisted of verbal and technical interviews with questions that tested their ability to extend and apply the knowledge they gained at UWA.

“If I didn’t have support of outstanding UWA lecturers such as Dr Luigi Barone, Dr Tim French and others or attended a different university, I would not be in the situation that I am in now,” Mr Prasetya said.

“UWA’s School of Computer Science is a great community of intellectual individuals, each with a strong drive to achieve number one − not only in WA or Australia but on the world stage − and that’s something that’s hard to find in any other university.”

Media references

Tracey Godwin (UWA Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics) -(+61 8) 6488 2260

Michael Sinclair-Jones (UWA Public Affairs) - (+61 8 ) 6488 3229/(+61 4) 00 700 783