Meet Robert Nilsson, alumni from the University of Skövde, who got a dream job at Google in Switzerland.
Can you briefly introduce yourself?
- I am 33 years old, originally from Varberg on the Swedish west coast, and studied Natural Sciences in high school. I started to study system programming at the University of Skövde in 1996 and continued with a Master's degree in Computer Science in 1999.
What kind of master thesis did you do?
- I did my thesis with graduate students at the university. It was a test case execution for real-time systems. In large part it was an overview of existing research and ideas and how it could be done more efficiently.
What did you do when you were done with your studies?
- After the master's program, I stayed at the university teaching and doing research. I was enrolled as a doctoral student at Linköping University, but mostly worked with researchers at the University of Skövde. For example I worked with Sten F. Andler and Jonas Mellin and the contacts that research group had. I worked in particular with Professor Jeff Offutt from George Mason University, USA.
What are you doing today?
- I’m working as a programmer / software developer at Google in Switzerland. I have worked with many different products, but at the moment it’s Google maps. I’m also an industry contact for researchers in software development / automated testing and I have a few small projects with them as well.
Google is an employer that many students wish to work for – can you give them any advice?
- I would recommend them to practice on solving programming problems in elegant ways. Take part in some projects with "Open Source", study algorithms, data structures and distributed systems. Apply for an internship for 3-6 months at a Google office.
What’s the best thing about working at Google?
- Working with interesting engineers and that you usually get enough time and responsibility to solve problems in a technically satisfying manner.
What role did the training you received in Skövde play when getting your current job at Google?
-It was very important. The broad computer science education at the University of Skövde, together with the advanced graduate studies I did and my personal curiosity about programming and software design was probably what gave me the job.
I probably had some luck too, as Google has pretty tough and technically challenging job interviews. But it’s not compulsory to have postgraduate studies to get a job at Google. I would guess that the majority of the employees have a master’s or a bachelor’s degree.
What do you think about the education you received at the University of Skövde?
- It gave a good basic knowledge and relevant width. The University of Skövde is a good environment when you want to learn, but it is not something that happens automatically and fully prepares you for work. Probably no universities do, although some want to think so.
Something special you want to highlight?
- Do not be afraid to immerse yourself in technical areas that you find interesting. Talk to the teachers of courses that you like, often there is a lot more to it than addressed in the course material.
Did you have any contact with the labor market during your studies at the University of Skövde?
- Not as a student, but as a graduate student, I had the referees and colleagues from the industry.
How do you see the future? Plans? Other jobs? Opportunities to develop?
- I don’t plan that much when I'm ok where I am. There are opportunities and interesting jobs both at Google and elsewhere. Sweden is a great place for example. I think Sweden overreacted a bit after "IT bubble", there are talented people in Sweden and many interesting IT projects, but not as many new companies as I expected.