Eat, work and play is all part of a Googler’s day at Pyrmont HQ, says software engineering intern

SHE’S landed a coveted internship at software giant Google, so what’s life really like behind the scenes?

An old Sydney Monorail carriage acts as a video conference and meeting room at the Google

LUNCH, ping pong and micro-napping are part of a productive working day for Google intern Janette Chiu.

The fun vibe in the Google office has helped get this young Googler out of bed every morning for the past three months.

“Everyone is really friendly and if you ever get stressed out there are a lot of things you can do to get yourself out of that,” she told the North Shore Times.

“If you’re having a bad day you can go and play ping pong then you can get back to work again.”

Janette Chiu and fellow interns working at Google’s Pyrmont HQ. Picture: John Appleyard

Food brings the Googlers together at one of the office’s three cafes.

Taking a micro-nap in the rainforest-themed rest and relaxation room. Picture: John Appleyard

Chiu admits that the three cafes in the Pyrmont office, which are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, get those creative juices flowing.

“The food helps – every day the lunch is pretty good,” she said.

A Google spokesman said food can bring people together to create successful brainstorming sessions.

“One of Google’s big work theories is that put people together in a group over a meal and they are able to share ideas and projects,” he said.

“Sometimes the most innocuous conversation and chance meeting means that you are able to come up with a great idea, so we see things like this as just a part of making that happen.”

A Sydney Monorail carriage acts as a video conference and meeting room. Picture: John Appleyard

The awesome perks aside, Ms Chiu has been working on a data visualisation tool project with a mentor and a host to oversee her work.

The Wollstonecraft resident was one of 65 Googlers throughout Australia and New Zealand to be selected for the three-month internship in Sydney; the highest intake so far Down Under.

It’s a dream come true for the software engineering intern who made the cut from more than 5000 applicants to spend her summer break working on the project.

The budding computer scientists and software engineers are given real projects to work on, inducted like formal team members. If they have finished their studies and are eligible for hire, most are recruited to full-time work when their internship ends.

Get out of the lift and step through a train carriage in the Pyrmont HQ. Picture: John Appleyard

A staffer working in the forest room at the Google offices.

“Everyone asked if I wanted to intern here because I saw the movie The Internship but no (that wasn’t the reason),” she said.

“The movie shows the fun and running around playing Quidditch but there’s also a lot of cool projects going on and you get to work on them.”

The spokesman said half the interns were engineers because there was a shortage of students graduating in that field in Australia.

A group of interns who were selected for one of Googles the three-month paid internships.

Google office perks:

■ Rest and relaxation room

■ Scooters and unicycles

■ Games room including ping pong, a pool table and computer games

■ Arts and crafts room

■ Sydney monorail carriage meeting room

■ Cafes: for breakfast, lunch and dinner and smoothies, salad and coffee bars

■ Micro kitchens for workers to help themselves

This article originally appeared on the North Shore Times.