The series kicked off on 30 July with Google's "Jolly Good Fellow", Tan Chade Meng. Meng - to those who know and don't know him - joined Google in 2000, a year after it was established. He was the 107th employee of Google and the first Singaporean in the Internet company. He entertained the crowd of 250 with anecdotes of Google life - where "Googlers" are allowed to bring their dogs to work, and get three gourmet organic meals a day.

Your card says Jolly Good Fellow. What do you actually do?
When we were hired, the designations were all the same: software engineer. Then a career ladder developed, and the highest rank was Google Fellow, which was equivalent to Vice President. I thought of inventing with my own designation, and came with Jolly Good Fellow, from the song He's a Jolly Good Fellow. Don't worry, I won't sing it for you. Everyone laughed. I thought it was great - if people laugh, it can't be wrong. I sent the card for printing, and no one stopped me. It sort of stuck.

At Google, I was a software engineer for eight years. Recently, I moved to Google University, promoting the company culture. I conduct a course called "Search Inside Yourself", on emotional intelligence. I'm also an ambassador for google.org, the official philanthropic arm of Google.

Mr Tan: Half my time in engineering was spent talking to other people and working with them. For that to be effective, you need social skills.

How did you land your job at Google?
I went to the US to get a graduate degree and to expand my horizons. I just sent my resume to a professor at the UCSB (University of California, Santa Barbara), who went to work at Google. He turned out to be Vice President of Engineering, and put me through a couple of interviews.

What skills have been most useful in your career?
Technically, problem-solving, collecting and analysing data, and being objective, that is, listening to the data more than to individual interests. I also relied heavily on social skills, which are very important, even for engineers. You need a sense of humour if something goes wrong. I discovered that half my time in engineering was spent talking to other people and working with them. For that to be effective, you need social skills.

Was infocomm something you always wanted to do? What
sparked it off?
For a long time, all I wanted to do was program computers - because it's fun! It started when I got my first computer at the age of 12. I'm now 38. I could make things happen on the computer that other people could not. Nancy Margulies, the artist and a founder of the World Café, formulated a four-step guide to personal growth: "Notice what gives you pleasure. Notice your natural gifts. Notice what opportunities present themselves. Strive to serve the greater good." For me, IT ties in with the first two points.

What advice would you have for students thinking of infocomm
as a career?
Follow your passion. I chose IT because it was my passion. Also, try to do a lot of things before you graduate, so your resume will show you are quite diversified, with diverse talents. Always think about the greater good - find time to serve the community. That should help you secure your first job. Once you are working - I can pass you one of the best advice I've ever gotten, which came from Lou Gerstner, the Chief Executive Officer of IBM where I interned at a long time ago - "Whatever job you're given, always do your best." If you keep doing that, eventually, someone will notice it, and when something important comes up, you'll get it, because they realise you
can deliver.

Any survival tips?
There are two pieces of advice I give to new Googlers. They are taken from the film, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. First: Be excellent to each other. The second one is: Party on, dude!