Student-developed job interview app wins global competition

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Student-developed job interview app wins global competition

Computer Science student Ethan Zhang has been named a winner of Apple’s Swift Student Challenge for his app that prepares users for job interviews.

Ethan was the only student in Australia to be recognised as a Distinguished Winner, an honour received by only 50 students worldwide out of the roughly 350 Swift Student Challenge winners every year.

The Challenge gives student developers the opportunity to showcase their creativity and coding capabilities by designing apps to solve real-world problems.

Ethan’s app, Virvi, which is now available for download on the App Store, acts as a companion through the job search process, supporting users with interview preparation and application management.

The idea for the app came when Ethan realised how difficult it can be to articulate yourself effectively in the high-pressure environment of a job interview.

“When my friends and I started navigating the job market, I realised how crucial speaking confidently actually is, especially with interviews standing between you and almost every role.

“I wanted a private, judgment-free space to practice my own speaking skills. Public speaking anxiety is nearly universal, but most people avoid addressing it because doing so feels intimidating.

“On top of that, hearing about peers applying to hundreds of places just to land a single interview made me want to build something to help people stay organised.”

Computer Science student Ethan Zhang.

Computer Science student Ethan Zhang.

Professor Tuck Wah Leong, Deputy Dean, Learning and Teaching in the School of Computing Technologies and Director of the Apple Foundation Program at RMIT, said that Ethan's achievements reflect the high calibre of students and staff in the School.

"We are very proud of Ethan's success. His story is a great example of how our courses, and the dedicated teaching staff who deliver them, have the power to shape students’ learning journeys and open the door to new and exciting opportunities," Professor Leong said.

Innovative solution to a common problem

Ethan, who is studying a Bachelor of Computer Science (Professional), developed the app as part of an assignment for the course, iPhone Software Engineering (COSC2471).

The app features an interview simulator for users to practice their responses to interview questions on camera.

Interview questions can be tailored to the user's needs. Users can set up their own questions, auto-generate a list from an interview title and description or use a dynamic AI mode that generates follow-up questions based on the conversation.

Using Apple’s on-device speech recognition tool to convert answers into text, the app enables users to review the structure and delivery of their responses in a simple, time-effective manner.

At the end of a session, users receive constructive, personalised feedback.

Virvi is also a platform for managing applications, with features that allow users to track applications according to date and progress, all in a mobile-friendly format.

The Virvi app is available to download on the App Store.

The Virvi app is available to download on the App Store.

Course supports industry-ready graduates

Ethan credited the AI tools he used in his course, as well as the close mentoring of his lecturer Shekhar Kalra, Associate Dean of Academic Operations in the School of Computing Technologies, with supporting him to develop the app.

"The catalyst to me finally building out this app was enrolling into the iPhone Software Engineering course.

"It was truly unlike any other course; we had the freedom to build basically anything that we wanted.

"As I had never created an app before, I received a lot of help from AI tools as well as Shekhar who I would often email throughout the development process.

Shekhar said that Ethan's entrepreneurial spark was clear early on.

"Ethan came up after lectorial in the very first weeks wanting to talk through an idea he'd clearly been turning over long before day one,” Shekhar explained.

"That kind of initiative is rare, and it set the tone for everything that followed.”

Shekhar noted that Ethan's genuine curiosity and ability to work with AI responsibly were integral to his success and will help him thrive in an industry being shaped by AI advancements.

"He wasn't chasing shortcuts – he wanted to understand why things worked.

"He used AI tools thoughtfully rather than leaning on them, with a sharp eye for 'AI slop' and a habit of reworking generated code until the architecture was clean, idiomatic, and his own.

"Pair that with his humility, his openness to feedback, and his quiet determination to keep improving, and you have a young developer with both the curiosity of a great student and the discipline of a great engineer."

A bright future

As one of the winners of the Swift Student Challenge, Ethan will fly to the US in June to visit Apple's Headquarters, connect with fellow student winners and meet senior developers.

Beyond this exciting networking opportunity, Ethan's sights are on his future career.

"I really enjoy all types of programming. Right now, I am really enjoying backend development and architecting software systems, however I know that my developer journey has only started, so I am very keen to explore the many other fields.

"I do hope one day I can work at Apple as they have been very impactful for me.

"Wherever I end up, at the end of the day I want to put my skills into continuing building applications that solve real-world problems whether that be smaller side projects or contributing to something big."

Download Virvi

27 April 2026

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