Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace. The Foo Fighters album’s name defines my cat, Hunter, and the ways she has helped me to become a better Happiness Engineer. I adopted Hunter in March of 2011. She was pretty small, full of fleas, and very sick. Her former owner had traumatized her. She was and still is a terrified cat. But she is healthy and happy, grumpy … Continue reading 5 Lessons I’ve Learned from My Cat
Working remotely can seem ideal for many people. What could be better than working from home, not having to worry about commuting, or even sticking to your pajamas the whole day? When I started working for Automattic almost five years ago, I was quite new to the concept of working remotely. I thought that bringing my laptop to bed to continue working on pending items … Continue reading Self-Care when you work remotely
Welcome to the Happiness Engineer blog! Chances are you’re here for a specific reason… you’re interested in joining us as a Happiness Engineer at Automattic. This post was written by a group of WordPress.com Happiness Engineers on a team called Sparta. We were really inspired by this post our brilliant colleague Sandy made four years ago on how to become a Happiness Engineer. Since our … Continue reading Your guide to becoming a Happiness Engineer
The Happiness Engineer trial is not easy, particularly if you’re already employed full-time or have other responsibilities to balance. The trial is intense, and there will almost certainly come a time when you’ll feel that it’s just too much. It’s been more than two years since my trial, but I still vividly remember sitting in front of my computer giving myself a pep talk before … Continue reading 3 Tips to make the most of your Happiness Engineer Trial
In the run-up to my trial, I read just about everything on this website. Now as an Automattician it’s incredibly exciting to be contributing my own story. On New Year’s Eve, I submitted my application to become a Happiness Engineer at Automattic. Over the following three months, I completed a sample project, an interview over Slack, and answered sample support questions. Each stage of the … Continue reading The New Happiness Engineer Trial Process!
When you have to go – go. I hope you haven’t learned it the hard way, although maybe it’s the only real way to learn it. Don’t feel like you’re glued to the chair; taking short breaks is necessary for your body and mind. You’re not doing yourself a favor when you force yourself to keep working when what you need to do is stretch … Continue reading Five Things You Learned in Preschool That’ll Help You with the Happiness Engineer Trial
A topic that comes up every once in a while during a Happiness Engineer Trial is how to balance your “regular” life with your new one at Automattic. Sometimes it can feel a little bit like you’re leading a double life! Here I’ll share a few tips on how I managed to balance a full-time 35-hours/week job with a 20-ish second one as an HE … Continue reading Leading a Double Life as a Trial Happiness Engineer
When I completed the Happiness Trial, I was already a full-time employee at another company. Due to this, weekends were the only time I was able to dedicate the largest blocks of time. Through trial and error, I was able to come up with a plan that worked for me. I was able to keep up my responsibilities at my “day job” as well as … Continue reading Balancing the Happiness Engineer Trial When You Have a Full-Time Job
Eric McDuffie is a Happiness Engineer supporting customers using WordPress.com. He is also team lead for one of the WordPress.com support teams at Automattic. Eric shares what it’s like working for Automattic, the benefits of working from home, and what it’s like to be a Happiness Engineer. Listen through to the end if you’re interested in joining Automattic as a Happiness Engineer. Eric gives some great … Continue reading Meet a Happiness Engineer: Eric
The Happiness Engineer trial can be daunting, but with the right mindset and tips, it is possible to ace it! I know this because I was a trial myself and made it through the chaos. During my first week in the trial, I was completely clueless about working here at Automattic. But a few weeks later, my trial buddy said, “If I was in the … Continue reading Ten tips to ace your Happiness Engineer trial
Happiness Everywhere 