5 Lessons I’ve Learned from My Cat
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
Self-Care when you work remotely
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
Your guide to becoming a Happiness Engineer
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
3 Tips to make the most of your Happiness Engineer Trial
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
Learning from unhappy customers
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates At Automattic, we aim to offer world-class support. We want to be known for offering the best experience to our customers. Internally, Happiness Engineers encourage each other to “engineer the happiness” of our customers. This isn’t always easy — sometimes people reach out to us when they’re struggling with their site, their … Continue reading Learning from unhappy customers
Five standout skills to be a successful Happiness Engineer
Happiness Engineers love helping people use Automattic’s products like WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, and more. While the desire to help others is important, Happiness Engineers must have other skills to successfully help customers in live chat and by email. With that in mind, here are my recommendations for those wanting to improve their skills as new or aspiring Happiness Engineers. These tips are from my personal … Continue reading Five standout skills to be a successful Happiness Engineer
My Schedule as a Happiness Engineer
Every Happiness Engineer has a different type of day, schedule, tasks, etc. That’s one benefit I love so much about my position… I work when it is best for me and my family! The flexibility is very important to me, as it is lots of people. Personally I choose to work most weekends and take weekdays off. We are homeschooling our kids this year, so … Continue reading My Schedule as a Happiness Engineer
Meet a Happiness Engineer: Erica
Erica Kuschel is a Happiness Engineer supporting customers using WooCommerce to manage their online stores. She is also team lead for one of the WooCommerce support teams at Automattic. One of the most appealing aspects of the Happiness Engineer role is the flexibility provided while working remotely. Maintaining a work-life balance is a plus for this former travel blogger. When more wide-spread travel is possible, … Continue reading Meet a Happiness Engineer: Erica
Communicating effectively with a remote team on video
Part of working with a distributed team, like the one at Automattic, includes communicating with co-workers on video calls. Even though most of our communication is asynchronous and my teammates are in different countries, I can still see and hear them thanks to video conferencing. Once a week I have a meeting with other members of my team using the Zoom video conferencing app. I … Continue reading Communicating effectively with a remote team on video
Engineering Happiness For a Different Product
I joined Automattic in 2017 as a WordPress.com Happiness Engineer. After two and a half years, I decided to apply for the WooCommerce rotation. For several months I stopped working in WordPress.com support to learn all about the WooCommerce product and how to support those customers. Rotations are encouraged by Automattic as a great way to widen our skills, get out of our comfort zone, … Continue reading Engineering Happiness For a Different Product
Happiness Everywhere 