Welcome to Automatic Women – Conversations with some of the amazing women working all over the world to design and develop Automattic software and make the Internet a better place. Today’s interviewee, Rebecca Williams, Talks to us from her home about The shoreline of the Wild Atlantic Road Of Lewisburg in Ireland, County Mayo.
Who are you, and what do you do?
I am a Wrangler Development Engineer, and I work in Engineer Development in the Developer Experience (DevEx) section of Automattic’s Talent Division. Our team supports automated engineering teams in the areas of growth, implementation and leadership.
My role oversees the assimilation and involvement of engineers. It involves working with over 150 new beginners each year, as well as building and maintaining relationships with leads and other engineers. I’m definitely busy, but I enjoy every moment!
Our process begins at the recruitment junction and start date, and we provide support to both our new beginners and our leads to ensure everyone is properly prepared for the start date.
In addition to personal check-in, we also hold monthly join calls. These conversations are a great opportunity to connect with our new beginners, and find out what worked well for them and what we can do to help.
Any feedback we receive during these conversations, or through the surveys, is tracked and works as much as possible to improve the process for future new beginners.
The ultimate goal is to ensure that all of our engineers land smoothly on their teams – that they know what to expect and what is expected of them, and that they are in a good position to start contributing and feeling productive at the earliest stage. We want everyone to feel that they are reaching their full potential, and to consider what else they can achieve within Automattic.
What does a typical day look like for you?
The freedom to choose where we work is one of the great things about jobs in automation. Working from home is great, but I also really enjoy working from a shared work space as well. That way I can support small businesses in my local community, and enjoy a change of scenery.
I drop my daughter off at school, then head into my favorite coffee shop for a caffeine hit. I make my way to the shared work space, or to my home office, depending on where I decide to work that day.
I start my day by checking emails and slack pings, as well as reading about any news that happened while I was offline. I try to keep myself organized with productivity tools like Todoist, Which I use with Slack integration, which allows me to mark things for attention later.
I start my day by completing all my operational and process tasks, and then I tend to a more focused job. During lunch, I make an effort to hike – often to the beach. I find this a great way to reset myself and maybe unleash everything I concentrated on in the morning.
When I get back to my desk, I’m usually ready to go again. I may have some calls, or I may be willing to change my focus on some other tasks.
I find that time-boxing whatever task I choose to do is a great way to provide myself with focus. I’m definitely a morning person, so by splitting my afternoon, I give myself specific time frames to work on, which works really well for me. By 3:30, I’m ready to pick up my daughter from school.
When we’m home from school, I go in again and continue things from where I left off until 5: 30-6: 00 p.m. I usually feel pretty productive by the end of the day!
What drew you to Automation and what leaves you here?
I discovered Automattic at a local remote employee meeting run by me Growing remotely. Then, I read as many blogs by Automatticians as I could find, and one in particular spoke to me. Having previously worked in a great team, I decided that this emotional connection with others is a very important factor for me, wherever I have landed.
all I believe It resonated with me, but especially “I will never give up the opportunity to help a colleague, and I will remember the days before I knew everything.” It’s still incredibly important to me, and something I see myself demonstrating on a daily basis. In many ways, joining embodies this statement perfectly!
Another thing that was very important to me was to find a family-friendly organization. The ability to do the school run and be present for my daughter is essential. Plus, being able to move my work day to fit in for dental appointments, physical therapy and school visits means I can spend my annual vacation with my family, and really get the benefit out of this offline time.
This role provides me with the best of everything: great and supportive staff, amazing colleagues, work that makes me interested and intrigued – and the ability to do it all from my home. What is there not to love ?!
What is your favorite activity without a job?
Two things really charge me: spending time in nature, and focusing on the project. When the weather is nice, I will go for a long walk – there is no shortage of interesting routes and I have some favorites!
When the weather is not great, I like to do cross-stitching: I immerse myself in really complex, complex and time-consuming projects. My last sewing project was Cinderella Castle, and it took four years to complete (with a master’s degree in the middle of it!). My current project is an evening in Venice. It’s taken two years so far, and I’m not even halfway there!
that’s it For this edition of Automattic Women. Track developer resources and Auto design Meet more great women from Automattic. And if you want to do more than just to read For these wonderful people, Consider working with us!
