The following are selected excerpts from the ATS Employee Handbook.
Welcome to ATS
ATS was founded in 2002 by Alex White, Terry Chen, and Steven Fadden.
Officially the acronym ATS stood for A Tech Startup. Coincidentally, it also happened to be the first name initials of the company’s founders.
Today, we have offices in Seattle, Ottawa, New York, and London, employing approximately 506 people.
At ATS, we build software that powers the world. Our products are so integral to modern commerce, that it would be hard to imagine a world without ATS behind the scenes, ensuring that things happen.
As an ATS employee, you will be part of that behind-the-scenes story. None of our customers will know your name, or how you contributed. And yet your hard work will matter to millions of people across the world.
But don’t despair, whether you’re in software, hardware, firmware, middleware, beachwear, cookware, courseware, flatware, footwear, glassware, loungewear, sleepwear, stoneware, swimwear (no speedos), there’s a place for you here (but not if you’re into malware, ransomware, shareware, spyware, or vaporware).
You’re here because you’re smart. Smart people build cool stuff. Customers buy cool stuff. Cool stuff makes the world go around. The world going around is responsible for our 24-hour day.
So, in a way, the world revolves around you.
All because you decided to join ATS.
New Hire Checklist
Complete the following checklist in your first four months at ATS and redeem it with HR for a prize.
🔲 ATS the way I like it
configure your computer
🔲 Clothes Call
earn your first project T-shirt
🔲 Write Thing to do
create a new article on the ATS internal wiki
🔲 Food for Thought
attend a lunch and learn
🔲 Dress to Impress
wear an ATS shirt to work
🔲 ATS My Name
receive your official ATS name plate for your desk
🔲 50 Grades of Pay
receive your first paycheck
🔲 Agile Move
catch a sticky note that falls from a scrum board
🔲 Hunger Games
use the last fork in the cutlery drawer in a kitchenette
🔲 ATS Me!
have your first one-on-one meeting with your manager
🔲 Chairman of the Horde
arrive at a divisional town hall in time to get a seat
🔲 Show and Tell
participate in your first project demo
🔲 Inspiration Affirmation
participate in a hack day project
🔲 Right on Time!
receive no “friendly reminders” that you need to complete your timesheets
🔲 No Card up my Sleeve
forget your keycard at your desk and get locked out of the office
🔲 Shift Happens
get reassigned to a new team
🔲 Badge of Dishonor
forget your badge at home and wear the neon pink badge all day
Glossary
All-hands
A quarterly meeting where all employees are expected to attend to receive important corporate information.
ATS
The company you work for now. If you didn’t know that by now, you should really open up your day one orientation package.
Buddy
A person assigned to all new hires as a single point of contact who can answer 95% of questions, and knows who to go to for the rest (this way you won’t bug people doing their work).
GitHub
The main place we use to store our code. Git it in there!
Jira
The name of our ticketing system. All software features are assigned a Jira ticket to track the work. We could use it to track software bugs, if we ever had one.
PM
Project Manager. Unless we mean Program Manager. Or Product Manager. Anyone who uses a spreadsheet.
Slack
Our instant messaging software. You’ll use it more than email. It’s that addictive.
Sprint
A two-week period in which developers convert caffeine into code.
Standup Meeting
A short meeting where attendees stand instead of sit in uncomfortable, back-breaking office chairs.
TLA
Three lettered acronym. We do our best to reduce complex terminology into TLAs. Learn them, otherwise you’ll have a GDT in your FPI.
Town Hall
A monthly meeting that each business unit holds to receive important information.