Five things I learned in my first week at Puppet
Something that you should know about me is that I am susceptible to bribery. Sure — I was excited to begin my PR internship at Puppet this summer, but when I received my company-issued laptop in the mail, I got really excited. And hey, who can blame me? I was expecting a mule-ish PC on its very last legs, clutching dearly to its charging cable as life support. What I received instead was a stallion; and when I opened my sleek Macbook Pro for the first time, the boot-up hummm was an angel’s choir, sounding from the heavens.
To say the least, I was pretty psyched for my first day of work. It has been a few weeks since I began, and I have learned many lessons in the short time of my employment. When the Macintosh computer was first championed by Apple, the computer was framed as a device capable of fulfilling artistic pursuits, enabling creative work, all the while creating a user experience that is easy and intuitive to use. From the laptop, to the coworkers, to the Slack channel, working at Puppet feels like using a Mac.
Sure, I’ve learned about our products, and our recent acquisition by Perforce, but what has really stuck with me in this past week have been the weird, unexpected perks of this quirky, with-it company. Without further ado, here are five surprising things about working for Puppet. If Slack channels be the food of IT automation, code on!
1) Slack reigns supreme
When you hear that Puppet is a great place to work remotely, you might not believe it. But with the use of Slack, a platform designed for in-house communication, I met way more colleagues in one day than I could have in two weeks in an office. Heck, I feel like I’m stationed at every water cooler in the company.
2) Everybody needs a Kerminator
One of the most delightful features of our Slack page is a bot named “Kerminator.” Perhaps a reference to Kermit the frog, of Muppet notoriety? (It stings a bit to know that there’s a more famous puppet out there, but we love him all the same). We use the Kerminator to give kudos, or positive “karma” to our coworkers. When you have somebody to thank, you type their name and two plus signs, and the Kerminator adds a point to your karma score! So please, if you like this listicle, go ahead and @Hannah Weinberg ++, because that is truly the best incentive for me to keep writing. Hey, who can resist some harmless bribery . . . ?
3) Pets have a place (in the background of Zoom calls)
This might be the best perk of working from home. I have already seen so many cute animals, and the most delightful part is watching them terrorize their owners. You may be having a coffee chat, informational session, or weekly meeting, but there is always a 15% chance of fuzzy interference. And frankly, it is something that I’m grateful for, because it reminds me that although we sling industry lingo around and put on our professional work faces, my colleagues that I’m learning from are still just people, with affection for their terriers, and kitties, and toddlers (who, yes, I count as pets).
4) Puppet employees LOVE their societies
Did you know that there is a 1:3 ratio of Clubs:Puppet employees? That’s right, I did some math for this one. With around 500 employees, we have a shocking number (164, to be precise!) of “soc,” or society, channels. And oh boy, do we have societies for everything under the sun; there are channels for pet owners, parents, and gamers, but also keyboard constructionists, pinball players, and Marie Kondo aficionados. Part of me wonders if there are any rivalries between the soc-channels; for instance, do the members of #soc-starwars resent those in #soc-star-trek, and is there animosity for #soc-startreck_spoilers? There’s truly a society for almost every need, although I have yet to find one for Dungeons & Dragons players…
5) Internships are for learning
When we think “intern,” we picture harried undergrads, sloshing four cups of coffee in a cardboard tray. Well, I can’t bring coffee to my boss, because we live across state lines, and as a result, I have been doing a lot of listening and learning. My fantastic mentor, Nikki Neu, has structured my time here at Puppet sort of like a university course — chock-full of guest speakers (introductions with different departments), reading assignments (industry reports), and opportunities for growth (Medium posts). If I can be a sponge for three months, and absorb all the good lingo, marketing strategies, and maybe even something about the tech industry, I’ll be happy as a clam — if clams could be sponges…that are interns.
