{"id":5131,"date":"2012-04-20T17:23:46","date_gmt":"2012-04-20T22:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/?p=5131"},"modified":"2015-09-26T11:10:57","modified_gmt":"2015-09-26T18:10:57","slug":"valve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2012\/04\/valve\/","title":{"rendered":"Working at Valve"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, the things you have heard<\/a> are true. After four glorious years of freelancing and working on fun<\/a> open source hardware projects<\/a>, I am going full-time again.<\/p>\n

In June, I will be joining the hardware team at Valve<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yes, Jeri<\/a> works there. No, she is not my boss (or anyone else’s, more on that later).<\/em><\/p>\n

On my last visit to Valve, I got a copy of the brand new Handbook for New Employees<\/em>. This handbook outlines what it’s like to work at Valve. <\/p>\n

\"Valve<\/a><\/p>\n

If you read the handbook<\/a>, you will discover that working at Valve is quite a bit different than working at other software or hardware companies.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most significantly, Valve is a completely flat organization – there are no managers. (And by flat<\/em> I don’t mean simple, or boring, because it is certainly neither of these things.)<\/p>\n

\"Valve<\/a><\/p>\n

No one, not even Gabe, can tell you what to do or what projects to work on.<\/p>\n

So how does anything get done? Simple:<\/p>\n

\"Valve<\/a><\/p>\n

Interested in working at Valve? The handbook also talks a bit about the sorts of things that Valve looks for in the hiring process. I found this diagram particularly interesting:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mightyohm\/7096956887\/in\/set-72157629497191122\/<\/p>\n

Valve looks for people who are experts in their field but also generalists. (Jack of all trades, master of one<\/em>?) This applies across all disciplines.<\/p>\n

(Does this sound like you? If you are interested in working on hardware in an amazing work environment, surrounded by other super-talented people, I highly recommend that you contact Valve<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

The handbook contains lots of other good information for new and prospective employees. Unfortunately, it’s not available for download (yet), so you’ll have to come visit and beg for\/borrow\/steal a copy. (In the mean time, there are a few more scans here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

As for me, I need to start packing. Wish me luck.<\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong> LambdaGeneration<\/a> just posted a link to the complete handbook<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, the things you have heard are true. After four glorious years of freelancing and working on fun open source hardware projects, I am going full-time again. In June, I will be joining the hardware team at Valve. Yes, Jeri works there. No, she is not my boss (or anyone else’s, more on that later). … Continue reading Working at Valve<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[376],"tags":[451],"class_list":["post-5131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements","tag-valve"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sioCd-valve","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8451,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/mightyohm-guest-spot-on-the-embedded-fm-podcast\/","url_meta":{"origin":5131,"position":0},"title":"MightyOhm guest spot on the Embedded.fm podcast","author":"Jeff","date":"June 5, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was honored to be a guest on the Embedded.fm podcast. Embedded.fm is \"the weekly podcast for people who love making gadgets\", and is hosted by embedded rockstars Elecia\u00a0White and Chris White. We spoke about developing hardware at Valve, soldering, amateur radio, RF engineering, and the finer points\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Announcements"","block_context":{"text":"Announcements","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5786,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/amp-hour-229-mightyhohm-for-the-holidays\/","url_meta":{"origin":5131,"position":1},"title":"Amp Hour #229 – MightyHohm for the Holidays","author":"Jeff","date":"December 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Episode #229 of The Amp Hour is now online, in which I talk about working at Valve, the kit biz, low cost RF design tools, and other goings-on.","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2115,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/coombs-printed-circuits-handbook\/","url_meta":{"origin":5131,"position":2},"title":"Coombs: Printed Circuits Handbook","author":"Jeff","date":"September 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"If The Art of Electronics is the bible of electronic circuit design, then the Printed Circuits Handbook is almost certainly the bible of printed circuit board (PCB) technology. I say this because even if you disregard the volumes of useful information inside (much of which I have never seen elsewhere\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books and Resources"","block_context":{"text":"Books and Resources","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/books-and-resources\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Printed Circuits Handbook","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/41b213YFWHL.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":765,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/makes-2008-open-source-hardware-list\/","url_meta":{"origin":5131,"position":3},"title":"Make’s 2008 Open Source Hardware List","author":"Jeff","date":"December 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Make: recently released their 2008 guide to open source hardware - a Christmas list of sorts for hardware geeks. There are lots of cool kits and projects on the list, including a few I hadn't seen before, such as the Fusebox. MAKE: Blog: Open source hardware 2008 - The definitive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electronics"","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/3059738916_2832be684e.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5566,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/open-hardware-summit-pics\/","url_meta":{"origin":5131,"position":4},"title":"Open Hardware Summit Pics!","author":"Jeff","date":"September 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"What an awesome event. \u00a0Great people, great talks, and gorgeous weather made for an epic weekend in Cambridge. My photos are up on flickr. Also, I just finished recording a shiny new episode of The Amp Hour, which should be online as soon as Chris finishes editing. \u00a0Look for it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Open Hardware Summit 2013","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3764\/9705435466_e96aee5a59.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4482,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/28c3\/","url_meta":{"origin":5131,"position":5},"title":"28C3","author":"Jeff","date":"December 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes! I will be at 28C3, which takes place in just under two weeks, from Dec 27-30th, 2011 in Berlin. There will be Geiger Counter kits for sale in the Hardware Hacking area, and I will be giving several workshops. If you know me from the blog or just want\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/logo_hintergrund2.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5131"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7737,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5131\/revisions\/7737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}