I’ve now been working at Highgroove for just over a month. While most of this has been part time, as I was finishing up my Fall semester at Georgia Tech, I’ve experienced quite a few differences from my previous jobs.

At first, it felt a lot more chaotic. With the results only work environment, everyone is allowed to be independent. This is a huge plus, and allows for a lot more flexibility, but is initially a bit scary. I’m used to being given a task or two, completing it, and then getting more from my supervisor. At Highgroove, I came in on my first day, and right away I had a virtual meeting with a client and started writing out stories on what to do, and then having an open dialog with them as I ran into issues or finished a feature. Now that I’ve started to get into the swing of things, it’s fantastic!

There’s also less structure in regards who’s on when. I have been used to working standard hours with pretty much all the other people I work with. At Highgroove, some people are on Hawaii time, while others are on Eastern time. It was a bit odd to get my first code review while I was up late studying. It also takes some discipline, or silencing your iPhone & closing Mail.app, to not get distracted by other people working when you’ve got something else that needs your attention.

The non-standard hours, along with Highgroove being between offices at the moment, means I see some people almost daily at Ignition Alley (where I’ve been going regularly), and almost never see others, which is strange. The good thing is that we still try to get together for lunch, so we can at least see each others faces and enjoy each others company once in a while.

Overall, Highgroove has taken a bit of getting used to, but it’s been a blast, and I’m looking forward to continuing working full time through the summer.