The Company You Keep
This month marks a whole year since I moved from my tiny little home city to the metropolis that is London. One whole year of hot tube journeys, voiceless commutes, and working at atom42.
Moving to London is a hard thing to do, and before I moved I’d been told by so many friends that it was a lonely place to live and that perhaps commuting every day from my hometown was a better idea.
In reality, they were half right and half wrong.
They were right because London can be a lonely place to live and some people are very strange. From the woman who passively aggressively tutted when I tried to leave the tube one morning at my stop – to the person who refused my tissues when she was literally sobbing on a commute.
People don’t like to interact with strangers in London and sometimes it really does feel like a completely different world.
But my friends were wrong too because London is a lonely place when you’re on your own, and when the company that surrounds you lacks personality and charm.
When I interviewed for my position at atom42, I had two other potential jobs lined up, with one of them already a firm offer of employment. I turned up to my interview at atom42 because of the location and because I had nothing to lose by being there.
After my interview, I sat outside the meeting room in the atom42 sofa area. I tried to act cool and hide my sweaty ears, as the people inside the meeting room spoke about me – whether they liked me, whether I talked too much (I definitely did) and whether I had shown potential.
While I sat there, contemplating whether I was a nice person literally every atom42 employee that passed me offered to make me a drink, said “hi” and made conversation.
Just take a second to think about that…
Every single one of atom’s employees that passed me, went out of their way to make sure I was comfortable and refreshed.
While in hindsight I think this is partly motivated by the fact that atom interviews can be particularly taxing on the noggin’ (spoiler), I also think this is because atom42 makes sure it only employs blooming lovely people.
I guess this blog post is a spoiler and incredibly bias because atom offered me a job. I took it, and as a result my commute is nice and short and I’m being paid to write content.
But although the length of my commute was a factor in me taking the job it was actually the people at atom that made the decision for me.
Their kindness and welcoming nature in each small interaction I had on the day of my interview was a sign to me of the company I’d be working for. Willingly or not they were the face of atom42 to any potential employee. The face of the atom42’s values.
atom42 has been instrumental to how I feel living in London. Instead of London being this cold place where people don’t make eye contact and everything costs a fortune, atom42 have helped me create friendships, showed me that there are cheap places to drink and made me feel more familiar in a scary place.
Sure – nobody does make eye contact on the tube, but I don’t care because at the end of my commute I’ll be sat at my desk with a morning coffee listening to the buzz of the office and catching up with my workmates.
Our founder Andy created atom42 because he wanted to work in a company where he was friends with those he worked with, a place he enjoyed being – and he nailed it. We are friends, and not in a creepy band-camp kind of way, but in a way that means if I’m upset I know I can talk to somebody; in a way that I know if I needed help I could call an atom; in a way that when I achieve something those around me are genuinely pleased and celebratory.
So if you’re thinking of moving to London (and why the hell not?) make good choices about the company you keep because it will make the world of difference in this crazy beautiful city and you will genuinely be a happier person for it.
If you’re looking for a new job and a new adventures, why not check out the vacancies we have here!
