War rooms!

APT wants their new recruits to pick up things fast. Very fast. A small company needs to keep progressing and there isn't too much time to get everyone up to speed.

So how does someone who has never even typed any html or “public static void main” cope with this situation when they join?

APT's solution = the war room. The “war room” is what we’ve termed a room filled with about 5 engineers at close quarters. While this may sound unappealing at first, it is actually awesome to have your team mates right by you. Nothing beats learning by example, and even learning by osmosis by overhearing conversations among other engineers.

Having ready and willing help literally right by your side rapidly accelerates the learning of new engineers as they never have to spin their wheels waiting for assistance when they get stuck. You can get someone to look at your code with a yell, a nudge or the highly effective throw of a stuffed gorilla (because most people listen to music at work and might not hear you yell).

It is a fun and exciting environment to learn in and if you like cooperation and team work, you'd much rather have this that a lot of space and your own private office. In fact, our Senior VP of Engineering leaves his own office empty so that he can join the rest of his team members in one of our war rooms.