Working at Wattpad

People often ask me what the best thing about working at Wattpad is, and to be honest I don't think there's a simple answer. It's a combination of all sorts of wonderful things really.

At the moment, I'm the only full time remote employee of Wattpad, so I still view my visits to HQ as a massive treat in my working year, and in some ways I still look at the office through the eyes of a visitor, as it's new and vibrant every time I go.

I've been incredibly lucky to land a job with Wattpad. The small team I work closely with are amazing, the larger team are fantastic, and the scope and breadths of the imaginations of the folk who work there is breathtaking. They're dedicated, innovative, hard working, and clever. But also, they're great fun to be around.

The office itself is in downtown Toronto which is a great area for food and drink, and the staff eat together most days in the kitchen area, with folk from all disciplines sitting down and chatting with each other. The main meeting room table is also a ping-pong table (a tradition started right from the early days of the company), and there's a hammock, a deck area on the roof (with wifi), a games console, and coffee on tap. I tend to spend a lot of time in the kitchen when I'm there, as the coffee machine and I get on well.

Despite the wonderful surroundings though, the team get some serious work done, and I've never worked with a team who work so hard at what they do. They have regular 'hack' days, where folk who wouldn't normally work together pick a problem or idea and hack away at it for a solution. Many of the 'hack' ideas have since been implemented on the platform or developed into something new, like the Covers App for example. They're constantly testing, tweaking, improving and learning, and it's wonderful to watch and be involved with.

I love my job. Something I've not said since I used to fit kitchens with a wonderful friend when I was eighteen. Now, at forty-one I've found another job I am passionate about, and the people I work with share that passion which is incredibly energising.

The thing I truly love about the folk there though is that they have passion. Passion for Wattpad, for what they do every day, and for the people who use Wattpad itself. All of them use Wattpad. Most read, many write, and they subsume themselves in the platform.

As with all jobs, it's the people who make it. I am lucky not just to work with talented people who care about what they do, but with a group of folk who have become great friends, and who support each other every day. And I get to read. A lot. And I also get to deal with folk from all over the world who share my passion for reading and writing. Wattpad is a worldwide Community, and it's a great one to be a member of.

Gavin Wilson
Content Specialist
Wattpad - Unlimited Stories

www.wattpad.com/TheOrangutan
TheOrangutan