Over the last couple of years, I’ve had several people reach out to me about Atomic Object and the Accelerator program. These were students, recent grads, career changers — people in all kinds of situations trying to get a feel for what the experience might offer.
I appreciate every one of those conversations, and I’ve noticed the same questions tend to come up. So I figured I’d put my (real) answers in one place. This Accelerator Program FAQ is a compilation of my personal reflections based on my own experience. Your mileage may vary, but hopefully this gives you a real sense of what to expect.
What is the Accelerator program?
The Accelerator is a full-time position for junior developers. It entails two years of curriculum and mentorship, in addition to the regular day-to-day job. Accelerators are regular employees who spend a portion of their 40-hour week focusing on professional development activities.
These activities include personal projects, group projects, book discussions, meetings with managers, and networking or professional development events. You also come into the program in cohorts, so it’s cool to have other people to adjust and figure things out with.
I really enjoyed being an accelerator because I used it as a space to learn things that aren’t necessarily related to the work project I was on. It helped me build a foundation for my personal and professional goals.
Is the Accelerator like an internship?
No. It’s a full-time position, and you are 100% part of the Atomic team. There’s no transitional period or any contract that makes it different from accepting a regular job offer.
An Atomic internship is, in many ways, practically the same experience as the Accelerator. The main difference is that interns don’t have the same expectations to contribute to a project since they’re only around for a few months. Interns get to work on real client projects, be part of Accelerator meetings and activities, and get some extra mentorship opportunities.
Once you finish the Accelerator, you essentially “graduate” from the program and no longer have to do the curriculum-related things. That time just fills with project work.
What does the interview and hiring process look like?
This has definitely evolved.
My application process came through the form of the Atomic Games, which is basically a hackathon where you get paired with another person. Then you have to program a bot to play a game — ours was Connect 4 — and you compete against the other teams.
Atomic reviews people’s code and schedules interviews afterwards. It was fun, but we haven’t done it very often since the Covid pandemic and it isn’t quite back to running in every office.
Instead, there have been take-home programming projects/assessments. Any behavioral interviews would happen afterwards. The behavioral interview is just a chance to get a feel for personality and alignment with company culture and values.
We generally open hiring for the Accelerator in the fall, and offers are sent and received during the winter term. Accelerators usually start in the spring or summer after graduation season, but it can vary.
How do I stand out as a candidate?
It sounds pretty cliché, but the best thing you can do is be yourself. The culture, brain trust, and social capital you build at Atomic is the main value proposition for working here. There are a lot of unique personalities, and that fuels a lot of our ability to creatively problem solve.
That being said, it’s obviously good to have experience writing and debugging code in modern web frameworks like React, Next.js, Vue or Angular. When hiring for the Accelerator though, we don’t truly expect you to know a whole lot about programming.
The point of the program is to fast-track your experience and development. However, it definitely won’t hurt to have some personal projects to show off or talk about. That experience is valuable and helps show your interests both in tech and other areas. Something simple like a personal website is a great place to start.
If you’re interviewing, show your enthusiasm and don’t be afraid to talk about the things that really make you who you are. It matters a lot.
Extra Pro Tips
Being familiar with companies you’re interested in shows that you see it as more than just a job opportunity.
- Do your research on Atomic! Learn about us in general and read more of our blog posts on Atomic Spin.
- Poke around the Atomic Team page on the company website and read about the different people working here.
- Don’t be afraid to make connections. Send emails or LinkedIn messages…put yourself out there!
Stay curious, and thanks for reading.