Hired at Atari

[jerryd]

Atari forum,
 I don't know how many people check this site but if there are some views I
 will post some stories about when I worked at Atari in the very early days.

 Here's how I got hired.

 In 1973 I found an ad in the San Jose Mercury News want ad section for a
 production job at Atari.  I didn't know what they did but the ad mentioned
 soldering and wiring and I had electronics training in the Navy.

 I went to the factory in Los Gatos and got an interview right away.  The lady
 doing the interview said that before we got too far along she wanted to show
 me the production floor to see if I could work in that environment.  On the way
 I saw my first Pong game in the hallway.  It had just gone out of production.
 
 As we toured the plant I could see why some people might not feel comfortable
 working here.  At the time I was 30 and most of the workers were much younger
 than me and many were dressed like hippies.  They were making "Gotcha".  At

 one end of the production floor there was a large sign that read "SUB ASS" short

 for sub assembly.  On the other end there was a moving assembly line for final

 assembly.  It all looked exciting to me.

 Back in her office she asked me a lot of questions and at one point said "I
 think I'm going to have you talk to our VP of engineering, Al Alcorn".

 His office was down at the far end of the building right outside the engineering
 lab.  He was an imposing figure who I instantly realized was very sure of himself

 and very into his job.

 He saw on my resume that I had worked at a small start up company, there was a
 lot of them in those days,  so he was very proud to tell me how he was Atari's
 first engineer when it was just a start up.  We had something in common.

 We talked start ups for a while and then he drew some circuits on his black
 board, yes it was a black board not a white board.  I stumbled my way through
 that, he showed me around the lab and offered me a job.  I started the next
 day.

 If there is much interest I will post more.

 Thanks,
Jerryd
 

[Clint Thompson]

Please do write more, that was awesome! Thanks for sharing Jerry! =D

[RickR]

Welcome.  Great first post. 

[nosweargamer]

Yes Please! I would like to hear more!

How long did you work there?

[Justin]

GREAT history Jerryd! Thank you for sharing with everyone. It's wonderful to have you here, welcome to the site! 

[Video 61]

Atari forum,

 I don't know how many people check this site but if there are some views I

 will post some stories about when I worked at Atari in the very early days.

 

 Here's how I got hired.

 

 In 1973 I found an ad in the San Jose Mercury News want ad section for a

 production job at Atari.  I didn't know what they did but the ad mentioned

 soldering and wiring and I had electronics training in the Navy.

 

 I went to the factory in Los Gatos and got an interview right away.  The lady

 doing the interview said that before we got too far along she wanted to show

 me the production floor to see if I could work in that environment.  On the way

 I saw my first Pong game in the hallway.  It had just gone out of production.

 

 As we toured the plant I could see why some people might not feel comfortable

 working here.  At the time I was 30 and most of the workers were much younger

 than me and many were dressed like hippies.  They were making "Gotcha".  At

 one end of the production floor there was a large sign that read "SUB ASS" short

 for sub assembly.  On the other end there was a moving assembly line for final

 assembly.  It all looked exciting to me.

 

 Back in her office she asked me a lot of questions and at one point said "I

 think I'm going to have you talk to our VP of engineering, Al Alcorn".

 

 His office was down at the far end of the building right outside the engineering

 lab.  He was an imposing figure who I instantly realized was very sure of himself

 and very into his job.

 

 He saw on my resume that I had worked at a small start up company, there was a

 lot of them in those days,  so he was very proud to tell me how he was Atari's

 first engineer when it was just a start up.  We had something in common.

 

 We talked start ups for a while and then he drew some circuits on his black

 board, yes it was a black board not a white board.  I stumbled my way through

 that, he showed me around the lab and offered me a job.  I started the next

 day.

 

 If there is much interest I will post more.

 

 Thanks,

Jerryd

 

thank you so much for sharing your history with us, i love it.

 

 

lance

www.atarisales.com