Consultant / IT tester – what does it do? My colleague Lukas will tell you
Are you interested in working at msg life Slovakia? Get to know our colleagues and find out more about how they got to their position, what their roles are and what a typical day is like. Today Lukáš, a software tester and currently also a test manager at msg life Slovakia, answered questions about his job.
How long have you been with msg life Slovakia?
“I joined msg life in November 2016.”
What position did you take up?
“I took a position as an IT tester consultant.”
What position do you currently hold?
“I am currently working as an IT test manager and at the same time I am still working on two projects as a test engineer.”
How did you get into testing?
“Ironically, it was almost by accident. After more than a year abroad, circumstances forced me to return to Slovakia. As I wanted to stabilise my financial situation first, I wanted to ‘play it safe’, as they say. I saw the tester position as a good stepping stone. The offer from msg life Slovakia was definitely the most interesting among the other offers, so I sent my CV.
What attracted you to working at msg life Slovakia? Why did you choose us?
“It was definitely an opportunity to use my knowledge of the German language. In addition, I saw a wide range of possibilities for further career paths, which after all proved to be true for me. Last but not least, it was also a very good financial evaluation and interesting company benefits for me.”
How is working for us different from previous work experience?
“I don’t have much work experience yet. I worked for a year in the state sector as a researcher. I definitely see a difference in the ratio of work done to pay. By that I don’t just mean the financial aspect, but also the other benefits.”
What does your normal working day look like?
“My job is very varied. My day is divided into two phases. The first phase lasts from 6am to 10am. At this time I have my ‘peace of mind’ because I can work on tasks that do not require anyone else and I can do them on my own.
In the second phase, my calendar is already filled with deadlines. These are often challenging but constructive, we solve various problems and together with our colleagues we try to find the optimal course of action. At the end of the working day, I always take stock of my tasks and prepare a rough agenda for the next day.”
What are you currently working on?
“As a team leader, I am primarily responsible for organizational matters – I coordinate the team’s activities, plan, prepare various documentation and presentations, and last but not least, I try to optimize processes and improve the quality of work in the team. In addition, I work as a technical test analyst on two Austrian projects, where most of the tasks consist in supporting colleagues and solving various technical problems with test applications, or with the database, test environment, etc. I also often work as a ‘liaison’ between testers and developers, especially when it comes to tests that are more technically demanding. For example, even if you need to write something directly into the database, call multiple scripts and programs directly, and so on.”
Who all are you communicating with to solve any problems?
“Of course, most often with members of my team. In addition, I am in contact with skillmanagers, other teams and, of course, on a project level with fellow developers, be they Java programmers, integrators or mathematicians.”
What project are you working on right now?
“The two Austrian projects I come into contact with the most are the two already mentioned. As my team provides support and coaching for testers on multiple projects, as a team leader I am in contact with many other projects, so it’s very varied and dynamic.”
What programs do you use at work?
“Apart from classic office stuff like MS Office, I work very often with Eclipse, GIT, Putty, Jenkins, DBVizualiser and various benchmarking programs like BeyondCompare or DiffDog. Of course, we also have a number of enterprise applications used to automate testing. In addition, I also use a number of small applications that can sometimes make life easier, such as FileLocator, Greenshot, and similar little things.”
What skills/knowledge are important for your job?
“It may sound like a cliché, but I consider analytical thinking to be clearly the most important for my work. In addition, the ability to quickly make connections and not be afraid to take responsibility is needed. As far as knowledge is concerned, in my opinion, it is necessary to have a certain insurance and IT literacy, everything else can be learned very quickly on the fly.”
What do you like most about your job?
“What I like most about my job is definitely the opportunity to solve problems and optimize processes. And I don’t like monotony without visible results. Fortunately, this happens very rarely in my position.”
Who are your colleagues?
“Of course, we have a mix of personality types and moods. But I have to say that I get on very well with many of my colleagues. Of course, as in any other workplace, I get along with some colleagues more and others less. But I think that’s perfectly natural and okay.”
What qualities should your new colleague have to fit in?
“In my opinion, anyone who is interested in integrating into the collective will fit in.”
3 words that come to mind when you hear msg life Slovakia?
“IT, insurance, my employer ?”
Are you interested in Lukáš’s work? Do you have experience in software testing or would you like to try something new? See our latest job offers for consulting and testing.
