What does a Test Manager do? Patrik will tell you

Patrik joined msg life Slovakia as a Tester/Consultant two and a half years ago. In this short time, he has worked his way up to Test Manager. Find out what motivates him and what a Test Manager does. Patrik became interested in software testing after his friends described the job to him. Soon he took the job of IT Tester at msg life Slovakia. In two and a half years he has worked his way up to Test Manager and today he manages one of our teams. In addition to the relaxed atmosphere, what he likes about his job is that he can implement his ideas and participate in the direction of the products.

How long have you been with msg life Slovakia?

“I joined the company in December 2017.”

What job were you recruited for?

“I took up the position IT tester – Consultant.”

What is your current job position?

“IT test manager.
I was given the opportunity to further develop myself and move from the position of IT tester consultant to the position of Test Manager. So I am currently managing a test team of five colleagues for one of our customers. In addition, I am also part of the hiring process where I do the last round of interviews for the position IT tester consultant.”

How did you get into testing?

“I was inspired by two of my friends who don’t work in msg life, but have a lot of experience in a similar field. They described the job in such an interesting way that I considered it as an option for my career path. Then I came across an offer from msg life Slovakia and my plans became a reality. Moving up to the Test Manager position was a long-term goal when I applied for the Tester/Consultant position in December 2017 and I’m glad I got this opportunity.”

What attracted you to working at msg life Slovakia? Why did you choose us?

“First of all, I was interested in the opportunity to use a foreign language as an IT tester with German, another factor was the job description, because I wanted to become a tester, and finally I was convinced by the first impressions I got during the whole interview process. From the premises, through interesting company benefits up to the first contacts with different workers. Last but not least, I was impressed by the financial evaluation. I would call it a complete package of first impressions that appealed to me.”

How is working for us different from previous work experience?

“I can’t compare because this is my first time working as a tester/consultant. But I like that I have more opportunity to put my hand to the work and my ideas or “tweaks” are taken into account and implemented.”

What does your normal working day look like?

“My normal working day as a Test Manager looks much different than when I was a tester. It all depends on the tester’s approach to their work. The tester can work on the tasks from the Test Manager, or can proactively work on other topics or expand their knowledge. It is very individual. In addition, my work day also includes studying specifications, performing test cases, ticket training, smoke-tests, customer consultations and many other tasks.
”

What is your job? What are you currently working on?

“My the work brought a lot of tasks and responsibilities at the same time. These include, for example, active involvement in the planning process, whether at the level of the entire project or within the test team, as well as the opportunity to communicate or meet the customer in person. In this way, it is possible to get the best view of the entire development process from the other side, which is the customer, i.e. the insurance company. There is room for reporting, which is intended to offer everyone involved the opportunity to get a better understanding of the current situation in which the entire test team finds itself.”

Who do you communicate with at work and solve problems?

“My communication is divided into internal and external. External includes communication with the customer, whereas internal includes communication with colleagues from the company or from the project I am working on. The jobs that colleagues do are varied, we have expert testers, testers, Java programmers, integrators, managers.”

What project are you working on right now?

“I’m working on an Irish-German project called Canada Life Europe. This is multinational company providing services in the field of insurance with a focus on the German market.”

Do you have experience with other projects within msg life Slovakia?

“I have experience with a variety of projects, both direct and indirect. As we have a large number of nice people working in our company, it is common to exchange knowledge and experience from other projects. In this way one gets a picture of other areas of work in msg life.”

What apps and programs do you use at work?

“Our company actively uses external programs that help us to streamline our work. These include JIRA, a ticket management program, or Zephyr Scale for test case management. The rest of the tools are more internal, various automated programs for front-end and back-end tests.”

What skills or knowledge are important for your job?

“I think that German is a basic language and the desire to learn something new is also important. There is a lot of knowledge that one can acquire. The same applies to internal programs that the test manager must learn to work with. However, in our country everything is taken into account and a new colleague learns everything in the training process. A subtle dose of scepticism is also important, as the tester should question what they see and look critically at what they are dealing with in their working hours. He is then better able to spot bugs that were not picked up in earlier phases of the development cycle.”

What do you like most about your job?

“What I like most is the friendly atmosphere that colleagues create.
The opportunity to grow in my career and broaden my knowledge, and also to ‘put my hand to the work’.”

Who are your colleagues?

“Kind, friendly and helpful. That wasn’t always the case in my previous jobs, so I appreciate it more now.”

What qualities should your new colleague have to fit in?

“I think
it’s not hard to fit in with our team. A new colleague should have basic qualities such as a friendly demeanour and a willingness to help. That defines most of my colleagues. Therefore, I think that if a candidate has these qualities, he or she will definitely fit in with us.”

What comes to mind when you hear msg life Slovakia?

“Insurance – honesty – stability.”

Are you interested in Patrik’s work? Do you have experience in software testing or would you like to try something new?

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