How long have you been working for RareJob Philippines, Inc.?

I have been with RareJob Phillipines, Inc. since April 2021. Starting as a Project-based Quality Assurance Engineer, I have been assigned to specific projects as stated in my contract, which introduced me to the ins and outs of our system. As I was part of a team with full-time members, I caught glimpses of a QA Engineer’s responsibilities. This made me look forward to encountering new challenges now that I have also transitioned to being a full-time employee.

What made you choose RareJob as your company?

I was introduced to the opportunity to work for RareJob by my brother. Seeing as it was during the pandemic and it was hard for some companies to accommodate new employees for a work from home setup, it was a welcome opportunity for me. I decided to take a chance as a project-based employee first since I was not yet confident as it was a different work setup than what I was accustomed to. Apart from that, I was also a bit familiar with some of the RareJob web features since I tried to apply as a tutor before.

As a Senior Quality Assurance Engineer, how has the experience been so far?

There are a lot of new things that I have learned while working on the projects here. There were new tools and techniques that I haven’t had the chance to use in my previous employments. This is a plus for me as I am always looking forward to learn more on how to better sharpen my skills and knowledge. I have mostly been doing manual testing; knowing that I can now also do automation testing, among other things, makes it very worthwhile here.

Being in QA, how does the work from home setup affect your tasks and responsibilities?

The work from home setup has its pros and cons. A work from home setup allows me to have more time to do other stuff before and after my shift since it removes the time spent commuting to and from the office. However, it also limits the interactions I have with other people that can give more motivation during work.

As a QA, it has its challenges, since the turnaround time for task concerns between me and my teammates takes longer, and to be able to find some available teammates to address these concerns is not easy since I cannot physically ask them. As someone who was an office worker in my past job, I can explain my tasks and concerns clearer in person as opposed to doing it virtually. Thankfully, communication with each other, as well as the different applications and sites that we use help with such challenges, and most of my teammates are quick to adapt to such a situation and are functioning well in this setup.

Share with us what a typical day is like in QA.

As I start my work, I always make sure to check my messages to see if there is information that I need to be up-to-date with from the previous workday. After that, I usually check my calendar to plan my tasks around my schedule. I then start my tasks for the day, such as Test Deliverable creation or testing. I also attend our daily stand-up meetings to discuss the progress of each team member, and raise any concerns or bottlenecks regarding our tasks. Whenever I encounter issues or bugs, I raise them to the team to see if there are workarounds so I can proceed. At the end of the shift, I make sure that I have finished my tasks for the day, or see if any issues need to be reported for the next day.

What do you think are the highlights of your job, as well as the most important aspects?

My role as a Quality Assurance Engineer encompasses the responsibility of making the website features function smoothly and properly. As a QA team member, I always make sure to check if there are any other members I can help out if needed. I also make sure to avoid making assumptions on things that I find unclear since I know that there are more experienced senior members I can consult.

As a former project-based employee, what main factors did you consider in accepting a full-time position in RJPH?

The main factors that I considered when I decided to accept the full-time position are the tools and applications that I haven’t tried out yet and can add to my knowledge and skillset. It is also due to the fact that as a project-based employee, I was limited to what was stated in my contract, so I wish to be able to experience the challenges that are presented to full-time employees, as well as develop the skills that are honed by such challenges.

While working remotely, what are some things that you do to keep yourself from being burnt out?

During work, I usually have some background music playing as to help me focus on my task. I usually play music of any genre from the 90s to the 2000s. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I usually take a short 15-minute break to play games on my console, as long as it will not have any impact on my tasks for the day.

With the increasing interest in the technical field, specifically in being a QA Engineer, what tips can you give those who are currently in this career path, or those who are considering switching to it?

For those who are considering a career path as a QA Engineer, I would suggest that you have the insight as a developer and as a user. You should be able to see the potential errors that may arise from different types of users of the applications or websites they would be using. For me, I usually have the question “Would a user be able to understand this?” at the back of my mind.

You usually have to consider every detail, however small it is, since such details may become potential issues in the future. Finally, enjoy your job as a QA, since it is a good career path that helps you be more meticulous with things, as well as develop a more critical mindset.