Welcome to the fourth post in our month-long International Women’s Day celebration. This week we’d love for you to get to know Natalia, one of our Senior QA Engineers. Not sure what a QA engineer does? Continue reading to find out what Natalia does at GoodNotes and her experience as a female engineer in the tech world!
Hi Natalia! Thank you for opening up about your experience as a QA engineer at GoodNotes. Can you tell us a bit more about what exactly a QA engineer does?
As a QA Engineer, I’m in charge of verifying the quality of the product, making sure we find any bugs in our product for developers to fix before it launches. My job is essentially to help our developers ensure that any app releases are of the best possible quality for our users. As a member of the cross-platform team at GoodNotes, I specifically look after our Windows and Android app.
What are you most proud of in your career, so far?
I actually think working in GoodNotes is one of the best things that has happened in my career. I’m surrounded by such talented professionals that I can learn from. The ability to contribute and be helpful and be heard makes me feel great. I’m also proud of the fact that I’ve always made friends in the companies I’ve worked in. To me, it’s very important feeling comfortable with my colleagues on not just a professional level, but also a personal level.
Are there any specific skills or traits that helped you when interviewing with GoodNotes?
I think my general QA and technical skills helped since I had solid experience in different projects and fields in my career. Since culture and personality fit play a big part in the interviews at GoodNotes, my soft skills were also helpful.
What questions do you think women in tech should be asking at interviews regarding diversity and inclusion?
A few questions I make sure to ask in interviews are how many women are in the team I am going to work with; how many women are in management positions in the company; and what is the company doing to help create an inclusive and equitable environment for everyone.
Have you found GoodNotes supportive when it comes to your growth and development as a QA engineer?
Totally. From my colleagues to my manager, to the rest of the team. We have regular check-ins with our manager, and also regular feedback sessions between functions and across projects where we discuss successes or strengths as well as areas for improvement. We also discuss my career development, where I feel comfortable saying what I would like to learn, what support I need, or what I’d like to focus on. GoodNotes has a generous learning and development budget, which also enables me to grow as a QA engineer.
What advice would you give other women wanting to reach their career goals in the tech world?
First I would tell them that there is absolutely no reason why women can’t be in the tech world and grow as much as they want. Don’t be afraid of speaking your mind, participate, and be involved in things where you think you can add value, but also where you see you can grow and learn. Follow your dreams but also fight for them.
Who is a woman you admire/look up to or want to thank?
I admire and would love to thank all women that speak up and use their voices, in all fields and parts of the world, in professional and also in personal spaces, to raise awareness of women’s issues, and fight for equity and justice. I look up to all those women who are not afraid to do these things, and who don’t avoid uncomfortable conversations about it.
How do you think diversity can impact product design and development?
In my opinion, the more diverse points of view, the better. It makes the product and the experience of building it much richer and more complete.
What do you think are the most important things our community should know about what it’s like to work at GoodNotes?
It’s a very diverse and flexible atmosphere. Everyone is super nice and the company is always trying to improve in making everyone feel comfortable working. Also, all the people working here are great professionals with impressive technical skills, so you can learn a lot in different areas. I personally feel I’m continuously growing and learning, working here. Also, the culture and benefits at GoodNotes are hard to beat.
What were you most surprised about when you joined GoodNotes?
Though I work fully remotely (same as many other people in GoodNotes) and haven’t met any of my colleagues in person, I still feel very connected with the team. I have a feeling of belonging and that I am part of the company.
What does an average work day look like for you?
I begin my day by checking my Slack messages. Since I am in the EU timezone, my Asia timezone coworkers have already been working for a few hours so I make sure I’m updated before I start my work-day. Then I normally have a few meetings during the morning when the team overlaps with our Asia colleagues, and in the afternoon I do different things, depending on the day. I create test plans and test cases, execute test cases for Pre or Post Deployments to Prod, review pending stuff, try to improve some processes, etc.
Can you see yourself working at GoodNotes?
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