Switching to IT and Growing from Intern to Test Lead

How do you dare to change your life so that you don’t regret it? Why sometimes the decision to give up a long-term career in one field and start a new professional path is primarily a sign of courage that is usually rewarded? Today we are sharing a story of such changes and career development.

Lilia Nagiba from Kharkiv, who was forced to move to Lutsk because of the war, came to testing after 8 years of working at the customs in Kharkiv and grew from an intern position at Sigma Software to the position of Principal Test Engineer. Liliya described her personal and professional development, the importance of education, and key points that can help beginners. Here is her direct speech.

I Decided to Try it

I’m a computer systems engineer by education, but I studied at the Academy of Customs in Dnipro, and after graduating, I started working as an inspector at the customs office. And even there, I tried to facilitate the work of my department and wrote small programs to automate the work with databases.

I worked there for almost 8 years, reached the level of a department head, and then it looked like a ceiling for me. And then I remembered my education, started researching the IT market, available opportunities and options, and decided to apply for an internship in testing. I was accepted.

I stood out from the other interns. I knew how to work, I knew what discipline was. Three months later, I became a test engineer on a project working with electronic document management. All my experience with databases proved to be very useful.

Sigma Software has been helping me with my development in every possible way from the very first days to the present day. This includes mentoring programs and various courses. That is, you have no chance of staying put. When I joined the company, I was very lucky to have a mentor. Her knowledge, my perseverance, and desire to develop created a kind of synergy.

Who is a Principal Test Engineer?

My main responsibilities for the last five years have been setting up and organizing software testing processes on projects for several accounts. And this is a continuous process, because you can always find opportunities to optimize and improve them, which in turn will contribute to the efficiency and performance of all processes related to software testing.

Interaction and communication with the customer is a mandatory part of the work process and is also my responsibility. After all, building a trusting and transparent relationship with a client is a necessary foundation and support for implementing certain changes and optimizations.

From time to time, I participate in the preparation of business proposals for new projects.

The technologies I work with are constantly changing. For example, I started studying automation with the Katalon framework (Groovy language), but I knew that my colleagues were working with Playwright and Typescript. After the first research, it became clear that it made sense for my projects as well. Now we work with them as well. Something new may come up tomorrow.

Besides, we hear about AI from every iron nowadays. So, I am considering various AI-based helpers, and it is quite possible that they will soon become part of our routine.

Planning as the Main Skill

I worked as a test engineer for about three years, organically taking on the role of a test lead. My previous experience in managing a department was showing. At the same time, I started to learn automation because I wanted new knowledge and it was clear that it was a necessity. In general, every two to three years I take time to think about my own plans and where to develop further.

I have a 10-year planning horizon, which is divided into smaller blocks. Some time ago, I started to take an interest in financial planning, and there are a lot of practical tips on how to choose and set goals, decompose them, and move towards achieving them. It has become a part of my life.

I’m always with my planning notebook, even now. You can see plans for the day, short-term and long-term plans.

How to Cope Now

After the move, it turned out to be quite a quest to establish our daily routine and life in general. Together with my 12-year-old son and husband, we had to live with relatives and friends for some time. When we rented our own place, it became clear that it would be for a long time, and it was very sad to accept the fact that we would not be returning home soon.

Now, in addition to work and family concerns, I devote my free time to hobbies (I make beaded jewelry in the Ukrainian style), sports, books, and development. I have an almost constant routine: I wake up at six, and from 6 to 9 is my time for myself. I usually set aside evenings for professional training, such as automation. This rhythm helps me stay in shape.

I wake up and have a plan drawn up the previous night. In addition, I don’t read the news in the morning, firstly, to keep up my emotional health, and secondly, to have an effective day, as I am most productive in the morning.

Challenges as a Driver

I love challenges, they motivate me and push me for action. And not just dares, but really important tasks that make a person a little better than yesterday, while also making clients and the team happier. I am really interested in diving in and doing things more efficiently.

Sometimes it seems that we’ve already optimized everything, we can rest… But no, it’s important to never stop. And I know how to do it. I always optimize my work and help the team. Once I was preparing a lecture for knowledge-sharing meetup on how to identify time and resource waste on a project and avoid it.

Advice for Future Test Engineers

I advise you to be prepared for high professional competition in the market. Be persistent. Don’t give up after the first unsuccessful interview. And don’t give up even after the tenth one. It is said that one more attempt distinguishes a successful person from an unsuccessful one. Don’t forget to keep investing in your knowledge. It will definitely pay big dividends, although you shouldn’t expect them right away.

• #Business Process Automation
• #Document Management & Archiving
• #Software Testing