Solo QA Warrior — Challenge Accepted! [2/2]
One QA to Rule Them All: Tales from a Solo Tester
“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” — Nelson Mandela
I was selected among the best students from around the globe for a specialised European Union mobility programme. I had an opportunity to experience different cultures as we were supposed to spend one semester in one country for the first year (Belgium and France). Then for the second year, we had to choose one of the partner universities (from France, Spain, or Germany) for specialisation.
Each country has its criteria to judge students. I had chosen Barcelona (Spain) for my specialisation but by the end of 1st year, shockingly, I was told to fulfil my remaining credits before proceeding to the next round. I insisted that I would rather do it in parallel with my planned 2nd year as is. But… God had a different plan for me and a much better one!
I enjoyed my stay in Barcelona and completed my master’s degree with distinction in thesis with a couple of international conference papers published for the topic of “Big Data Analytics”. I did an internship in a research centre in Barcelona and got an offer for a full-time job.
“After climbing a great hill. One only finds that there are many more hills to climb.” — Nelson Mandela
Unluckily (or maybe that was good for me in some ways), the Spanish bureaucracy took months for the legal paperwork and verification, and even before they could finalise, another opportunity knocked on the door.
This time I moved to a city of canals i.e. Hamburg (Germany) with my wife and settled for good. I started my career again as a QA Engineer with one of the startups in Hamburg, and once again I was a solo warrior (the only QA in the team).
Even though I still didn’t have any support from direct QA superiors I consider myself lucky to be part of a truly amazing and international team where I had the liberty to explore a variety of broader tech-stack as well as a good mentorship from leads. I learned the true and free spirit of being able to work for myself. I learned not only the technical stuff but also about career development.
I finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel!
I loved the time I spent with my team there. We had celebrated many successes together as well as we had enjoyed many team events. For the first time, I learned an amazing work-life balance model and worked with advanced cutting-edge technologies.
Time flies!
How quickly more than three years have passed. I was considered an important team player and was valued for my work. I received praise, direction, and mentorship. I was also given time to excel, and to bring and implement my ideas. I will always remember the good times.
The new year 2024 brought new exciting opportunities. But that we’ll unfold some other time. For now, that’s it!
Conclusion:
Here I’d like to conclude my key learnings from my personal and professional life so far.
- Never stop believing in yourself!
- Never stop learning!
- Don’t hesitate to accept new challenges and see how life unfolds!
- Find a good mentor who can guide you and push you beyond your limits!
- Learning and growing in a rapidly evolving tech industry is the key, but don’t waste yourself in a toxic environment!
- Find a good life partner! :D
(None of this could have happened if my resilient wife wasn’t with me. She was my strength and support in difficult times, stood by my side, and never stopped believing in me. I’m thankful to her for her amazing support throughout the hardship we dealt with together.)
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