From nature conservation biologist to QA Specialist
Interns have always been welcome at Reach-U. They’re our full-fledged team members from day one – involved in real projects to gain valuable work experience, put into practice everything studied so far, and learn things that can never be taught in a classroom.
You may think of a typical intern as an IT-graduate in their early 20’s. Well, you’d be surprised how different our interns’ background is here at Reach-U. Their stories are true evidence that regardless of your education or career background, what truly matters is your inner motivation and willingness to learn and grow continuously.
Ann joined Reach-U as a QA intern a few months ago. Who would’ve thought a year ago that examining the life of bugs in nature will soon be replaced with chasing bugs in software applications!
You may think of a typical intern as an IT-graduate in their early 20’s. Well, you’d be surprised how different our interns’ background is here at Reach-U. Their stories are true evidence that regardless of your education or career background, what truly matters is your inner motivation and willingness to learn and grow continuously.
Ann joined Reach-U as a QA intern a few months ago. Who would’ve thought a year ago that examining the life of bugs in nature will soon be replaced with chasing bugs in software applications!
This is her story:
Doing an internship with real work experience was my plan for testing out the idea to turn my career around once more (last time it was from a civil servant to nature conservation biologist).
It might seem that moving from biological research to software testing is a bit of a leap, but with interest, determination, transferable experience, and a supportive team, it is actually doable! Scientific research has very much in common with testing: gathering and analyzing previous documents, evaluating used data, methods, and results, and finally, communicating found ambiguities and defects.
Learning resources for a background in software development and testing are abundantly available but learning does not stick without practice. So, I gathered advice from my friends in the industry and applied for apprenticeships in companies whose products and work environment appealed to me. In Reach-U we agreed on a mutually beneficial plan, and by next Monday I was one of them! Learning the ropes was intense, but that was the intention. Soon I was able to ask questions which turned into bug tasks. One of my first assignments was testing a solution that digitalizes licencing of health care providers – comparison with requirements, checking the design, assessing accessibility, and overall exploratory testing. My previous experience as a solo tester made me appreciate even more the dynamically intertwined development team in Reach-U.
As for testing my idea to become a tester – passed – now I am a Junior QA Specialist! Looking for bugs proves to be a transferable skill!
Doing an internship with real work experience was my plan for testing out the idea to turn my career around once more (last time it was from a civil servant to nature conservation biologist).
It might seem that moving from biological research to software testing is a bit of a leap, but with interest, determination, transferable experience, and a supportive team, it is actually doable! Scientific research has very much in common with testing: gathering and analyzing previous documents, evaluating used data, methods, and results, and finally, communicating found ambiguities and defects.
Learning resources for a background in software development and testing are abundantly available but learning does not stick without practice. So, I gathered advice from my friends in the industry and applied for apprenticeships in companies whose products and work environment appealed to me. In Reach-U we agreed on a mutually beneficial plan, and by next Monday I was one of them! Learning the ropes was intense, but that was the intention. Soon I was able to ask questions which turned into bug tasks. One of my first assignments was testing a solution that digitalizes licencing of health care providers – comparison with requirements, checking the design, assessing accessibility, and overall exploratory testing. My previous experience as a solo tester made me appreciate even more the dynamically intertwined development team in Reach-U.
As for testing my idea to become a tester – passed – now I am a Junior QA Specialist! Looking for bugs proves to be a transferable skill!
