Hello again! This is Vanessa, from Human Resource Department.

I would like to share my dialogue interview with our Software Quality Assurance Engineers. Managed by Yuta; his members Gerard and Carlo.

I’m really excited for this casual interview to get to know more our hardworking developers. ✨✨

Brief and casual introduction about yourself:

Carlo: 

 

• Hi! I’m Carlo Jay. After graduating from university, I worked at Commude Philippines under System Team for 2 years and counting as Software QA Tester.

 

Gerard:

 

• Hi! I’m Gerard. I was born in Manila and now I’m living in Bulacan with my family. My friends call me Fachh (They pronounce it as Fatch). Don’t ask why they call me that. Haha. I’m 30 years old. I have a wife and a son. I’m currently one of the QA Engineers in Commude Philippines.

What made you decide to join Commude PH? And what was your first impression?

Carlo: 

 

• I believe the skillset & eagerness to learn I possess not only to bring value to the company, but also help me to acquire experience & sharpen my skills for my career. Joining Commude is a great milestone for me as a Software QA Tester.

 

Gerard:

 

• My friend introduced me this Company when I was trying to move in another company. He told me that they needed a QA Engineer since the previous QA team leader resigned. My first impression of the company is that all  their employees are friendly. They are easy to approach. From our team to web team and to the HR/Admins. And our Japanese counterparts/teammates are also friendly.

 

Tell us about your career so far.

Carlo: 

 

• So far, it’s been great, I’m working with my great colleagues under System Team. I’m now learning automation testing with different frameworks. I’m still working on it but I’m confident to practice it on the projects that I’m handling.

 

Gerard:

 

• I’ve started this career without any mentor that will guide and teach me on how to this kind of work properly and efficiently. All I’ve done so far is to self study and I can honestly say that, even though I started this job without a guidance of a mentor, I improved a lot since I started this job. Not just through self studying, but also because of my teammates.

 

What do you want to be like in the future? Personal and career wise.

Carlo: 

 

• In the future, I want to be a Senior QA Engineer.
• Personal wise, I want to have a business.

Gerard:

 

•  For my personal. I just want to be successful where I can give the life I never had to my family.
• For my career. I want to learn more about test automation. Technologies now are quickly evolving. I can’t be stagnant about my career if I want to catch up in our world’s innovation.

Would you share about how your team works?

Carlo: 

 

• Basically everyday we do a meeting talking about everybody’s tasks and progress. For the QA team, we individually check projects and then collaborate on the findings we’ve encountered before reporting to the Team Leader.

Gerard:

 

• We are in an agile environment. A lot of projects are coming in and we have to be prepared, quick, efficient and flexible. We have daily meetings or daily scrums to monitor our individual tasks so we as a team will know how we are doing with our projects and also to monitor if we’re having problems. We also use chatwork for our communication and we use English as our main language to communicate.

What qualities of your team you admire, and you think that needs improvement?

Carlo: 

 

• What I admire to my colleagues is that they are committed to the team, they are flexible and always engaging. Also, they lend a helping hand, since it’s my first job I knew that my knowledge is not that broad but they always look for opportunities to help me and all on the team members grow.
  For the improvement, I think the lack of physical communication.

Gerard:

 

• As I said we are in an agile environment. So, it’s admirable that we’re all always up to the tasks. So far, we don’t really have something to improve. Except that I want a Senior QA to help us and teach us about the current tools used in testing.

Insights about current work setup: 

Carlo:

 

•  Pros :
  – No daily commute.
  – Work life balance
  – Enjoying hobbies
•  Cons :
  – Communication and collaboration can be a challenge
  – Less in-person contact with co-workers.

 

Gerard:

• Pros – I love working from home. It’s so convenient for me. Especially now that I’m a dad. I don’t have to commute to work. No hassle. I don’t need to rent an apartment. I’m close to my family. I can always eat home cooked food. I can save a lot of money.
• Cons – The only thing I hate about WFH setup is when it’s hot. It’s so damn hot. I don’t have AC in my workplace so it’s very irritating when it’s hot lol.

I’m actually…

Carlo:

 

• I’m actually like to play music. I’m in a band as a bassist. I have three bands. 1 is where we compose our own music, 2 is where we play at the battle of the bands and 3 is where we “tugtog pera” earn money on invitations like fiesta, weddings, etc. But when the pandemic hits, we can’t play live. So, I just keep practicing to not get rusty playing bass at home. I know when the pandemic is over, we will be playing music again and enjoy life as it should be.

Gerard:

 

• I had a passion for studying history. All through out Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. It always fascinates me about the architecture of ancient times. Their beliefs, culture and food. Now, my interest is just reading books, watching tv series and movies, playing with my son and playing pc games.

 

Where do you spend most of your money on? And what do you do on your holidays?

Carlo: 

 

• Probably gas? During the weekends or holidays, I always ride with my friends or sometimes alone visiting my cousins or someone that’s close to me. Aside from that food lol.

 

Gerard:

 

• I spent most of my money in buying peripherals and accessories for my computer and toys for my son. And my bad habit. Which is drinking alochol. I just spent holidays on our house. Our family isn’t really that outgoing. Maybe because we didn’t have that much money growing up so we don’t have that kind of traditions that we have to celebrate holidays.

Please tell us what kind of candidates who are suitable for Commude PH Software QA Team.

Carlo:

 

• Anyone who is hardworking, determined, and brings value to the team.

 

Gerard:

 

• In my opinion, candidates who are really passionate and focus on their career and growth. I think Commude will bring out the best in them.

To end up this blog, I’ve recently understood that our dedication and enthusiasm follow us no matter what situation we’re into. I have been in Commude Philippines, Inc. for 2 years now and I witnessed people grow, survived, adapt and improved! Isn’t it incredible? Of course, we’ve had our share of heartbreaks along the way, but they’ve only strengthened us and given us the confidence to move forward to set our objectives and make them a reality.

Furthermore, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone of you for your support, and we hope you will not grow tired of it. ??