Meet a Tester: Alexandru In Meet a Tester, we feature QA experts from our network who share their love for quality and Testlio. A member of the Testlio Network since 2015, Alexandru is a full-time freelance tester. Tell us a bit about yourself I’m Alexandru or just Alex for short. I’m originally from the Republic of Moldova – a small country near Ukraine and Romania. I currently live in Ukraine – my wife’s home country. My native language is Romanian, but I also speak Russian, Ukrainian and English. Alexandru What is your educational background? Actually, I never finished school. I’m from a big family (3 brothers and 1 sister) and unfortunately, we lost our dad in a fatal car crash when I was 4 years old. My mom had to work very hard to make ends meet, especially considering that the salaries in Moldova are extremely marginal. So after 9 years in school, I decided to find a job and help out with bills as well. Besides, I never had faith in the local education system and thought I could learn everything I set my mind to by myself. I never regretted my decision as I was able to progress in life and find many different work opportunities. Now that I’ve found my passion in computer science, software testing and development, I do plan on pursuing more formal education. For the time being, I try to expand my practical knowledge with various online courses. How did you end up testing for Testlio? About 5 years ago, I was working as an accountant in a restaurant. At the time, I felt stuck in my career and my life – I was looking for a major change and wanted to move away from Moldova. As it happens, and just at the perfect time, my brother (who knew about Testlio) told me about Testlio’s freelancing opportunities. So I completed a three-month online course about QA and passed Testlio’s interview. Also at the same time, I met my future wife and moved to Ukraine 🙂 What do you like about Testlio? There are so many things to like, notably: the ease of planning my work time, the ability to work from anywhere, and being valued for my work. And of course, it’s the best platform for testing – everything is really well thought-out and constantly being improved on. I like and respect Testlio’s payment system. As a tester, I find that being paid on time and for the number of hours I put in is way better than being paid solely for the quantity of found bugs. Being able to work on many popular apps is also great! I currently specialize in manual testing on iOS/Android/Web/Desktop. Next, I plan to start with automation testing and GoTo programming. How do you balance testing and personal life? I have always wanted to have a job that would allow me to actually have a personal life. And that is possible now that I’m working as a freelance tester. I really value the freedom and flexibility it gives me. Six months ago, my wife and I were blessed with an invaluable gift – our twin babies, Mark and Maiia. I’m really thankful for being able to be there for my family at this important time in our lives. Alexandru with his beautiful wife and babies What motivates you professionally? Before my children were born, my main motivation in life was being able to explore the world – traveling has always fueled my work and creativity. Now, however, my family motivates me to improve myself even further and explore areas I never dreamt of before. The birth of my children has given me more strength, ambition, and desire to be the best version of myself. What’s an interesting fact about yourself? I lived in Indonesia for almost a year. While visiting Bali, my wife and I found out that she was pregnant and so dedicated to stay longer and deliver our baby there. Funnily enough, we didn’t know then that we would have two babies – we found out about having twins just a month before giving birth. 🤪 Alexandru with his wife and newborn twins in Bali What are some of your favorite apps? When traveling, I mostly use Uber, Grab, Booking, Airbnb, and Google Maps.For work, I like to use Android Studio and XCode. And for everything else, I like Jupyter Notebook, Google, and YouTube. How would you convince a friend to join Testlio? Actually, I have successfully convinced many friends to join Testlio already! It’s easy because Testlio provides a great environment where testers can work and collaborate on many interesting projects. Do you like software testing? Join Testlio and be part of our amazing network of testers!