Meet a Tester: Melody In Meet a Tester, we feature QA experts from our community who share their love for quality and Testlio. Melody is a mathematician turned tester extraordinaire from the U.S. Melody Where are you from and what languages do you speak? I am from the United States and English is my native and only language. I’ve lived in many different parts of the south and west coast of the US and dream of traveling and living abroad though. I studied Spanish in school but it was so long ago I can’t remember much! What is your educational background? I have a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with a minor in Economics. At one point in my schooling, I wanted to pursue a career as an actuary so I took and passed Exam P, which is one of the first steps toward becoming certified as an actuary. I am also currently pursuing a TEFL certification so that I can teach English online. How did you end up testing for Testlio? After college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do career-wise, but I wanted to find something that would let me work from home with flexible hours. My husband heard about Testlio on Reddit and encouraged me to try signing up as a tester. I was nervous about trying it since I don’t have a computer science background, but after combing through all the information on the site, I decided that my math background might actually lend itself well to software testing. Understanding logic, writing proofs, and the attention to detail that comes with mathematics are all skills that translate to testing. What are your specialties? I wouldn’t really say that I have any specialties since I don’t have a technical background. But I’ve worked mostly on video on demand and travel apps for iOS and Android. I’ve also worked on retail apps on other platforms. I just added my gaming devices to my profile so hopefully, I will get a chance to test for projects on them soon 🙂 How does Testlio’s pay compare to your market rate? Testlio’s pay is awesome compared to my market rate. My past work experiences are all over the place as far as industries so my market rate depends on the job, but Testlio is the best as far as technical work goes for me. How do you manage the balance between testing and personal life? It can be really tricky. I try to not take on too many projects in one day or too many projects back to back because I get very consumed with them while they are ongoing. I also try to make myself take lots of little breaks throughout the day and alternate between tasks, like work for 30 minutes then take a break for 30 minutes, and on and off like that. Melody hiking What motivates you professionally? I just want to do a good job. I got straight A’s all throughout my schooling and I basically want to do the same in my professional life. I also like to take on new challenges because it feels so amazing to overcome something that I didn’t think I would be able to do. Plus, working on Testlio I have become somewhat attached to the projects I’m on, and I am motivated to see how they grow and change. On one project in particular, we recently tested a major redesign, and it was so cool to get to test; it was like seeing your child grow up! What’s an interesting fact about yourself? My all-time favorite hobby is reading. I mainly read fiction, and I love fantasy and adventure type stories. The “Wheel of Time” series by Robert Jordan is my absolute favorite. I also love reading famous classic novels. I am particularly proud of finishing “Moby Dick” by Herman Melville a few summers ago because it was so long and boring; I thought it would never end! But by the end, I really loved it and would highly recommend it to anyone. What are your favorite apps to use? Google calendar is my favorite. Last year I switched my primary smartphone from iOS to Android and the Google calendar widget is amazing. I don’t know how I ever lived without it! The Google Keep app and widget is another favorite. I am the kind of person who makes checklists for everything, and after trying several different organization apps, Keep works best for me. How would you convince a friend to join Testlio? I would tell them that I think it is better than other testing websites because you get paid by the hour (as opposed to only per bug), and that the projects are all super cool. Though I can’t say which company’s apps I work on, there are lots of big name projects, which is exciting! Also, I feel like I have learned so much and developed professionally from working on Testlio, so I would recommend Testlio as a great work experience. I would also tell them that the community is amazing – everyone is so friendly and helpful! So Testlio is overall just an amazing place to work!