In Meet a Tester, we feature QA experts from our community who share their love for quality and Testlio. Volodymyr is an ISTQB certified QA engineer with over 4 years of experience in manual and automated testing.

Tell us a bit about you

I was born in Kopychyntsi which is located in the region of Ternopil (western part of Ukraine) but I’m currently living in Kyiv. My native language is Ukrainian but I also speak Russian, English and a little bit Polish.

What is your educational background?

I graduated from the Physics and Mathematics faculty of Ternopil National Pedagogical University with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Several years ago, I also obtained an ISTQB® Foundation Level certification. 

How did you end up testing for Testlio?

I ended up testing for Testlio through the recommendation of my friend who had been testing on the platform for a while. At that time, I was working as a business analyst but was thinking about switching to a QA engineer position. Therefore my friend invited me to try out new opportunities at Testlio. So I registered on the Testlio platform, passed the first test task and received an invitation to my first paid project. To be honest, I performed rather mediocrely on that project since I lacked practical testing experience. Hence, I started digging deeper into testing and completed further training courses. And when I got a second chance, I used it. I have been testing with Testlio since 2016. ☺

What are your specialties?

I work as a test automation engineer in one of Ukraine’s largest IT- outsourcing companies – so in my daily job, I specialize in web UI test automation with Java. At Testlio, I get the opportunity to test a wide range of web and mobile applications using both manual testing and automation. 

How does Testlio’s pay compare to other crowdtesting platforms?

Actually, I have never tried any other freelance testing platform. I started with Testlio and I am happy to be here – I feel no need to look anywhere else. 

How do you manage the balance between testing and personal life?

I believe it all comes down to having good planning skills and knowing what to prioritize. My wife (who works as a doctor) and I put a lot of sweat and effort to advance our careers – but we also know not to exhaust ourselves and take a well-deserved vacation once in a while. 

What motivates you professionally?

I am constantly looking for new challenges and experiences! I love working in the IT industry as things are constantly evolving – even if you just want to remain on the same level, you need to “run fast.” Also, I find other people’s inspirational stories very motivating. ☺

What’s an interesting fact about yourself?

I am really passionate about football (or soccer for our American friends). I used to play semi-professionally a long time ago but now I play for a few amateur teams. This keeps me fit and helps switch my mind off from everything else. 

What are some of your favorite apps?

The best app on my phone from a usability standpoint is Monobank – it’s a Ukrainian mobile-only bank that makes daily finance operations super easy.

How would you convince a friend to join Testlio?

All of my friends have already heard about Testlio and quite a few are part of our testing network. ☺