Meet a Tester: Max Kristel Kruustük , Kristel is Testlio's co-founder. November 1st, 2017 In Meet a Tester, we feature QA experts from our community who share their love for quality and Testlio. This time around, we’ll find out more from Max who hails from Ukraine. Max How did you end up testing for Testlio? I was working in Playtech and was looking for some additional income. So I signed up on different freelancers communities and tried my hand at a few one-time projects. While there, I also worked for a length of time with a crowdsourced testing platform, but work with those guys was extremely stressful and frustrating. So when I got to know about Testlio and I was offered a test task on Testlio, I was pretty happy to try out something new. After that initial task, I asked if it was possible to get a full time, but Testlio just didn’t have enough projects at that time. Eventually, the situation changed and they said “yes” which made me really happy, because I was totally exhausted with my main job and having to wake up early every morning. So this is how I ended up testing for Testlio 🙂 What was your testing experience before joining Testlio? I had previously worked for product companies in various sectors (gambling, dating, medicine, banking, tourism etc.) focusing mainly on web and mobile technologies. Still, Testlio’s approach was new for me. Why did you choose to test for Testlio? First of all, I really liked Testlio’s approach to testing. Secondly – the variety of the projects really appealed to me. And of course, the flexible schedule + remote work. What motivates you professionally? I’m motivated by the appreciation of my work, the variety of the projects I’m able to participate in and Testlio’s approach to work in general. Relationships with other people play a big factor as well. How do you manage testing and your personal life? I don’t have any problem managing testing and my personal life actually. Remote work saves me at least 40-45 hours per month, so I have much more free time, even if I was to take more work than I had in the office. And flexibility! I can have a vacation whenever I need it and as long as I need it. That’s awesome for me! What are the pros and cons of a distributed workplace? Working remotely means no commuting, so this alone saves me a lot of time I would otherwise waste in transportation. Even if I take up more work hours than I typically had in the office, I still have more free time. Also the possibility to have a vacation whenever I need it and for as long as I need it, is pretty awesome as well. So pros are: more free time, flexible time per day, flexible days, flexible workload. By the way, IT guys in Ukraine usually prefer wearing shorts in the office instead of pants, but I take it a step further as I can work in my home wear! Cons are the absence of paid vacation and other things like insurance and such, which are provided when you work for companies full time. Max How does one become a good freelance tester? I think there is a no right or wrong answer. Personally, I try to never forget about the responsibility I take once I accept an invitation. The client and all the other stakeholder (Test Lead, Quality Assurance Manager, etc.) have expectations for my work, so I can’t let anyone down, it’s just not an option at all. By the way, I do not perceive myself as a freelancer, since I don’t search for customers or contractors – I just work with Testlio. How would you convince a friend to join Testlio? I’ve actually invited 2 people already. One was looking for additional income and the second one was looking for another full load job. So I described to them the work I do for Testlio and they thought it sounded good. There is one question people usually ask me when I say that I work remotely: “how do you make yourself work when you are at home?”. And indeed, when I did remote work previously (but on very rare occasions, like a few days per year), it was quite hard to make myself start doing anything job-related. But with Testlio, I was working at home from the very beginning, so somehow it turns out that I have no problems with discipline here. To join our community sign up here.