Team Leader Thomas II
Hello, Thomas. Tell us a few words about yourself? Do you have any hobbies and passions?
Since my early youth (I guess I was about 9 or 10) I´ve been interested in everything connected to computers. I still remember the first PC I got - it was a 15 Mhz 386sx. I started to develop my first text adventures in Qbasic under DOS and also tried to upgrade and find out about the hardware in it. It was the beginning of my life as a software developer. This affection lasts until today. Exploring programming languages and playing around with different technologies is what I spend most of my free time with, when I'm not playing games or spending time with my family.
I hear you've lived in Thailand for a while now. So, how is life there? Was it difficult for you to adjust to the new culture and what do you enjoy the most about life in Thailand?
At the beginning it was hard for me to make this step and I was worrying a lot! As I was used to having social security my whole life, it was a huge step to leave it all behind. But after a short period of time I got used to it and wasn't as worried anymore. Moving to Thailand also gave me a lot - personal freedom, first of all, this is also what I enjoy here the most, the independence I haven´t felt in Germany and of course my family. I was accepted very fast in our area, our soi (small street) is like a village on its own. The only problem I have right now is the communication, as I´m not very diligent in learning Thai, and no one here speaks English or German.
What is the best part of your job as a team leader at Test IO?
There are many perks of being a team leader at Test IO to be honest. I like the freedom of my working hours, I like the communication with the testers and the team and I like seeing new things and ways to find bugs. As every test is mostly unique, it never gets boring!
What advice could you give to the testers who would like to improve their results?
For me a title of a bug report is very important - if I read a title and already have a clear picture of the bug without knowing anything else from the report. I think working on this would also improve the results of a tester in general as it has a very big impact on the whole report. The second thing is to think of the intentions of the feature -why something is done or not done and why in this particular way and not the other. Often bugs which seem like bugs at the first glance are not bug at all if one does a bit more questioning. This would help you avoid rejections.
What qualities do you value in testers/ people in general?
Honestly, loyalty and thinking long-term and not just thinking for the short moment. I think all of these three go hand in hand with each other. What I really dislike is when someone tries to trick or cheat me. This is one of the worst qualities a person can have, in my opinion.