Community Manager Irina
Hello, Irina! Traditional question: tell us about yourself.
Hello, my name is Irina, and I am from Belarus - a country of beautiful nature, interesting history and sincere people. I was born and live in Gomel. But I love traveling, getting to know different corners of our beautiful planet, meeting new people and learn their customs. Usually, I plan tours myself to be as free as possible in movement and see as much as possible. I was born into a family of historians, and my parents, who know a lot about history and culture, tried to show me as much as possible, ignited in me this passion for learning new things. I graduated from the university with a degree in Commercial Activities in Transportation and worked as a lecturer at the university for many years, as well as being engaged in logistics, modeling and managing warehouse and transport chains. Seven years ago I decided to change my activity and since then I have been working for EPAM. I started as a student, and now I am a Lead Software Testing Engineer.
Please, tell us about your work. What are your responsibilities on the platform?
When I first came to this project and started to study it, I was surprised by such a large number of testers from all over the world that are part of our community. Among my responsibilities: close work with Community Representatives, Reporters, Supporters; building and development of Discord community with the help of our Moderators; provision of connection between communities; regular management of such content as posts and newsletters to keep members of our community ‘in touch’ and support their activities. In general, I work on community engagement, preparing events, content creation, providing support and managing the community.
What do you like about your job? What difficulties do you face?
The team supports me very much, so I haven’t encountered any difficulties yet. However, I think that, of course, in the process of work there will be some problems that I will be contacted by people working on the platform. And actually that's what I like about this job . I like to overcome difficulties, find solutions, find an approach to different people, offer them options, communicate. I think that each problem can be solved individually, since we are all different, but we are all humans. And I am always fascinated by the opportunity to communicate with people from all over the world, everyone brings something new, something of their own. I hope I will be able to continue developing the community so that everyone is comfortable and people have the opportunity to work productively without being distracted.
Reveal a few secrets: are there any new projects waiting for us on the platform?
Well, first of all, I want to note that we plan to prepare and conduct annual event - Testing Cup and one new event - Big Fun Quest. I hope that we will actively promote in social networks, collaborate with bloggers and influencers, who share information about testing in different regions. I would also like to somehow simplify the onboarding process for our freelancers and provide them with support during their first use of this platform. As well as support active participants in their development, may be by providing special trainings. We would like to introduce periodical meetings in Discord with the representatives of Product, Sales, Education teams. And, of course, we will develop more entertainment activities.
