SmartFrame’s QA Lead, Piotr Kaczmarek, shares his journey from working as a surveyor in his hometown of Pszczyna to leading a team of QA engineers, and explains what it took to make such a significant career transition.
There’s a well-known saying: you have to become comfortable doing uncomfortable things.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to embrace this quote because I agree with its sentiment. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, you have to take risks.
Changing my career was a one-way ticket. I was professionally burnt out, suffocating in a 3-4 person company doing repetitive things without any perspective for growth.
My motivation for change was strong enough to start; additionally, my second child was born then, so it had to work out.
I remember a serious mix of excitement and nervousness for both myself and my wife. After seven years of hard work, I knew I needed a change.
I chose quality assurance (QA) because, as a surveyor, I understood the importance of accuracy. Mistakes in that line of business are extremely costly and can have serious consequences.
Understanding that you are in control of your path
When considering a career change, I would advise anyone to thoroughly research the areas that interest them before then signing up for some kind of course or boot camp training to get a better understanding of a new field of work.
Once I committed to changing careers, I completed a course focused on manual and automated testing and earned the ISTQB certificate. This was enough to secure my first job and provided me with a solid foundation for further learning.
However, in the world of technology, you often perform tasks that help the business but may not align with your aspirations or interests.
Luckily, after a year there I decided to make another change – and this one ultimately led me to SmartFrame.
Surrounding yourself with the right people
Above all the technical and training aspects, I firmly believe that the only way to grow is by stepping out of your comfort zone. Otherwise, nothing will ever change.
One final thing to consider is the value of surrounding yourself with good people, as some individuals will make you reconsider certain decisions.
However, if you want to take control of your career and understand your purpose, you should find a way to follow through and make it happen, regardless of what others might say or think.
Trusting yourself is one of the greatest assets in life. We all make difficult decisions, but you must believe you’re doing the right thing.
Finding a network of people who share this same mindset will do much more for you than staying around naysayers.
What I’ve learned becoming a team leader
First and foremost, understanding your values is key to becoming a trusted individual within your company and to your manager(s).
Being a leader is more about understanding and respecting that everyone is different.
You hope that most people understand their responsibility and the trust placed in them to do their jobs.
Maintaining that consistency can only come through honest communication and an appreciation of individual nuances.
A manager’s role isn’t to dictate how something is done but to empower and encourage creativity when faced with challenges, especially in QA.
I have always wanted to make things better. From my time leading a World of Warcraft guild to now organizing one of Poland’s largest Lego meetups, I constantly strive to improve the things I’m involved in as nothing is perfect.
As for the actual process of becoming a manager, there’s always a bit of luck involved in these things but you need to help your luck along. Always be ready to take on new challenges as they arise.
This was exactly my situation. I was offered the promotion at SmartFrame after a colleague left. Despite my doubts and fears, I took on the role and have never looked back.
While my past accomplishments would be meaningless without recognition from previous leaders, reflecting on those experiences and how they spoke to me allows me to make the best decisions possible as a leader in my current role.
I am proud to know that my team will always aim to deliver the SmartFrame product in the highest quality possible.
Life today at SmartFrame as QA Lead
Usually, I start work early in the morning, right after getting the children ready for school and kindergarten. The flexibility of working here allows me to have these moments with them as they grow up.
Along with my first cup of coffee, I review the results of automatic tests that monitor the quality of our products daily.
My day then typically evolves into a number of calls and meetings across the dev team, checking progress across the team and mix of testing current projects and bugs reporting.
I always strive to stay updated with everything happening in the company across all aspects and products, which is increasingly important given our rapid development.
When I came to the company almost three years ago we only had the SmartFrame itself and an admin panel to manage.
Now we have extended SF with content credentials support, full error handling logging, fallback monitoring for old browsers, galleries, ads, rewritten insights that supports also mobile devices, our publisher panel, WP plugins, and this list can go on. That’s why multithreading is essential in the role.
What’s unique about working in a QA team, especially in a lead position, is the need to cooperate with almost everyone across each department.
For example, I can’t simply focus on the backend of our product because I will quickly lose track of the whole picture.
To sum up life at SmartFrame, this company has given me a real sense of professional fulfillment that I’ve been seeking, and without sounding too sentimental, it’s the place I want to be and give my all every day.
I’ve met great people who motivate me to become a better employee, person, and colleague.
This company is progressing fast and I feel like I’m growing alongside it – and I’m enjoying every minute!
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