The Faces of HackSoft - Dessy Ilieva

This is The Faces of HackSoft - our blog series, where every month we introduce you to one of our team members. ??

This month, in the spotlight is one of our experienced QA engineers - Dessy Ilieva . She has 7 years of experience in the field, loves reading and playing video games. ?? But what has she done before joining HackSoft and what made her change the corporate environment she was in? ?? Let's find out!

Meet Dessy! ??

Can you tell us more about yourself?

Hi, I am Dessy and I work as a software quality assurance engineer. ??

I consider curiosity and a passion for learning to be my two defining traits. And they did turn out to be a good fit for a QA. ??

Why did you decide to join HackSoft?

Coming from a more corporate environment, this time I wanted to work for a smaller company where things tend to be more dynamic.

Working as part of a small team gives more freedom, as well as more responsibility and I enjoy the variety of the work and the different roles you have to sometimes step into. ??♀?

What are you working on and for how long? What languages have you been using?

I've been a QA for about 7 years now. During that time, I've had the opportunity to learn from and work with quite a few different teams, on various projects. ??

As for languages, I currently use Python for automating tests. ??

What's your favorite tool that you use daily?

Trello , which is Jira's minimalist cousin. ??

It gives me a visual way to keep track of tasks, and makes it much easier to prioritize them. I've grown so fond of it, I use it outside of work as well - for tracking personal goals.

How do you level up your software skills every day?

For technical skills, I usually find a good course on Udemy or YouTube .

However, I think that once you've got the basics, a lot of the learning comes from communicating with your team, and the client and overcoming challenges together. ??

What do you like most about your daily tasks?

The variety.

Functional or exploratory testing and logging bugs are usually the activities associated with QAs. However, I enjoy being part of the entire process and doing things like gathering and writing requirements, or discussing alternative solutions with the team. ??

What are your hobbies/interests?

If I had to choose top 3, they would be:

1. Reading - mostly fiction, although I've started to quite enjoy autobiographies lately ??
2. Video games - anything with a good story, which is mostly RPGs ??
3. Travelling - whether visiting a new place, or just going for a hike, I enjoy the change in perspective that often comes with it ??♀???

Tell us 3 fun facts about you.

Before becoming a QA, I worked as an English Teacher, a Graphic Designer and Video Editor. ??

I used to ride motorcycles in my early twenties. Maybe I will again in my 50s. ?????

To this day, I can still recite the first 10 minutes of the first Lord of the Rings movie. ??