Teemu -
Senior QA Specialist

Teemu was previously working with coding but got interested in a tester position at LeadDesk. Now seven years later he still feels he is learning new things and feels at home in the working community. Please keep reading if you want to know more about how Teemu experiences working at LeadDesk.

A quick brief on your background before we start?

I am an information technology engineer and before joining LeadDesk I worked for 11 years as a developer in another company coding mobile phone software with C++ and Java.

What made you join LeadDesk?

The company I worked for closed their office in Lappeenranta and at the same time LeadDesk was looking for a person to work with testing at their Lappeenranta office. I got quite interested in the position as I had become a bit bored with coding and thought I could try out to do testing instead. I got the job and started to work for LeadDesk in 2012.

How does your workday usually look like?

Usually, I start my workday by checking my e-mail, instant messages and automatized test runs to see if there are any regression bugs. What I then start working on also depends on what is on the Kanban board waiting for the testing -phase. Usually, I continue where I stopped the previous day and of course consider the prioritizing we have done together with the team. I feel you can quite freely decide what you do if you get done what is supposed to be ready. I have one colleague in Helsinki, that is also doing testing, so we are in contact continuously through the chat during the day.

We work according to the Scrum methodology and we have daily standup meetings. As I am doing testing, I have no dedicated tasks for the sprint, the prioritization is done more based on what has been promised to the customers to make sure they get new functional features. I am also participating in sprint planning and can, therefore, intervene well in advance if I see that there is something that seems to be going in the wrong direction already in the planning phase.

What are the best parts of working at LeadDesk?

What I like are the freedom and a low hierarchy, there is no excessive bureaucracy and we have flexible working hours. It is easy to be in contact with anyone if you need help. I also feel it is an exciting, multicultural working community. In addition, we have extremely nice colleagues here, it is easy to get along with everyone

Looking back at the years you have been with us, what have you learned?

Before joining LeadDesk I had not done testing before. I have therefore learned a lot about testing, but also about project management, the Scrum methodology, social skills and how to work and communicate with coders in an efficient way. In addition, I have learned a lot about User Experience. At LeadDesk we are encouraged and even ordered to develop ourselves, participate in some courses and/or conferences and even go abroad to learn new things. Here it is impossible to not learn new things!

Any greetings for people considering LeadDesk as a place to work?

I see no reason why a person should not join LeadDesk if you are interested in a multicultural, growing international company and would like to work with product development. What I also like is that we have our own product that we develop, and you get to focus on this one product. Teamwork is a requirement here so If you like that and want to work as a team – this is your place! 

Finally, where to go for lunch in Lappeenranta?

Usually, I eat some packed lunch that I bring with me to our kitchen, but sometimes I also join the rest of the team to the lunch restaurant downstairs called Laseri. If I get to choose whatever, we go to some nice place in the city center where you get good food.