Florian S. describes in an interview why he enjoys his work as a software tester.
Please introduce yourself and tell us how you came to EUROIMMUN.
My name is Florian S. and I have been working for just a few months as a software tester at EUROIMMUN, so I am fresh here! After my degree in Informatics I worked as a developer at another company, but changed quite quickly into testing. After a few years I was looking for a new challenge and discovered the job advertisement on the EUROIMMUN homepage.
In which department do you work?
I work as a software tester in the Information Technology Department. My colleagues and I have the task of putting our software through its paces to ensure that it functions correctly before it goes out to our customers. Our team takes care of the quality control of EUROLabOffice. This is a software developed by EUROIMMUN for the organisation of laboratory processes.
What are your responsibilities?
Our team is divided into manual testers and automated testers. I belong to the automated testers. My job is to program manual tests that continually rerun so that they can run automatically. This has the advantage that colleagues do not need to begin these tests freshly every time; this is faster and the automated tests can run at night for example. Thus, the manual testers are saved workload.
What in your opinion is required of someone who works in this field?
For automated testing you need to have good knowledge of programming and databases. Good communication skills are also important, since we work closely with colleagues and developers. You also need to have an eye for detail and be able to relate to the user in order to be able to exclude errors.
How important is knowledge of medical technology?
It is helpful but not essential – I didn’t have this beforehand. I came from a company which had written a purely financial ERP software. Medical technology was completely new to me. But thanks to the training at EUROIMMUN and help from nice colleagues, you can get into it.
Why do you like working as a software tester?
Basically we prepare the software for customers, the end users. The users naturally expect that the software functions and that it is fast and user-friendly. I find it important and exciting to always have this in the back of my mind. There is also naturally the appeal of discovering where the developers may have made a mistake. If I make every effort to find an error, the software ends up with a higher quality. At the same time I am always determined to find something more.
I also like the team work, and the communication with the developers and manual testers. We are a team and mistakes can happen. We should just make sure that we find them here so that they don’t go out to customers.
What do you like particularly well about EUROIMMUN?
I love the informal culture. Addressing colleagues consequently with the informal “Du” at all levels is great. Especially at the beginning this made everything easier. It contributes enormously to a pleasant working atmosphere and the feeling of belonging. And even if everybody says it – the food is really first-class. As I don’t eat any meat, I really value the availability of a vegetarian meal every day. For me as a young father it is also important to work at a successful company which is economically sound. Combined with the great atmosphere and the many things offered by the company, it makes you keen to come to work and give your best.
Read also: Interview with Florian’s colleague Melanie Martwig and learn how she found her way into software testing at EUROIMMUN from a different Background.