Pro tips for candidates -the quality assurance edition with Molly Kopera

Welcome to Lorien’s new content series featuring subject matter experts from across our organization. We’ll share insights from staffing and recruiting leaders who are building world-class IT talent communities for our clients — by attracting Software Engineering, Program and Product Management, Data, User Experience (UX), and Quality Assurance (QA) specialists for competitive, niche, and developing markets. Leading off will be Lorien Technical Recruiter Molly Kopera, who sources system testing and software QA talent for employers of all sizes. She immerses herself in the candidate’s world to ask the right questions and target the right skills. She’s also on top of the latest trends in IT QA hiring, including the expanding and evolving role of QA testers as full-stack test engineers. Look for Molly's next update, a complete Career Resources & Hiring Guide specifically for individuals looking for dynamic tech roles in the field of Quality Assurance.  Meet our Quality Assurance Subject Matter Expert, Molly Kopera Molly Kopera, 27, Lorien Technical Recruiter, based in Fairfax, Virginia, has spent the past four years with Lorien and the past two years specializing in the Quality Assurance space managing a large enterprise client on behalf of the Lorien team. Molly adapted to the fast-paced industry that recruiting has to offer, and with guidance and training from Lorien Manager Matt Grimes, Molly was able to position herself as a subject matter expert, shifting into engineering and robotics, saying,"Anyone can be a recruiter, but it takes someone exceptional to be a specialist.   Q&A 1. Can you provide a few reasons why you chose the path of recruiting? What motivates you to achieve day-to-day success? I joined recruiting because supporting others brings me an element of fulfilment. I love to make others happy, and I typically put others before myself. I left the mortgage industry for recruiting because I wanted to join the tech sector and build more personal relationships with professionals all over the US, assisting and guiding them in one of the most important aspects of life - finding a job. I want to grow my network and be the person others can reach out to for professional assistance and/or to find their next career opportunity. It is one of the best feelings to see how you have helped positively impact someone’s life and how rewarding that can be. My daily motivation stems from just that. Recruiting is not an easy job, to say the least; there are a lot of ups and downs that go into your days, weeks, or even months. I stay motivated by working hard and enjoying the reward of the gratefulness candidates express for helping them and guiding them through the entire process. It really does pay off. 2. What about Quality Assurance is driving you to become a subject matter expert? What do you do/use to stay in the loop about market trends and topics? Since day one of my recruiting career, QA (Quality Assurance) is a skillset I dove into from the very beginning. I was not particularly familiar with the terms and industry lingo when I first started sourcing for QA roles, but the more I sourced for that skill set, the more comfortable I was in finding qualified candidates. I was driven by the impact QA has on companies and their customers, and how critical it is to their overall success. If a company does not have a strong QA operation, they are more than likely not going to satisfy or keep customers, no matter what service or product is being offered. To become more comfortable with the skills required for QA roles, I conduct my own research prior to sourcing. I like to know what the client is looking for from an in-depth perspective…not just a keyword or search term. Some candidates will also inform me of new and innovative technologies that they have either worked with before or wish to work with in their next opportunity. 3. What are the top skills or traits needed to be successful in Quality Assurance? Are there any interview tips you think would help make a candidate stand out? You need a strong attention to detail and problem-solving skills in QA to successfully determine the root cause of bugs or defects in products or services. You need excellent communication and time management skills because you are usually collaborating with different departments or teams and need to be able to provide effective updates, typically in both written and verbal form. You must love data. QA is about analysis and detecting problems with the data or product so you can determine how to improve or fix the issues. You will need technical training and/or knowledge specific to the field, such as a specific programming language and knowledge of various testing methods, and you can often learn that independently or through specific courses. Some interview tips would include conducting research on the company so you can learn about what services/products they offer and to get a better idea of what you can expect to be, if hired. You should determine a few of the larger or more challenging projects you worked on previously and use those experiences to express how you overcame struggles and became more confident in your work. You should be able to speak to the different testing methods you have used and why you used them, as well as being able to walk the interviewer through creating a test plan. 4. Where do you see QA going in the next 5-10 years? How will the industry be impacted?   QA is part of the IT world; it is ever evolving. Companies are always going to need quality IT services, and QA will be needed to make that happen. We live in a world where automation is becoming more prevalent every day, and technology is making things easier in every aspect of our daily lives, including QA testing. The ability to make a testing process automated means greater overall efficiency and compressed solution times. Automation is still advancing every day, and it will become more of a necessity for companies. The most prominent trending area of IT is AI/AR (Artificial Intelligence/Augmented Reality). These fields will only become more common in the future, and customers/users seeing advancements in these industries. I see the industry being impacted in a positive way. There will be more demand for QA professionals as companies transition into further automated processes, which increases employment opportunities for the future. The industry is intriguing, and you will find yourself applauding these professionals for what they can achieve. The field of QA will continue to grow for the foreseeable future, offering outstanding career opportunities for tech professionals looking for a dynamic and ever-changing sector. Join our team of global technology recruitment professionals.