Describe your responsibilities as a Senior Testing Engineer at Seavus. 
- My main responsibility is to test the application solutions developed by the team and make sure we deliver high quality to our clients. As part of my other responsibilities, I also maintain the existing test scenarios, create new unique ones, and prepare them for automated testing; I conduct onboarding training for new colleagues, prepare presentations on the subject of testing and automation, and so on.

What IT skills does a successful Testing Engineer need to have? And how can those skills be acquired?

- In addition to having a basic understanding of the testing methodologies, test types and testing processes, a good testing engineer should be able to work with databases, know at least one programming language and be skilled in using the tools for manual and automated testing. Of course, you need to put in a lot of effort in order to acquire this theoretical knowledge, and I believe that after you do, you can immediately start working in the field. However, in order to achieve a high level of expertise, you would need to invest much more time and effort.

What does your typical working day look like?
- It begins with a cup of coffee, of course. 😊 We usually have a brief 15 to 20-minute meeting with my team, where we go over the tasks for the project that we are currently working on. Then, I go over the client’s requirements and develop test scenarios for testing the newly created functionalities. I analyze the scenarios to see which of them can be automated, and my next task would be to automate the ones that I’ve found eligible. Finally, after our developers have finished building the software, I start running the tests. I also prepare presentations of the new functionalities that are handed to the client. In between all these tasks, I find time to be in constant communication with my team; we exchange opinions and ideas on how to develop and test the required functionalities.  
What does QA automation stand for? What is the difference between manual and automated testing?

- QA automation is the automated execution of the steps in a test scenario and the validation of the obtained results with the help of tools for automated testing. With manual testing, all the steps are executed by hand, and we verify data through visual comparison. Automated testing, on the other hand, involves creating a single script that executes and validates all the steps. Another advantage of the automated testing is that the scripts can be incorporated in the release process, which enables us to obtain results in less than five minutes after uploading the new version of the application.  

What tools are used for QA automation and what types of tests are there?

- The most popular tool for QA automation, when it comes to graphic user interface, is Selenium Webdriver, and the most widespread tools for testing web services include Postman, ReadyAPI, and Robot Framework. From the numerous tests that can be either completely or partially automated, I would mention the Graphic User Interface (GUI), Integration, Smoke and Sanity tests as the most widely used.
What advice would you give to those interested in venturing the world of testing automation? 

- The first and most important advice I would give is mastering the process of manual testing, which helps determine if a scenario can be automated or not. Only after gaining this knowledge can you move on to learning the process of automated testing. The Internet today offers a great source of helpful materials, but before deciding which one you want to learn from, you should know that acquiring high proficiency takes a lot of time and effort.     

What can we expect to hear from you at the Test Automation panel organized by Seavus? 

- In the panel discussion, I will try to explain the importance of test automation, the reasons it is always  my first choice, as well as how and where in the IT industry we can make use of it.    

How important is testing in the realization of an IT project? Can you finish an IT project without the help of QA testers?

- Definitely not. I hope you don’t mind me saying, but an IT project that doesn’t involve QA testers is doomed for failure. Often, the developers writing the code cannot see their errors. Testers, on the other hand, are equipped with a mindset that enables them to predict almost all possible and impossible scenarios. To sum up, testing is imperative for the successful realization of any IT project and therefore QA must take part in it.