The test of a company is based on how good their people become over years of working with it. We are encouraged to see people making great progress and here, I have a great pleasure to introduce to you Megha Melgiri who has shined over the year. She shined not because things were smooth but because of her attitude to deal with complexity and the way she works and make work look simple.
When she joined, we were busy with projects and wondering how to coach her. She took over her own learning and found a mentor – DS and started her journey from there. Once she picked up, which was real quick, she did so awesome that we provided her with the freedom to operate and she acted very responsibly. Read from her own words, how her journey was.
PS: Can you explain to the world on how were you interviewed or recruited into Moolya?
MM: This question takes me back to those days where I was a fresher badly hunting for a job. Needless to say how much desperate a fresher will be to get a job after graduating. Pradeep once said, “The place where you live really matters a lot”. Well, he is very much right in this context. One day, one of my neighbours in the apartment where I’m currently residing spoke to me about Moolya!!:) Can you believe this! One meeting with a person who was a stranger to me then could help me get a job? Well, it happened in my case and this is unforgettable. The next point of contact for me was Pradeep and I had a telephonic conversation with him. I briefed him about my personal and professional details over the phone and the next step was face to face meeting. I never realized that I was going to be interviewed that day. Pradeep himself explained what Moolya is doing and how different Moolya is from other software companies. I felt it was the right place and the right choice to begin my career. The next step towards my interview was very different. As part of skill and communication assessment, Pradeep asked me to explain “my approach towards learning new things with an example” and send it over the mail. I managed to answer his question to the best of my ability but he was not very much convinced in the first place. This made me shoot questions to him about what exactly he was looking for. With a chain of some 6 to 7 email conversations, I could finally reach close to the answer he was anticipating. Next day I was personally called to the office and handed over the offer letter. One meeting and a few emails could get me a job in Moolya. This is one of the coolest ways to hire anyone which can happen only in Moolya!
PS: You joined us as a fresher. What expectations did you have and how has the journey been so far?
MM: To be honest I joined with zero expectations. I’m very happy with the kind of work we are doing where talent and hard work has always been recognized and appreciated. It was a wonderful journey so far and I have enjoyed every moment and every event happening in Moolya.
PS: What are your accomplishments of the first year at work?
MM: My first accomplishment in Moolya is to get myself into Mobile Testing Lab. With the help of our Commander, I’m now a part of Mobile Colosseum and known to be the first G(L)adiator of the Mobile testing lab. I joined here as a fresher and a few months later I was recognized as “Exploratory Software Tester” which happens to be the biggest accomplishment so far.
PS: What has Moolya done to you in a year? What skills do you identify yourselves with?
- Moolya has given me a platform to present my talent and skill
- Moolya has given me an opportunity to explore my core area of interest and help me grow
- Moolya has appreciated my hard work and good work 🙂
- Moolya has given me a chance to meet our testing guru James Bach 🙂
- Moolya has given me a chance to work with talented testers like Sunil, Parimala, Santosh, Dhanasekar and Pradeep himself.
- Most importantly, Moolya has always approved my leaves 😉
The second part of the question- The skills that I have picked up in one year,
- Bug finding and reporting
- Session-Based Testing (Still need to graduate in this)
- Mindmapping
- Mobile testing
- Ability to manage a team
- Ability to plan and divide the work
- Ability to handle time bound work with SBTM
- Ability to manage the deliverables
- Share good relationship with the team
PS: I can’t stop asking about our garage days. How was your experience?
MM: Very interesting and fun days! I was probably the 9th hire in Moolya with only 5 or 6 in our garage J and the rest in respective client location. It was indeed a very memorable experience in the old office. It was more like a browsing centre than a software testing company LOLJ with the loud music always playing and tea / coffee breaks in between. That music has always kept us lively and energetic throughout the day. I still remember some of the songs that were being played very frequently by Yagnesh. The whole system was in his control. Not to forget the loud rickshaw noise especially when Sunil would be on call with his client J. The most beautiful part of the old office was the evening walk to the nearby park and lunch at Adithya restaurant. Given a chance I’m always ready to go back to our garage where we enjoyed the most sitting next to each other and working.
PS: Your husband is a software tester too. So, what kind of conversations have happened about testing at home? 😛
MM: Very difficult to answer! We were newly married then J so we could hardly spare time discussing about testing. But, ya! He has been mentoring me ever since I joined Moolya and even before that. It is he who always used to tell me about the beauty of software testing. With his 6 years of experience in software testing I have learnt a lot from him. In the initial days he helped me find bugs and report them. Over the weekends we used to sit together with some xyz website and I asked him to test it while I used to observe him. This was one of the ways I learnt software testing. I still remember our discussions and conversations about software testing in a bus which was heading towards Ooty (Our second outing after wedding J). Another way I could learn from him is by discussing about his past experiences as a fresher and now as a experienced tester. This is how I have learnt the basics of Software testing which has later helped me become Exploratory Software Tester 🙂
PS: What are some of the nicest memories of your first year in Moolya?
MM:
- My first day at Moolya, December 12th 2011
- My second day at Moolya, Outing to Guhantara and ofcourse the Goodies!!
- My first mobile project in Moolya
- Pooja at new office
- All b’day celebrations and events
- Announcement of NDTV J
- Appreciation for my work by DS was a pleasant surprise
- And of course, my first year completion in Moolya
PS: You have worked on mobile projects in Moolya and have seen the growth of mobile testing business in Moolya. How have we grown?
MM: It gives me an amazing feeling when I look at the accomplishments in Mobile projects. We have started from scratch and within 2 years we have reached to a level where we are able to serve the most demanding and highly potential client. With a lot of hard work, commitment and dedication we are able to achieve this and we will continue to do a lot more in the coming days. The very first mobile gadget that we bought was Samsung Galaxy Y J and today we have almost all the Android and Apple gadgets that are in market. During our initial days we were only two of us working and exploring the mobile app world but now we are as good as 14 testers who are known as gladiators! In the last two years we are able to make a lot of progress in Mobile testing space and we have grown to a good level in terms of resources and people.
PS: You are someone whom I have personally seen take feedback and work on it. How do you do that?
MM: Thank you very much for the compliments. I’m basically a result oriented person and always curious to know the outcome of my work and effort be it good or bad. I do this religiously because this is how I feel one can improvise on both weakness and strengths. Taking a negative feedback positively is the first step towards working on your improvement. You might then want to sit and realize different ways to do it and discuss your ideas with people whom you think can help you. Implement those set of ideas and see if there is a difference in the outcome, here self analysis is an important factor. Set a target and re-work on those areas that need improvement. This needs a self- driven and a self- motivated mind which constantly keeps you reminding of whether you are doing it right or not. Get back to the same person for the next round of feedback and I’m sure you would have already made some difference in the outcome J
PS: Who are your favorite testers in Moolya and why?
MM: My favorite testers in Moolya are Sunil, DS and ST. One common thing I like in them is the analytic and reporting skills. I just love reading bug reports by ST. DS on the other hand has a very quick thought process and problem solving ability and I have seen him coming up with his own creative ideas like mindmapping, brainstorming and bug battle kind of sessions as part of team building activity. I’m impressed by the way Sunil handles and manages his team and the deliverables Sunil has also been very helping and encouraging ever since I joined Moolya.
PS: What goals do you have for your 2nd year at Moolya?
MM: Well, it is difficult for me to share it at this point of time as I’m on Sabbatical leave and eagerly waiting for my baby to arriveJ. Nevertheless, I would like to fill up the gaps that will help me still stay connected with people. Something that I have not been doing is “Blogging” and I know I have missed out sharing most of the things. So in my 2nd year career I would like to start my blogging activity which will help me stay connected to the world and also enrich my skill set even being away from office. I would like to spend time in reading books on the mobile trend so that by the time I get back to work I’m still updated.
_end of interview_
Did you read that? She is the one with confidence and her confidence comes from the work she did and the fun she had while she did that. Moolya is so proud to have more people like Megha working with us. This is a company we are so proud of having built. Fortunately for us, the culture is taken care by our employees. We prefer to call them co-owners based on how they act in our office.
Megha, it was such a pleasure working with you. We look forward to welcoming you again after your maternity leave and with the lovely baby you are expecting soon. Best wishes and honored you made Moolya your own. BTW, Megha did you know that you joined Moolya on Thalaivar Rajanikanth Birthday 😉
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