Working abroad seems to be a dream for many young people. Some see others doing it and want to follow their example even if they don’t know what is waiting for them in a foreign country.
Volodymyr Baibus is from Ukraine, but now he works in the USA in the field of information technologies. He agreed to tell about how he went abroad and what he does there.
How have you come up with the idea to work in the USA?
I didn’t think about the USA exactly, I was considering work in Europe, particularly in the UK. But the situation with Visas had changed. There used to be a HSNP program, High-skilled Migration Program. It was rather easy to travel to the UK according to it. When it was changed for the Tier 1 program the UK was not a choice anymore. But when I came to Luxoft, the last company I worked for in Ukraine, I got the job of a guy who moved to work in Ireland. It impressed me, I decided to try it too and started searching for opportunities. At first I tried to do everything by myself, sent my resume everywhere but had no success. Everything started from Test IT. I went through 3 or 4 interviews and everything started since then.
What’s your education and occupation?
I’m a software engineer, I’ve graduated from the Institute of Computer Sciences at the National Institute of Aviation - this is my first higher education. The second one is in international economics. I work as a quality assurance engineer; I test software and maintain its quality.
Who do you work for in the USA?
The ForteCG/Test IT company brought me here, I worked in Denver while had a contract with Kaiser Permanente, which is a big insurance company in Denver. I was responsible for developing and automating script with help of Quick Test Professional (QTP), it’s a HP tool. Then I returned to Chicago and now I’m working for the Cision company where I also do automation testing.
What are the differences between working in Ukraine and the USA?
There are only 2 differences: Americans are workaholics, they really work in the office. As I can say from my personal experience, in Ukraine there are about 6 efficient working hours out of 8, while in the USA there are 8 out of 8. People come to work to do work. What is more, they work 9 to 5, they come at 9 and leave at 5. The offices get empty when 5 o’clock comes. In Ukraine people might not leave the workplaces if there’s some urgent project. It isn’t common in the USA since the attitude to work is different. The other things are quite the same, people are good everywhere, the main goal is to find approach.
What didn’t you like there?
Let me think… What I did not like here… You know, for now I like everything, can’t tell about something particular. There are many beggars, homeless people, like in Ukraine. But it is not something that I don’t like; it’s just something that exists. I cannot say I don’t like something. It’s a country of great opportunities. Everything is up to you.
How much does the level of development of information technologies in the USA differ from what there’s in Ukraine?
It’s very different; here mobile internet is a common thing. Everybody uses credit cards, hardly anyone has cash, so not many people use real money, no one has wallets. People have their credit cards and driving licenses they use instead of passports.
There is wireless internet everywhere, people work on their laptops while on a train on their way to work and back home. Wireless internet is everywhere and it’s free.
What would you advise to those who want to work abroad?
As a first step I’d advice to wish it sincerely, because if you really want something, there are always chances to do it. You should take this seriously and responsibly and get ready for it. If the person wants to work for ForteCG/Test IT as a quality assurance engineer, the same job as I do, – there’s a big likelihood this person will have an interview with me. That’s why I’d suggest reading something of theory of testing, about practice of automated and manual testing, because I’ll ask about it. I can also ask questions like “What’s the last book you’ve read?”
What questions can be asked to make a person fail an interview?
I don’t make people fail, why should I? I just need information about this person’s knowledge. For this purpose I ask questions from all fields I know, that I consider timely and that will help the person to pass the interview in the USA. Bringing here someone who cannot get a job is nonsense. It would also be hard for this person, they’d be stressed, and they would have to go through interviews that might be unsuccessful. It isn’t very useful for the company as well. So we’re trying to bring those who have proper skills, technical and practical knowledge. These people are able to get employed and to work as quality assurance engineers or team leads, or do other tasks in software testing.
So you choose people in Ukraine, and then they go to the USA?
In Ukraine also. Sometimes there are local people who are already in the USA, and then I just interview them about their technical skills to decide if they’re worth cooperating with. But the final decision isn’t made by me. I can only interview a person and pass information about their knowledge and strong and weak sides, to our recruiters. I can add advice about what this person needs to improve and also my personal impression.
I am not searching for people; it’s what the recruiters do. They send the chosen candidates to me, who by this time have already gone through few interviews. They’ve had their level of English and presentation skills checked. After the recruiters do this together with viewing the person’s experience and decide this one has a chance, they send the resume to me, and I perform the deeper check of technical knowledge.
What single feature or skill is necessary for a person who wants to work abroad not depending on the type of job?
I think it is the ability to communicate, to find approach to people.
And what’s the difference between communicating with Americans and Ukrainians?
Americans will never directly tell you about their attitude. They might smile, listen and ask questions during an interview, but not call back the next day. So while having an interview you should show you’re worth this job and that it is them who want to employ you.
I have a contract with the ForteCG/Test IT company I work for as an Quality Assurance Engineer. The company finds the jobs I do directly for the customers. This time the customer is the Cision located in Chicago. Now I work for them in their office. There are full-time jobs and jobs for consultants. Full-time means that the company provides insurance, vacation and pays taxes. A consultant is hired when the company doesn’t accept people for full-time jobs for some reasons. Then all business with insurances and taxes is done by the company that provides consultant, and the one that employs them pays the services provider.
So the consultant is a freelance employee for the company?
Something like that. Vacancies appear for different types of employment.There are also jobs for contractors only if the company doesn’t want to take people for full-time employment. For example when there’s a project for several months. Then the company announces the vacancy, the number of specialists needed and the time they are to be hired for. The job offer is posted at a vacancies website, and the interested people and companies are trying to get accepted for this position.
What are your impressions about the company you serve now?
This company is a big one, about 400 people work in our office. All are highly professional; the working process is organized in a good way. There are 6 people who test software. Another company in Moldova also does some tasks for Cision. Nearly 10 quality assurance engineers work there. I like everything for now, the job isn’t too hard. I only need to know how to work with Quick Test Professional which is a tool for automation testing.
What do you do in the office?
I start from a cup of coffee. And then sit down at the computer. There’s a task given by the boss. It’s a certain test case that should be automated. I look through it and write an automated test script – how the program should work. How it should work so that I’d be able to make it automated – like entering a website, typing information into the search field, pressing a button, making sure that a certain page has opened. I write how this can be automated, and then the document should be approved by my boss. After this I start the process of automation which means writing a script that will perform these actions. Then I give it to the test team lead (the boss), for a check, and when it’s over I can save this script in Quality Center, the software where you can save scripts and run them anytime.
By Marichka Lototska
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