Welcome to our Meet the Team series, where we look at the lives of various Planit team members from across the company. We caught up with Sukanya Shankar, an engineer with our Melbourne team since 2019, to find out what she likes about her team, how she deals with changes in project design, and her love for packing lunchboxes.

How did you get started in testing?

I started my career as a functional tester. Since then, I have gained a lot of experience in the functional and test management space, as well as all the different testing phases in the software development life cycle. I have also worked on different domains like finance, logistics and insurance.

How has your career developed here?

I have gained a strong understanding of software testing lifecycle concepts, as well as expertise in preparing the test strategy, test planning, the requirement traceability matrix, test case design, and test data.

What do you love about your job?

I love the challenge of testing a system to ensure it delivers to client expectations. I also enjoy how it allows me to do a variety of things that keep me engaged.

What qualities make you great at your job?

Having good teamwork, communication, leadership, and organisational skills enables me to deliver the right results. A tester is typically known for their testing skills, but soft skills like communication are key to calling out and solving issues at an early stage.

What do you love about your team?

The team I work with is made up of seasoned experts in their area of specialisation, and they are very supportive of each other. Working with people who are skilled and inquisitive means that every day I learn something new on the job. We also play games at the end of a Sprint to keep things fun!

What do you love about working for Planit?

I love the support I receive from the people lead and account director. They identify what our strengths are and help us to improve further. I also enjoy working with a large and experienced team where everyone is supportive.

What's your favourite challenge solved in the line of duty?

I was involved in delivering a large piece of work on one project which involved 450 test scenarios and three processes. During user acceptance testing, there was a change in the design which then changed the scope and process of testing. It was then up to me to carry out the planning, test preparation, and execution in a short timeframe.

What was the solution and results?

I scheduled consecutive meetings with business and subject matter experts to understand the change in the test cases for one of the processes and propose new test scenarios. I coordinated with my team to work on the test cases and helped the business execute them in very short time.

I had to take the initiative by effectively managing myself and pushing the project forward until it delivered successfully. I learned many things from the experienced and it helped me grow both professionally and personally.

What have you been doing in your free time recently?

I love cooking, baking, and packing lunch boxes for my kids - I post what I pack for my kids on my Instagram account. I also like traveling, trying different foods, and spending time with my family playing board games.

Interested in joining the Planit family? Visit our Careers page for a full listing of current opportunities across Australia, New Zealand, India, and the UK, and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram for the latest job updates.