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 Katherine Rollo, an automation engineer with our Melbourne team since 2019, to find out how she got into testing, why she specialises in test automation, and her love of history.
How did you get into testing?
I initially graduated from a non-tech Bachelor’s degree but soon discovered I had a knack for computers. So I quit my job at the time and did a second Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science to specialise in Software Engineering.
I graduated four years later and started my professional career as software test engineer at a multinational enterprise information technology company. Within a year of working there, my testing skills enabled me to travel to Australia, Thailand, and Singapore for work.
How did you join Planit?
Two years later, I was invited to Singapore to participate in the final leg of a recruitment roadshow run by Planit. After gruelling rounds of interviews where I competed with hundreds of applicants 10 to 15 years my senior in the industry, I received a job offer with visa sponsorship and full working rights in Australia.
How has your career developed here?
Working with Planit I have been able to build on my software engineering background and specialise further in test automation. This allows me to be highly technical in my testing functions, particularly in test automation development.
What do you love about test automation?
I love that it requires you to code as a software developer but think as a software tester.
What qualities make you great at your job?
I specialise in strongly-typed programming languages. To do well with these, you need to have advanced proficiency in one or two languages instead of knowing a bit of ten.
What do you love about your team?
I enjoy working with people who are supportive of modern test automation approaches. I have been fortunate to work with project managers who are eager to take on-board my recommendations for automation.
What do you love about working for Planit?
Planit is the company that gave me an amazing opportunity to work in Melbourne, the city I always wanted to live in. I also love how Planit evaluates me fairly for my skills and capabilities rather than just my tenure.
What's your favourite challenge solved in the line of duty?
For one client, something was blocking test automation from progressing for a year. I was then called in to do a proof-of-concept to help unblock it.
What was the solution and results?
Within two weeks, I was able to resolve the issue by eliminating complexity caused by the test data generator, instead fetching existing test data from the database. Finally, test automation was executing successfully in not one, but two integrated environments.
What have you been doing in your free time recently?
When I’m not playing video games then I’m reading books, mostly non-fiction. I’m a bit of a history buff, so I like visiting museums and historical sites.
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.