Job Application: Quality Assurance Tester

[MrNibbles]

Greetings forumites, fans and rebels seeking autonomy!

Since we had such good results the last time I posted a job application for testers on the forums, I thought why the hell not this time again. We have now opened our gates for the masses and are looking for people with exceptional skill to join our ranks in the QA department. See below to view the add, and follow the attached link that will take you to our job site.

____________________________________________________________________________​

We want you for QA! Right now, you have the opportunity to let us know if you think that you would be a good fit for the Quality Assurance team at Paradox Development Studio!

As a QA tester at Paradox, you will help us deliver the best possible products by testing all our Grand Strategy titles in various stages of development. We work closely with the rest of the development team, testing every aspect of the game individually as well as making sure that the game is ready for milestone delivery.

Responsibilities
Testing games according to instructions.
Writing bug reports.
Providing input on game design, when requested.
Requirements
Experience with game/software Quality Assurance
A game development education
Experience with bug reporting tools such as Mantis or Jira
Deep understanding of Paradox Development Studio games such as Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings and Hearts of Iron. (Since our games are very complex, we prefer if you can get into them right away)
Fluent in English (spoken and written)
Knowledge in any of the languages we do localisation in is considered an advantage: German, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian or French
Furthermore, our ideal candidate has a strong passion for testing and see themselves within the profession for a long time. Since you will work closely with other testers as well as people from other parts of the development team, we would like you to be good at working with other people - but also independently. Sometimes it will be up to you to take initiative and decide things for yourself. Finally, you should have an analytic mindset and strong attention to details.

Practical information
Scope: Full time and permanent. If we think that you have what we are looking for, we will contact you as soon as we have an available spot in the team.
Reports to: The QA Manager
Location: This position is based in Stockholm, Sweden and unfortunately we are not able to offer any relocation packages at this moment.

If you think that this description matches your background, we highly encourage you to apply as soon as possible as we will interview candidates continuously for this position. In your application, please show us why your previous experiences and skills would work for this role and why you are interested in working at Paradox. If you don't match all the requirements, please demonstrate how your passion, attitude and interest in Paradox might compensate for this.

____________________________________________________________________________​

We are also looking for an Associate QA Manager. Links can be found below:

Link #1: Quality Assurance Tester
Link #2: Associate QA Manager

Let me know if you have any questions by posting them here, or send me a PM and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I am able. Looking forward to hearing from you all, and good luck!

PS. If you do apply to any of the positions and are an forumite, please state that you saw the post on the forum and provide us with your forum tag. I am sure we missed/discarded a lot of applications from you all since we didn't have all the information the last time I posted this kind of thread.

Best Regards,
MrNibbles
QA Manager & Evil Overlord

 

[DanubianCossak]

After like coding (creating that sort of content) and maybe some graphics work, this would be like my dream job.

Good luck to those who apply!

 

[Soranya]

I wonder, why is it that PD "at the moment" can not offer any relocation packages?
I mean, is it just the money? I doubt it, relocation isn't that expensive compared to regular wages etc.
Is it the lack of Manpower? Probably (Oh damn our relocation expert is getting a baby!)
Bad expierience n the past? Would be interesting to know.

I am aware that PD will most likely not anwser this question, but still i urge to know more.

P.S.:
Do, do you currently have a spot on the QA team or not?
The overall Add says yes, but the sub text says:
"If you think that this description matches your background, we highly encourage you to apply as soon as possible as we will interview candidates continuously for this position."

 

[MrNibbles]

I wonder, why is it that PD "at the moment" can not offer any relocation packages?
I mean, is it just the money? I doubt it, relocation isn't that expensive compared to regular wages etc.
Is it the lack of Manpower? Probably (Oh damn our relocation expert is getting a baby!)
Bad expierience n the past? Would be interesting to know.

I am aware that PD will most likely not anwser this question, but still i urge to know more.

Not really sure about it myself.. but if HR says that's the rule, sadly nothing I can do about it.

P.S.:
Do, do you currently have a spot on the QA team or not?
The overall Add says yes, but the sub text says:
"If you think that this description matches your background, we highly encourage you to apply as soon as possible as we will interview candidates continuously for this position."

Yes, there are position/s available.

 

[ForzaA]

"If you think that this description matches your background, we highly encourage you to apply as soon as possible as we will interview candidates continuously for this position."

caveat; not involved in the hiring process these days.

But to me that reads like "we'll not wait around for a given amount of time before arranging interviews, best apply now and (hopefully) get your interview scheduled"

 

[MrNibbles]

caveat; not involved in the hiring process these days.

But to me that reads like "we'll not wait around for a given amount of time before arranging interviews, best apply now and (hopefully) get your interview scheduled"

Pretty much correct

 

[Soranya]

Sry did quote the wrong line (and here go my chances ^^)
"Scope: Full time and permanent. If we think that you have what we are looking for, we will contact you as soon as we have an available spot in the team."

I meant that line.

I know the word has a slightly different meaning in English then in German, but calling Coworkers Managment - Human Resources alsways bugs me.

 

[DanubianCossak]

Meh, to hell with it, i applied.

 

[MrNibbles]

Sry did quote the wrong line (and here go my chances ^^)
"Scope: Full time and permanent. If we think that you have what we are looking for, we will contact you as soon as we have an available spot in the team."

I meant that line.

I know the word has a slightly different meaning in English then in German, but calling Coworkers Managment - Human Resources alsways bugs me.

Ah.. I see. That is clearly an error. There are available spot/s and as this will be an open application, we would also keep interested applicants in our sights for future recruitment as well.

 

[Soranya]

Responsibilities
Testing games according to instructions.
Writing bug reports.
Providing input on game design, when requested.

A few more questions if you dont mind. This description reads to me as a more or lessmechanical work, not much freedom unless "requested" or nothing else to do.
Especially the "Testing games according to instructions sound to me like somehting a programm could do as well. And providing input when requested sounds like "keep your fancy gamer ideas about game desing to your self and dont get on the nerves of the real designers.

Requirements
Experience with game/software Quality Assurance
A game development education
Experience with bug reporting tools such as Mantis or Jira

I assume those are "nice to haves" not "must haves"?
And what does count as a game development education in your books?

Sry for the many questions, i am currently searching for my job (not in sweden sadly) myself, so i am ever curious about Applications processes and so forth.

 

[MrNibbles]

A few more questions if you dont mind. This description reads to me as a more or lessmechanical work, not much freedom unless "requested" or nothing else to do.
Especially the "Testing games according to instructions sound to me like somehting a programm could do as well. And providing input when requested sounds like "keep your fancy gamer ideas about game desing to your self and dont get on the nerves of the real designers.

It might sound like that, but trust me, that is not the case. During the last year, our QA department has evolved quite a lot, and the communication between us and the developers have never been better, with developers coming to us for advice on design, balance etc. A lot of other cool stuff are also on the horizon for the department which I am positive will increase the overall quality of our games immensely.

I assume those are "nice to haves" not "must haves"?
And what does count as a game development education in your books?

Sry for the many questions, i am currently searching for my job (not in sweden sadly) myself, so i am ever curious about Applications processes and so forth.

They are more of "nice to have", yes..

When it comes to what I constitute as a game development education, I can only take into account the ones that I know about (which are the norm here in Sweden/Europe). The actual direction of the course does not matter as it can be design, art, programming (though programmers/designers do have it easier to understand the underlaying mechanics of a game as it is more of their area), but as long as one understands the basic workflow of how the entire process of game development, on top of the skills learned during the course etc.

Here in Sweden those tend to be somewhere between 2-3 years.

 

[DanubianCossak]

It would be wonderful if in the future you could create some jobs that dont require people to live in Sweden.

Ive got basically all skills required to be a scripter, except that i cant move to Sweden pretty much.

Sad, sad Danub

 

[myzael]

It would be wonderful if in the future you could create some jobs that dont require people to live in Sweden.

Ive got basically all skills required to be a scripter, except that i cant move to Sweden pretty much.

Sad, sad Danub

This. What's wrong with remote work?

 

[Premu]

This. What's wrong with remote work?

Because it's far less effective to communicate via phone, e-mail or chat program all the time instead of simply have a short personal meeting. Plus if you work far away of the team, you miss much of the current work which is done which doesn't affect you directly.

At my workplace, we have a large group in India, supporting us. It takes far more time to get results from them than to ask someone working in our place. Of course, if the back office in India, it can still be feasible as they are much cheaper in comparison. Doing this for only one person, perhaps even in a high wage country - that's just foolish.

 

[myzael]

Because it's far less effective to communicate via phone, e-mail or chat program all the time instead of simply have a short personal meeting. Plus if you work far away of the team, you miss much of the current work which is done which doesn't affect you directly.

At my workplace, we have a large group in India, supporting us. It takes far more time to get results from them than to ask someone working in our place. Of course, if the back office in India, it can still be feasible as they are much cheaper in comparison. Doing this for only one person, perhaps even in a high wage country - that's just foolish.

I wouldn't say far less effective. Less effective, okay, but with a good setup it's negligible. I mean, I actually do 95% of communication with 4 out of 6 of my team members remotely.

Given that big part of QA is reporting, JIRA is sufficient, there's no need for a personal meeting about why and where the bug is.

Then comes the cost effectiveness, which I imagine would be quite good if hiring someone from the Balkans in a Swedish company...

 

[MrNibbles]

I wouldn't say far less effective. Less effective, okay, but with a good setup it's negligible. I mean, I actually do 95% of communication with 4 out of 6 of my team members remotely.

Given that big part of QA is reporting, JIRA is sufficient, there's no need for a personal meeting about why and where the bug is.

Then comes the cost effectiveness, which I imagine would be quite good if hiring someone from the Balkans in a Swedish company...

Sure, I can agree that much can be done remotely, and JIRA is a good tool which can provide with "some" overview. But that does there are not any issues with being remote. Examples below:

1. You are not able to be a part of ANY important meetings that are not scheduled, hence no time in order to set up a skype conversation.
2. As we are more and more heading towards having testers embedded, those testers need to be able to sit next to the programmers, scripters etc, in order to do quick checks on a feature before it is sent to the "central" qa team for long term testing, which also makes communication key as you will need to explain the feature in detail to the team members. A hell of a lot easier than doing it through e-mail and/or skype.
3. If you have a specialist role, you need to, yet again.. be a part of various meetings with key members in the company, and depending on which project, work really close to the developers. Also non-efficiant in trying to remotely.
4. You miss out on important information that needs to go out to the team asap if you live in the wrong timezone.
5. All the awesome teambuildings we have.. and all the alcohol.
6. And finally, being remote you will miss out a hell of a lot being part of and actual "team".

.. and these are just some of the negative aspects with being remote. However, that being said, there will be a QA sitting remotely for us, but that is a very unique case in which said individual will hopefully return to the office after being away for a certain period (after already been a part of the team for years), so it is possible, but nothing we are actively seeking.

 

[myzael]

Sure, I can agree that much can be done remotely, and JIRA is a good tool which can provide with "some" overview. But that does there are not any issues with being remote. Examples below:

1. You are not able to be a part of ANY important meetings that are not scheduled, hence no time in order to set up a skype conversation.
2. As we are more and more heading towards having testers embedded, those testers need to be able to sit next to the programmers, scripters etc, in order to do quick checks on a feature before it is sent to the "central" qa team for long term testing, which also makes communication key as you will need to explain the feature in detail to the team members. A hell of a lot easier than doing it through e-mail and/or skype.
3. If you have a specialist role, you need to, yet again.. be a part of various meetings with key members in the company, and depending on which project, work really close to the developers. Also non-efficiant in trying to remotely.
4. You miss out on important information that needs to go out to the team asap if you live in the wrong timezone.
5. All the awesome teambuildings we have.. and all the alcohol.
6. And finally, being remote you will miss out a hell of a lot being part of and actual "team".

.. and these are just some of the negative aspects with being remote.

1. Nah, if only you are in the same-ish timezone it doesn't matter. How long does it take to set up a VoiP conference? 1 minute
   
2. Fair enough. But still VoiP also works here.
3. Less-efficient, not non-efficient
4. Unless the difference is drastic, I don't see a problem. Instead of working 9-5, I imagine most people would adjust to 11-7 or 6-2. Just a matter of motivation
5. What if your apartment is more awesome? And alcohol is cheaper?
   
6. Don't disagree.

However, that being said, there will be a QA sitting remotely for us, but that is a very unique case in which said individual will hopefully return to the office after being away for a certain period (after already been a part of the team for years), so it is possible, but nothing we are actively seeking.

Obviously, it's better if the position can be on site. But if the person is valuable enough I'd hire that one to work remotely over 2 on-site applicants. But that's just my opinion.

Good to hear you guys are open for negotiation, I might 'actively seek' that someday

 

[Lukermeister]

Is it possible for a QA tester to work outside of Stockholm? Or is that a definitive requirement?

 

[Pellaken]

I actually joined the public QA team over a rimworld hoping to turn it into a full time job one day, but, alas, today is not that day.

 

[ForzaA]

Is it possible for a QA tester to work outside of Stockholm? Or is that a definitive requirement?

Again with the caveat that I'm not involved in the process.

Given the "Location: This position is based in Stockholm, Sweden", and the discussion above, you can probably consider that definitive.
That said, if you feel that you offer something above and beyond what others are offering, even while working remotely.. Go for it; worst that can happen is that we say "thanks but no thanks".