Tanner, Software Test Engineer, on the freedom to brainstorm and solve problems at Qualtrics

I love thinking about what could be and pondering the specific steps I would need to take in order to achieve the lofty goals I have set for myself. That's one of the main reasons I enjoy coding. There are a bunch of different ways someone could go about coding even the simplest of programs, and I love brainstorming the best way to achieve the desired result. One of my favorite brainstorming methods is getting a group of people with different perspectives together to really hash out the best way to get things done. At Qualtrics I know I will get diverse viewpoints and I know that these viewpoints will be highly respected. The culture at Qualtrics is truly unique in that all views are not only respected but also welcomed with open arms. It leads to a culture that feels a lot like a big group of pals coming together to make the world a better place.

What attracted you to Qualtrics in the first place?

Honestly, after a few interviews, I was hooked. I clearly remember the people that interviewed me were not only friendly, but I got the sense that they all wanted me to succeed. Having been here for just over a year now, I've found that's the case internally as well. During those interviews, I somehow felt like I was already part of the company, and I absolutely loved that feeling. 

What does your day look like?

I could be doing a ton of different things in a day. One day I could be hunting down bugs, writing tests, and meeting with my team to discuss what we could do to achieve better quality for our product. Another day could include preparing training on website accessibility, reviewing merge requests, and brainstorming ways to make my own tests smoother and more consistent. 

What has surprised you most about working at Qualtrics?

Honestly, I am most surprised by how welcome I feel here and how well I am treated as an employee. Not only does Qualtrics pay me very well for a college hire, I am also fed every day in the office, I was given very nice peripherals, I can work from home if and when I need to, and I get to spend one day per quarter going out to eat and play games with my team as a team-building exercise. There are even more benefits that I haven't mentioned, which make me feel valued as an employee. 

What made you want to get into engineering?

When I finished high school all I knew was that I liked computers and I wanted to learn more about them. Computer science was off my options list because learning all those languages seemed very daunting and I hated my high school Spanish classes. One thing led to another and six years later I was fluent in Spanish and had a bachelor's in Computer Engineering – much preferring the computer science aspect of my college career over the electrical engineering side. I really enjoyed the puzzle that was taking an idea from my head and getting it to work in real life on the computer. 

What is your top #LifeHack?

Have at least one 32-inch 1440p monitor if you want to code for a career. The real estate it gives you makes it significantly less stressful to multitask. Once you get one, you will never go back.

What's a myth about your type of job that you'd like to bust? Or about working at Qualtrics?

When I was offered the job, my dad told me that the Quality Engineers he knew of did mostly manual testing. In reality, the main job of a Quality Engineer at Qualtrics is to be in charge of end-to-end tests. That means coming up with tests, reviewing these tests with your developers, writing models for your test using the Page Object Model, automating these tests to run consistently, and triaging these tests when they fail. There are a lot more responsibilities other than the ones I mentioned, but these are the main responsibilities.

Qualtrics is growing, and if you're ready to find your "why" at a place like this, you can explore our open opportunities at any time by visiting our career page or by joining our talent community.

	Tanner is an alumnus of Brigham Young University - Idaho and started his career at Qualtrics. Tanner is a huge Brandon Sanderson fan, enjoys overly-priced mechanical keyboards, and is a big fan of everything Nintendo.

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