FreshBooks: TeamLead, Developers, QA, Designer, etc.

FreshBooks is hiring a boatload of positions including two enterprise developers, five software developers, a QA analyst, senior designer, web developer and more.  I’ve talked about the pros and cons of working at FreshBooks lots of times, so if you’re a new reader, do feel free to read over some of my past postings.

In this case, I think the sheer volume of open positions is also a strong positive.  Although I doubt the need to hire a lot of people would cause FreshBooks to hire people they don’t really want, it does mean that if you’re one of five worthy candidates, they could hire all of you, instead of just the one they like best, so it’s a good time to be interviewing at FreshBooks.

Disclaimer
Although I’ve found FreshBooks an interesting company for longer than I’ve been doing Toronto Tech Jobs, in the last couple of years, FreshBooks has given me a couple of referral rewards, so you’re welcome to consider my opinion biased.

Wirecard Solutions: Software Performance Test Analyst

Wirecard Solutions is looking for a software performance test analyst on contract (wirecard solutions, craigslist, monster):

Our client, a financial services software company, is looking for a Performance Test Analyst to work on a contract basis with a speciality using JMeter.

As a member of the Quality Assurance Team, you would be primarily responsible for the design and development of scripts used to test non functional requirements using JMeter / SOAP UI.

Develop test scripts for complex test scenarios
Create, analyze and assess scripts for various types of applications
Develop and execute regression, performance tests
Ensure issues are properly tracked throughout the software lifecycle
Create reports on the quality of the applications with quantitative statistics
Participate in architecture, design and assessment of various testing tools
Provide expertise and knowledge sharing within the QA team
Advise on configuration and maintenance of testing tools

The Good
Although I don’t often find QA roles terribly exciting myself, I think that performance testing is a fairly interesting area of ‘testing’, particularly if the company’s doing a good job.  A good performance tester is part developer, part tester, part system administrator, and can apply all of those skills in addition to performance-testing knowledge to analyzing the performance of an application and making suggestions on how to improve that.

Both JMeter and SoapUI are decent tools; both have their warts, but they’re reasonable choices for a company looking to do some performance and functional testing without spending tens of thousands of dollars on the expensive tooling.

The field of ePayments is probably through its initial explosive growth curve by now, but it’s still pretty central to the current way of business, so it’s likely to be a good area in which to have experience.

The Bad
There’s just not a lot of information here, other than the tools you’d be using, and the field.  It’s hard to tell if you’d like the job.

What’s Missing?
What would you be working on?  What’s the team you’d be part of?  What’s the size and composition?  What will you be performance-testing, and what kind of performance goals will you be aiming for?  Is this new work, or an existing system?  Is the location at the head office?  Is the development team there?

The Location
Wirecard Solutions seems to be up at Yonge and Eglinton (east of Yonge).  I’m assuming that’s where the job would be.

That works well enough if you’re in mid-town or up-town, particularly near the Yonge line.  It’s probably not that bad if you’re on the Subway system and you’re not way out on the end of one of the other lines.  It’s not great if you’re typically driving to work.  There are lots of shops and restaurants in the area.

In Summary
If you’re interested in a performance-testing role, there aren’t that many of these advertised, so it might be worth further investigation.

Unspecified: Test Automation Specialist

TAL is helping an unspecified company look for a test automation specialist:

 

• Work with development and QA teams to implement fully automated functional, system and regression test
• Analyze, design, author automated tests at component, and system level
• Deploy and execute automated tests in a J2EE environment
• Identify high ROI opportunities for automating testing tasks and script these tasks where appropriate.
• Identify, troubleshoot, and characterize product quality issues
• Contribute to the continual improvement of QA tools, processes, and methodologies.
• Design and author performance and load tests for variety of systems
• Analyze test results and provide reports

 

The Good
This kind of role is a tricky one to fill; many people in the testing and QA side of software don’t have excellent test automation skills.  Agile developers often do, but often don’t want to be in an exclusively test-automation role, and may be missing a background in the more general aspects of testing.  As a result, finding someone with the interest and qualifications to do this well isn’t easy.  If you’re a good fit, then you’ll probably stand out from most of the candidates for this role.

It’s also interesting to see the desire to have skills in Perl, Python or Ruby — this may simply be the idea that these languages are good glue languages for system scripting, but it might imply a certain amount of language freedom in testing approach as well.

The Bad
I don’t have a strong objection to anything here; “ROI” is a little buzzword-y for me, and Weblogic’s a bit of a bummer sometimes, but neither is a big deal.  Ultimately, the real problem here is what’s missing.

The other problem is that it’s been my experience that even when people want a real skillset in test automation, they’re not always willing to pay what that real skillset would require.  This is one of the reasons why people with good programming skills that could be applied to test automation tend not to go in that direction.

What’s Missing 
Quite a bit, although that’s often true of recruiter-led postings.  What’s the company?  What do they do?  What would you be testing? Where are they located? What’s the compensation like?  What do they have in mind for the dynamic languages?  There’s a ton more you’d want to ask, but you need to start with the basics and work your way up.

In Summary
If you have good programming skills for test automation and good understanding of testing and quality assurance, this could be an interesting opportunity.

Unspecified: Mobile Application Testing

Innovoice is helping an unspecified company look for someone who can help them with mobile application testing:

The successful candidate will be experienced with wireless technologies and specifically with an understanding of the application technologies that reside in mobile handsets and other wireless devices. The candidate should also be able to assess these technologies from the perspective of company business objectives and strategies, and not just a technical standpoint. 

The candidate will be a member of the Terminal Certification Lab and, as such, will develop, maintain and execute the test plans pertaining to applications on our PCS and iDEN product portfolio. He/she will also contribute to the development of processes, methodologies, testing techniques and product development. 

Roles/Responsibilities: 

• Conduct the execution of test plans for client applications and services; 
• Develop and evolve the test plans pertaining to the handset client applications (e.g., MMS, WAP, content download/streaming, Java™ ME, Video, LBS); 
• Contribute to the development and evolution of testing methodologies – execution, verification/validation, reporting (e.g. automation, centralized issue management); 
• Contribute to the development and evolution of the processes and procedures required to integrate with multiple functional groups; 
• Assist in the early evaluation of candidate handsets for suitability in entering the certification cycle; 
• Stay current with testing methodologies and standards relating to the wireless industry; 
• Stay current with wireless technologies associated with service offerings (e.g., MMS, WAP, content download/streaming, Java™ ME, Video, LBS); 
• Assess and prepare test materials relating to new technologies identified as necessary for implementing new service offerings; 
• Operate computers, servers, test equipment, diagnosis software and test automation software, as applicable to the execution of the test plans and methodologies. 

Although the company is unspecified, a quick google search implies that this might be Telus.  In which case, it might be interesting to note that Telus is opening a new office at 25 York Street, right by Union Station.

The Good
Mobile has been a growth area for some time and it seems like it’s likely to remain one in the years to come.  It could be both interesting and technically challenging, and it sounds like this is likely to be with one of the big carriers, if not, in fact, Telus.  Working out good ways to test location-based services, video, Java applications, messaging and so forth is a pretty wide range of activities that could be challenging and varied.

The Bad
The technologies they mention specifically, CDMA and iDEN are not the technology on which Bell and Telus seem to have pinned their long-term hopes.  As Telus and Bell start migrating away from CDMA, will your role need to shift, or are you being tied to the technology they’re looking to replace?

They’re not looking for much experience; does that mean it’s not a particularly senior role and won’t be well-compensated, or does that simply mean they’re accepting of a wide range of experiences and willing to pay accordingly?  It seems like they’re open to people with advanced skillsets, so I’d hope the latter.

What’s Missing
What’s the company, is it Telus, or something else?  Where would the job be, at 25 York Street, Scarborough, or somewhere else?  Who would you be reporting to and working with?  What would the local organization structure around you be?  What’s the compensation like?  What’s the process?  How serious are they about test automation — are you likely to be spending a lot of your time manually testing handsets?

YMMV
Your mileage may vary when it comes to working in testing; when I last ran a role survey of my readers, there weren’t many looking for testing/qa roles.  Then again, if I don’t post interesting testing roles when I find them, it’ll stay that way.

In Summary
If you’re interested in a testing role, this sounds like an interesting and varied role that might be worth further examination.