My name is Yang Xu. In Chinese, it means “sun, bright, and positive”. I was born in China, a while ago.. :D

I am quite new in Anders, joined a company last year as a TestOps Engineer in the QA team. I work in the Helsinki office. In my spare time, I like traveling, reading, and hiking. It is important for me to feel connected with nature and with people.

I have been initially working on two projects at Anders. The first assignment was for our customer and for me it was a pilot project to start the TestOps process in Anders. I’ve created automated test cases for it and I’m adding them to the pipeline. The other project started as a clean slate where I started the quality assurance process from the beginning, by understanding customer needs and defining acceptance criteria.

I wrote a blog about building an end to end testing with Robot Framework and about our TestOps process. Take a look!

I came to Finland first to study Master’s degree at Aalto University and then worked in Nokia for over a decade, in testing and product management. After those intensive learning and working years, I decided to see the world. So, I lived abroad for few years with my Finnish family. We first moved to the United Arab Emirates and I was working there on a global scale but focusing on the middle east. During the years in middle-east, I was working in the education field most of the time.

During my time abroad, I was primarily looking to have a “different style of life” and after years in Nokia, I enjoyed learning the world from slightly different perspectives than the mobile world. I was able to travel in the middle east and participate in many global events, for example, the United Nations Smart Manufacture summit.

Between 2012-2017, the global topic was still under “the anti-terrorism” -theme. It was interesting to view topics like “development”, “technology”, “innovation” in UAE: the commercial center of the Middle East, and the hub for Asia and Africa.

My work also brought me to Oman, Bahrain, and other nearby countries. The digital innovation projects were implemented in those countries. Like for example; the Oman government wanted to visualize all their public school education content into a 3D format so students and teachers were able to “walk through” those scenarios from textbooks.

Some events were really eye-opening for me. For example, during the Ebola pandemic, many countries and organizations wanted to participate in the rescue. Dubai was the transaction hub for the rescue aid. It was the first time I learned that vaccinations might require very special storage and transportation condition. Ebola vaccination and medicine were not able to reach some places due to the insufficient equipment, despite the great efforts from medical workers who were sent to the pandemic area. It was like a rehearsal of this day’s Covid-19 pandemic.

When our kid was getting to school age, we all felt Finland is the best place for raising him up. We moved back to Finland in 2017, stayed, and will stay here again.

I think I’ve settled into the new organization by doing work together. Without discussion and cooperation, work-related or not, it would be hard to feel like a team.

We have daily team meetings with the QA team, and we exchange ideas for any run-up issues. My supervisor has been very helpful and friendly. I am located in Helsinki and the rest of the project teams that I worked with are mostly in Turku. Under WFH (work from home) policy we are fairly meeting each other online.

So, in that sense, I am not feeling anyhow distanced more than others. By joining project scrum meetings, I can hear from other colleagues and get support from the team.

I enjoy many things that Anders provides. For example, chances to learn and try out new things are great. We in the QA team are not limited to just one tool or a way to work. We have been actively trying new solutions, adapting new methods into our projects. Our colleagues are also experts from different technical areas. So I can ask for help when need.

I especially appreciate the company management’s attitude of listening to employees and taking suggestions into consideration. At the beginning of my employment in Anders, I asked about WFH furniture, which wasn’t available yet. The manager who interviewed me said they had no such policy but they will consider it. I thought it was just “word art”. But few weeks after I started work, the company hired a new colleague. The first task for him was to arrange deliveries of furniture for anyone who need them at home. I regret that I had bought my office chair just before this happen!

There are other things I enjoy as well. For example, the Helsinki office is right in the center of the city. It is convenient to access many facilities.

On the behalf of all the Andersians, I warmly welcome Yang to the Anders family!