5 Questions with Irina Karpenko, QA Tester at MyQ

4 min readMar 22, 2018

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Before I sat down to interview Irina, our previous conversations had been limited to only a minute or two. We work in different areas at MyQ headquarters in Prague, so I would normally just see her periodically in the kitchen or coming and going, always with a smile, from her side of the offices. From our conversation though, I learned that beneath her quiet demeanor lies a piano-playing, classical music-loving, any-sport athlete with a fiercely competitive edge and strong self-discipline.

When the conversation steered us towards family, a warm smile appeared and a look of love that only a mother is blessed with emanated as she spoke about her son. We talked more than I had planned, as all good interviews should, and we soon got back to work in our designated corners of MyQ headquarters.

– Lancelot Purdue

1. How has being a lifelong competitive athlete helped you advance in the world of IT?

It is quite interesting, but when I was a small girl, I had very good results in Mathematical Science. After that, I was working in accounting for quite a long time. This type of work requires a lot of attention and you do the same thing every day. It’s basically the same for QA testing — the same work every day, depending on the date of our newest stable release.

2. What’s been your most challenging accomplishment since joining MyQ?

For sure it was learning to communicate in Czech. When you work five days a week in a Czech team, you have to speak the local language.

Also, this was my first experience working with an all-male team. Before that, I had worked only with women, but I am very happy about this and enjoy working with my team.

3. What do you enjoy most about working with the QA team at MyQ?

We are a strong, stable team with a very friendly atmosphere. Most of our colleagues are good friends outside of work. We do sports together, other activities, and in general I can tell that it works in a positive way for the whole team. I’m especially happy to work with a boss who is always in a good mood and has a clear mind. You can ask him any question without some worries. It helps a lot to develop yourself in your work.

4. What are some unique experiences you had while assimilating yourself with Czech culture (food, language, way of life)?

My unique experiences are definitely because of the Czech way of life. It is quite a non-stressful daily regime; on the roads, in shops, everywhere. As a mother, I can say it’s very important to do your daily routine leisurely and measuredly.

I was also surprised about the time during the presidential elections in the Czech Republic; how people personally experienced these elections and monitored every vote given in favor to the candidates. As someone who was born in Russia, it is quite an amazing event. I would like to see people in Russia with the same political ambitions as they have in the Czech Republic.

5. What is your ideal day away from MyQ Headquarters in Prague?

Oh, that’s quite a funny question for me. Well, I am a mother of a 5 year-old-boy, a very active boy I must say. I love and used to have an active, busy life myself. I still like to do a lot of sports, some activities, meeting with friends, etc., and now I am trying to instill the same in my son — a lot of sports and activities in his life. Despite that, my ideal day is just to be at home and spend all day watching old movies with homemade cookies.

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If you enjoyed this interview, be sure to read the other ones here:

5 Questions with Irina Karpenko, QA Tester at MyQ

Written by MyQ Solution

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