Career on Nicole van der Hoeven

How to get started in DevRel with Gertrude Westrin (Adobo & Avocados #29)

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 11:04:30 +0200

Gertrude Chilufya Westrin joined my friend Marie Cruz and me on Adobo & Avocados to talk about how she got started with a career in Developer Relations:

how and why she moved from Zambia to Sweden
how she got her first job in tech
the difference between Developer Relations and Developer Advocacy
how a developer advocate can help the community.

Mental Health as a Superpower with Karen Todd (Adobo & Avocados #28)

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 15:12:44 +0100

My friend Marie Cruz and I interviewed Karen Todd about neurodivergence and neurodiversity, and how her ADHD can be a positive thing in her career as a tester.

Why People Leave Software Testing, with Maria Kedemo (Adobo & Avocados #27)

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 11:54:46 +0100

In this episode of Adobo and Avocados, Maria Kedemo talks to my friend Marie Cruz and me about why she left software testing– and why she came back.

The Power of Community, with Tara Walton (Adobo & Avocados #26)

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 13:48:34 +0100

What does a community builder do? In this episode of Adobo and Avocados, Tara Walton talk to my friend Marie Cruz and me about what community is, its benefits, and ways to misuse it.

Learning about Glue Work and Quiet Quitting (Adobo & Avocados #25)

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 19:36:04 +0100

What is glue work, and how is it linked to quiet quitting and quality engineering? In this episode of Adobo and Avocados, Vernon Richards talks to Marie Cruz and me about what glue work is, the dangers of quiet quitting, its implications with quality engineering, and what we can do about it.

Navigating through Unemployment with Renata Andrade (Adobo & Avocados #22)

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 13:16:15 +0100

With the rise of redundancies in the tech industry, how do you navigate through unemployment calmly? In this episode of Adobo and Avocados, Renata Andrade, a Quality Engineer Lead, talks to Marie Cruz and me about her experience navigating unemployment and the steps she followed to bounce back.

Becoming an accessibility advocate with Erin Crise (Adobo & Avocados #19)

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 12:22:40 +0100

In this episode of Adobo and Avocados, Marie Cruz and I speak with Erin Crise about her tech career journey, what led to her accessibility advocacy, and why empathy drives innovation.

Inspiring others and fuelling your passion with Jonah Andersson (Adobo & Avocados #18)

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 20:00:53 +0300

In this episode of Adobo & Avocados, my friend Marie Cruz and I chat with Jonah Andersson, a Software Developer, Cloud & DevOps Engineer, and the founder of Azure User Group Sweden. We spoke about her career journey and how she is fuelling her passion and inspiring others.

Having a coaching mindset with Kulas Angeles (Adobo & Avocados #17)

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 12:27:16 +0200

In this episode of Adobo and Avocados, my friend Marie Cruz and I chat with Kulas Angeles, a DevOps coach and Quality Engineering leader, about his career journey and how he transitioned from engineering to coaching mindset.

Investing in yourself with Nicola Lindgren (Adobo & Avocados #16)

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 11:52:37 +0200

My friend Marie Cruz and I talked with Nicola Lindgren about different ways we’ve all invested in ourselves and our career– and how you can do the same.

Making a career and being true to yourself with Lena Pejgan Nyström (Adobo & Avocados #10)

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 21:25:02 +0200

My friend Marie Cruz and I speak to Lena Pejgan Nyström, the author and creator of Would Heu-risk it? cards and book about various topics!

Lena opens up about how she got started in tech and her career journey from being a developer turned tester and now an Engineering Manager as well as an international keynote speaker! We also discuss topics such as diversity in tech, dealing with burnout, and any struggles Lena experienced between making a career and being true to her personal beliefs.

Quality Engineering, DevOps, and work-life balance (Adobo & Avocados #07)

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 21:55:46 +0100

Developer Advocates Marie Cruz and I talk to Katja Obring, an experienced Quality Engineering Coach, about her experience in tech and moving to freelance for better work-life balance. We also talk about her book, “Testing in DevOps: A Guide to Optimised Testing for Speedy and High Quality Delivery,” and how Testing fits in the overall DevOps landscape, the importance of automated testing, and the cultural changes crucial to DevOps.

Why Representation Matters (Adobo & Avocados #06)

Sat, 01 Jul 2023 15:08:51 +0100

My friend Marie Cruz and I talk to Parveen Khan about her experience in tech and the importance of diversity and inclusion. Parveen is a Senior QA Consultant at Thoughtworks, a quality advocate, and an international speaker.

Do Appearances Matter in Tech (Adobo & Avocados #05)

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 15:03:33 +0100

My fellow Developer Advocate Marie Cruz and I talk to Imma Valls, a community support engineer who works with us at Grafana Labs, about image biases that people might have, whether that’s piercings, tattoos, or hair dye!

10 tips for starting (or progressing) a career in tech (Adobo & Avocados #04)

Wed, 07 Jun 2023 08:00:25 +0200

Marie Cruz and I did another Adobo & Avocados livestream, this time about 10 tips (five from each of us) about starting a career in tech.

Intersectionality in Tech (Adobo & Avocados #03)

Wed, 10 May 2023 21:35:00 +0800

Marie Cruz and I talk about what intersectionality is and how intersecting identities can affect how we relate to the world and our experiences.

Why All Roads Lead to Testing

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 23:59:03 +0100

Why all roads lead to testing

Testing is a skill every software engineer should develop.

It’s easy to dismiss testing as a responsibility only some carry, but it’s best thought of as a hat that anyone can put on. How well you learn to wear this hat affects your career whether or not you’re a tester. Here’s why.

Ideas are cheap.

In tech, having an idea isn’t what sells– the success is in the execution.

iPhones didn’t become popular because it was the first mobile with a touchscreen. The Nintendo Switch isn’t ubiquitous because of its revolutionary hardware. Behind every successful product is a lot of testing.

Testing isn’t just for testers.

Every good software engineer does testing.

Debugging is a form of testing. Questioning requirements is a form of testing. Testers don’t (and shouldn’t) have a monopoly on testing. The reality is that everyone is doing it, often without calling it “testing”.

Testing is about people more than it is about machines.

The fundamental goal of any app is to address a human need.

Testing is finding new ways to represent and understand this need at all stages of development. Testing is a people problem, not a technical problem.

Humans are irrational.

The biggest challenge in building apps is human irrationality.

We don’t always want what we need, we don’t always know what we need, and even when we’re building for others, we don’t always work towards what we need. Testing is an attempt to make sense of this irrationality.

Testing is an attitude.

Getting good at testing extends to aspects beyond work.

Testing is a discipline of questioning. It’s having curiosity as a default state and trying to meet people where they are. These are things every project, and every community, needs in spades.

Testing is rarely the destination.

But some time, some how, all roads lead to testing.