Lavinia Netoi, one of our QA Delivery Managers, is a zestful and highly competent Qualitester from Romania.
With a high intrinsic motivation that pushes her to work hard and build a career, Lavinia aspires to improve her living standards, both for herself and her close ones. She prides herself on her strong work ethic, considering it “one of the best qualities in life that makes a person stable, independent and reliable.”
Apart from work, she is passionate about music, loves spending time at the seaside, visiting other countries and cooking vegan food.
Lavinia’s primary area of expertise is Quality Assurance. Her degree in Cybernetics laid the foundation for her career in IT. It was here that she learned about data structures and complicated algorithms, which developed her thinking and allowed her to understand the intricacies of computer software.
Here’s an interesting story that led to her discovery of why QA and testers are required in the first place: “When I first applied for a software testing job, recommended by a colleague, I did not understand why you would hire somebody else to test the code written by a developer, because earlier, I would test my own code. Later, I realized that managers need an objective point of view of a tester who is detached from the code and thinks from an end-user perspective,” she reminisces.
Lavinia’s tryst with software testing has been interesting. Impressed by her former test manager’s accomplished international career, she too decided to pursue QA for the long term.
In her own words, “My first test manager fundamentally changed my opinion about QA. She took pride in her work and had immense self-respect. She also added a lot of business value through her work. It was then that I understood that QA is a dignified and rewarding career,” she exclaims.
Lavinia has had quite a swift climb up the ladder, progressing from a test manager to the Head of QA and becoming a QA Delivery Manager. She has worked in Romania and Switzerland.
She joined Qualitest over a year ago and feels proud to represent the organization and the Qualitest brand at tech and business events to help the company expand. On being asked to elaborate on her responsibilities, she says –
“My role is quite complex, but it suits me because I have a versatile personality. Currently, I am managing more than 40 employees, conducting interviews, providing training and doing presales and sales activities. Besides interacting with my colleagues, helping each other and learning from each other, I love to interact with potential customers, business partners and the media,” she shares.
Lavinia has short but mindful advice for future QA professionals. “Be very ambitious and continuously raise the bar,” she advises. She thinks that the biggest perk of choosing a career in IT is the international business trips and the chance to meet people from various cultures.
Her favorite business role model is Indra Nooyi, the former CEO of PepsiCo.
“She is courageous, educated and very resilient. She has been successful in a world dominated by men because she had the wisdom to understand how to build a relationship with men based on mutual respect and mutual responsibilities”, she says when describing Indra. “You need to strike that balance between having the confidence to state your opinions and respecting the opinions of strong male figures whose business decisions may have strategic, financial and cultural reasons behind them.”
Lavinia experiments with various vegan food and recipes when she has the time. She says that going to the seaside is a therapy of its own because it calms her down and she loves the magnificent views. She also adores animals and finds happiness in spending time with her pets, who are affectionate and full of positive energy.
Lavinia is studying nonmedicinal ways of healing to benefit people around her.
“Because of dealing with some cases of illness as to people and animals in my close circle, I have started studying alternate therapies: Reiki energy healing, sound therapy, color therapy, mudras, chakra healing, feng shui, praying etc. I believe they work and I believe the future of health is holistic. Health should be accessible to all people- rich and poor, health should be accessible also to animals and treatments should not be intrusive, painful and should not have side effects,” she says.
Lavinia takes her social responsibilities very seriously. She has dedicated a significant time of her life to noble causes. For over eight years, she has been actively donating food and clothes to kids at an orphanage near Bucharest while teaching them English and computer skills.
“It was quite difficult at first, but I enjoyed the experience and I was glad to have opened the children’s minds and taught them what they must do to have a stable job in society,” she says.
She also likes to donate to animal shelters and other animal care organizations.
That’s Lavinia for you, a person involved in social responsibility, a beach-lover and a dedicated professional. When she’s not busy testing code or chatting with her colleagues, you can find her watching the personal and professional development Youtube Channel – Alux.
Interested in working with us? Join a team of world-class experts in quality engineering right here at Qualitest.
