Brandon McGuire, a Managing Quality Engineer at Qualitest, is a soul-searching, expert storyteller who is on a journey to life profound. However, his thoughtfulness and philosophical idiosyncrasy also has a materialistic angle – food with pizza faring at the top.
Brandon is not just an expert pizza maker, but he is also wildly obsessed with all things pizza.
He says, “I am on a 30+ year journey of finding the perfect pizza crust dough recipe. A never-ending feat that provides endless delicious pizzas to try out.”
Being a kid at heart, Brandon loves spending time with his nieces and nephews and taking them to amusement parks. However, he looks up to his friends and family for his daily motivation.
Over the past 20 years in IT/project management, Brandon has worked in several test lead capacities.
Brandon points out that he had an advertising/marketing/digital media background in school, as he started early on with graphic design. So his school education had very little to directly contribute to his professional career growth except for developing discipline and organizational skills.
He says, “I may be an outlier here, but what I went to school for honestly does not have much to do with IT or what I have been involved with over my career in IT.”
When speaking about why and how he opted for a career in testing, he says, “it chose me.”
Brandon further adds, “I was a senior project manager at a pharmaceutical development company prior to switching over to QA with Qualitest. It was meeting the right recruiter at the right time, and it all fell into place.”
Brandon has worn many hats in his 12+ years of journey at Qualitest (and at Olenick, which was acquired by Qualitest in 2021), as a manual functional tester, test lead, operations manager, requirements analyst/engineer and bench manager to name a few.
Regarding his current job role he says, “I am currently on a 5+ year project that should wrap up in 2022 in the utility sector. I also spent 2 years in Northern Ireland, opening our Belfast office.”
Brandon also highlights that he likes not only the software testing industry but also the company – Qualitest.
“One of the things I like about this industry and our company is that sky is the limit to what you can do as long as you put in the effort,” adds Brandon.
Brandon understands that the fear of job security is exceedingly high among the future generation of testers. To alleviate the concerns of future testers, he says, “in my opinion, you will always be in demand for work as a tester.” He further adds, “for new consultants, assuming this type of career is a good fit, I tell them there is definitely job security and flexibility.”
However, he also adds a caveat that a career in quality engineering is not for everyone. New testers would need self-motivation and drive to succeed.
When we asked Brandon about some of the perks of having a career in IT, he says, “I enjoy the flexibility and broad range of projects that I have and will be involved with. I am constantly learning new skills or honing existing skills and increasing my knowledge. Never a dull moment!”
Brandon understands and acknowledges the importance of Pride Month and the Pride Community.
“I think that Pride Month and the Community around it is critical. For newly identifying people as well as us that have been out for a while, it helps bring us together as well as gives us a community of support,” adds Brandon.
Brandon briefly strolls down the memory to remember the days when he came out, sharing, “I came out in the 90’s, during the AIDS crisis. Pride Month and close-knit communities around it helped and continue to help with many challenges that comes with being LGBTQ+.”
When it comes to hobbies, Brandon considers himself to be a “Jack of all trades but master of none.”
Like everyone else, Brandon also had to take a slight break from most of his hobbies during the pandemic.
“I enjoy running and bicycling events for charities. I look forward to signing up for more runs/bikes/walks this year,” adds Brandon.
Brandon, a dad to three dogs, also makes cooking videos around various cooking techniques or ideas that come to his mind. Being a tech buff, Brandon is fascinated with the latest version of all tech gadgets.
“I’m the first to get the latest smartphone, tablet, laptops and OS versions, smart glasses, you name it,” adds Brandon.
His latest hobby is modifying a 2014 370Z from stock to mostly aftermarket parts.
He says, “The exterior is almost complete, new rims and tires arrive in two weeks, and now the bigger mods to the engine are next.”
Talking about his personal life, Brandon says, “My husband and I have been married since May 2019 and celebrated 11 years in total together on April 23rd, 2022. We are both ex-military, one of the reasons that made us gel so easily.”
Besides playing with IT gadgets, the car and the dogs, both Brandon and his husband like to do yard work/projects.
