Elias Nogueira helps Software Engineers (Backend, Frontend, and QA) to develop their quality mindset and deliver high-quality software. Quality for him is it: mindset here we must develop and create approaches from the requirements definition to the post-delivery.
He loves sharing knowledge in different ways, so everything he knows he teaches others. He grew up in his career sharing knowledge with my colleagues, and he believes everyone should do the same.
He has a page with all his presentations and community activities at https://github.com/eliasnogueira/public-speaking
His specialties include quickly learning new skills and programming languages, problem-solving, testing architecture, quality engineering, and shift left testing. He also loves to write code on the backend side.
Be sure to follow Elias on LinkedIn.
TL;DR;
In this interview, Elias shares his experience of immigrating to the Netherlands and adapting to the QA practices there. He discusses cultural differences in the workplace, emphasizing the importance of respect and learning to work together despite diverse backgrounds. Elias highlights the value of putting “quality” as a priority in companies, regardless of their size or type. He mentions using methodologies like “The Five Whys” and “Proof of Concept” to address problems and make decisions based on context rather than following trends. Elias also praises the soft skills learned in Brazil, such as effective communication and understanding different perspectives, which are highly valued in the Netherlands. Elias remarks on the significant difference in work-life balance, where the Dutch prioritize personal time and direct, straightforward feedback in the professional environment. Overall, Elias’s journey demonstrates the growth and adaptability that come with pursuing opportunities in a different country.
What were your reasons for choosing to immigrate to the Netherlands? How did you prepare for finding a job and planning your move?
To be honest, the Netherlands 🇳🇱 has chosen me 🙂
I was looking for a challenge in the USA, and for that, I did a preparation joining some interviews to get experience in it, plus knowing which type of candidate they were looking for.
During this process I was at an event, The Developers Conference, where companies from Canada and Netherlands were trying to hire people. Surprisingly there were a few Brazilians in one of the companies’ booths, I talked to them and already started the process. It was in the TDC 2019 in Florianópolis, Brazil.
What are some of the cultural differences you’ve encountered in the new workplace ?
The first one, which is classic, is trying to understand different English accents in my workplace, as the company has people from more than 30 countries working there.
The second was to understand that everyone, sometimes, behaves in a certain way based on the country they’ve lived in or their beliefs. The main thing was to learn how to respect, live and work together with these differences.
Are there any specific challenges you faced when adapting to the QA practices and standards in the Netherlands? How did you overcome them?
I tell everyone I was blessed to start working in a company that puts Quality in the first place. All people I’ve worked with are extremely technical (yes, including the Quality Engineers) and it was easy to follow.
My biggest challenge compared to the previous company to the current one is the decision-making process: in the previous, there were more efforts to train people in the technical changes, adoption, or practices. In the current one, the effort is more on explaining technically which solution is the best, its benefits, and possible risks as everyone has the technical knowledge level.
Have you noticed any variations in the perception or importance placed on quality assurance compared to Brazil? If so, in what ways?
I really think that is basically one main item in this equation: how the company sees “quality”. Does not matter if the company is a startup or a big tech. When I was a consultant I saw both types of companies not looking into any quality perspective.
My observation is that it’s more in the leadership (technical leaders and C level) than the type of business.
But what I can say is that Brazilians know a lot and are hard workers. We are always willing to learn and it makes us one of the best software engineers in the world.
Are there any new unique methodologies or tools that you’ve come across that have improved your QA processes?
I’ve experienced the application of a lot of Agile Methodologies in my career, and I have two approaches, not methodologies, that are helping me a lot to understand the problems and shaping processes:
- The Five Whys, where helps me to understand any kind of problem, its causes and effects, and the possible solutions. It helps me in any situation: understanding a general problem, technical issue, process improvements, adoption of new possible tools, etc…
- PoC – Proof of Concept: as all the work is done is basically technical we must be able to prove that a new methodology, approach, tool, or change, can adapt to the current context. For that, I use the PoC all the time with different options to guide people in the right direction.
Any new methodology comes and goes, and for me, the most important thing is to shape a process with something that makes sense based on the context rather than following any trending one.
Are there any specific lessons or skills you learned in Brazil that you find particularly valuable in the Netherlands?
We, Brazilians, tend to talk a lot, and with it comes the soft skill to understand different opinions and talk to different people to get things done. This is one of the most desired soft-skill for software engineers in Europe.
People who do not communicate in different ways and levels tend to grow more slowly than others, and it makes sense because when you do this you also learn a lot.
Here they appreciate that we try to understand the different opinions and base the recommendations or ideas based on that.
Have you noticed any differences in the work-life balance or professional expectations ?
Yes! The most impacted cultural difference for me!
First things first: unfortunately I’m comparing a 3rd world country (Brazil), with a lot of issues from a different perspective, to a 1st world country that has their issues, but easy compared to the ones we have in Brazil.
In Brazil we are workaholics, and we do this because we need to work hard to get better jobs, salary increases, and learn as fast as we can based on the context we lived.
In the Netherlands, they really separate work and life, as you spend only the necessary and agreed time working, and then you enjoy your life. There’s no after-hours work.
Is there a critical issue to solve and it’s 5 pm? No worries, you can fix it tomorrow. The most important thing here is to keep this work-life balance perfect to not stress you out.
Now, they always have professional expectations about what you were hired for, and they will be direct to you when it’s not good, as well they will appreciate the good job you are doing. I personally believe it’s fair because, in Brazil, we need to tell a whole story and walk on eggshells before giving feedback. Here, in the Netherlands, the people will give you feedback straightforwardly.
I completely agree about the culture differences, thanks Elias for sharing this !! Actually, I have experienced some of this myself ! In Brazil if you are sick you go to work anyway, workaholic culture, BAU. Here in UK you have a better quality of life, if you are sick don’t go to work and specially don’t spread to others your diseases. Everybody says straight away: Jeez christ you are gross, at least work from home for god’s sake 😂
Rafaela Azevedo 