Solutions-oriented and highly adaptable Pessoni has 13+ years’ experience leading and shipping high availability software for high-growth organisations. ISTQB CTFL Certified Tester. Proficient in Linux, JAVA, Kotlin, Ruby, GoLang, Test Techniques (manual and automated), SQL, Software Development Processes and more. Awarded University Professor. Find him on channels @pessonizando

Be sure to follow Pessoni on LinkedIn.

TL;DR;
In this interview, Pessoni discusses his reasons for immigrating to the UK and how he prepared for the move. He shares cultural differences he encountered in the workplace, such as dress code nuances, and the challenges he faced while adapting to QA practices, including learning a new programming language and embracing agile methods. Pessoni highlights the growing value of quality assurance professionals in both the UK and Brazil, with the UK offering more opportunities in the QA space. He also mentions the benefits of using BDD and issue managers like Jira in QA processes. Additionally, Pessoni emphasizes the importance of creativity and resilience learned in Brazil, which are highly valued skills in the UK. Lastly, he appreciates the UK’s emphasis on work-life balance, contrasting it with past experiences of working long hours in Brazil.

What were your reasons for choosing to immigrate to the UK? How did you prepare for finding a job and planning your move?

I was always curious about other cultures and countries, since I was a kid. While growing up, even though I didn’t have the chance to visit other countries, I would watch documentaries and read about them and their history. That would fascinate me! At some point in my life, my parents then moved to the UK due to a financial crisis we were going through so they could try a new start in a new country that would give them more possibilities than Brazil. After that the dream to live in another country grew more and more in me but I took several years to have the courage to move into the UK. So, after several years after my parents living in the UK I finally had the courage to leave my career as a University lecturer in Brazil and moved into the UK.

Regarding preparing for moving, I spent a year studying more English, doing TOEFL and IELTS and applying for jobs. TOEFL and IELTS were not used back then to apply for jobs but I was studying for them because I wanted to do a PHD in the UK. I ended up not doing it but studying for these english tests were really helpful for me to improve my english level. 

So when I was looking for a job, I applied for multiple roles until I got an offer! In this way, I only had courage to quit my successful lecturer career and come to the UK 🇬🇧 because I had already secured a job.

Its always nice to have some money set aside also to help you with the move. You will have to think about where you are going to live, save money for deposit and other needs. Some companies will give you help on that. Mine didn’t. But I was fortunate to have my parents living here, so I stayed with them until I found A place for me to live.  

What are some of the cultural differences you’ve encountered in the new workplace ? 

I experienced different cultural nuances in different companies that I’ve been in since I moved to the UK. I remember that in the first company I worked, one of the funny things but that it was a super surprising one was about the dress code. Even though the company wasn’t formal, there were some things you just couldn’t wear in an office. For instance, once I showed up in sweatpants to the office. However for me, being a Brazilian and since the office didn’t have a formal dress code, I thought was not a big deal. But then, after some days, one of my office friends told me that I couldn’t wear that in the office. I was surprised how long it took for some of them to tell me that. Even my manager didn’t tell me that right away. I would expect them to tell me as soon as possible so I wouldn’t repeat the funny incident. But they waited several days and multiple times to tell me about that. So, it’s nice that people are super polite in the UK. However, that can sometimes cause some funny situations like this one.

Are there any specific challenges you faced when adapting to the QA practices and standards in the UK ? How did you overcome them? 

When I came, my automation skills were not great and I was accepted to work in a different language that I had experience. I had a lot of experience with Java and also used to teach in the universities. However, my first job in the UK was using Ruby as a programming language. So, it took me some months to learn the language and to become more productive. One of the other practices that I was really working on in my first job here (very differently from Brazil) was the agile methods. The company I joined was very mature in scrum method and it was super nice to learn it really in real life. Even though I used to teach agile methods in Brazil, I have not experienced companies there doing agile in the very smart way as in here. 

Have you noticed any variations in the perception or importance placed on quality assurance compared to Brazil? If so, in what ways? 

I believe Brazil is still in a journey regarding valuing quality assurance, testers, professionals. In here I can see that the quality assurance professionals are valued and have good salaries. I could also see that changing for the better in Brazil in the last 5 years. 

The UK has generally more opportunities that Brazil in the QA space. 

Are there any new unique methodologies or tools that you’ve come across that have improved your QA processes? 

One of my favourite ones and most controversial I would say its BDD. Using behaviour driven development in a day to day to develop software really helps to have more clarity, stir better conversations and also to produce better products. I would also say that having good issue managers like jira really helps in productivity and day to day organization.

Are there any specific lessons or skills you learned in Brazil that you find particularly valuable in the UK ?

Two of the things I think its very valuable for our careers not only in Brazil but that is super valued here is our creativity and resilience. As Brazilians, we are used to deal with unexpected situations and hardships. That develops in us the ability to handle difficult problems, challenges and also to be creative while solving them.

Have you noticed any differences in the work-life balance or professional expectations ?

Definitely! And that’s one of my greatest learnings from living in the UK. I love how this culture values work-life balance. I have learned much more here. There were times in Brazil where I would be working 12 hours a day in 2 different jobs, like crazy. Since I moved in here I can have a way better quality of life in general.

Thanks a lot Pessoni, even tho I also moved from Brazil 🇧🇷 to UK 🇬🇧, we had loads of different experiences and this summarises the reasons why it is always good to learn from others !