Meet Alexander Shenderovich, our QA Director, the driving force and last line of defence for World of Tanks. His team works tirelessly to ensure that every update released meets the highest quality and performance standards. Fun fact: Alexander was between choosing a game QA career or becoming a huntsman in the forest at some point in his life. So how did he get here?
So let’s find out and get to know him better!

Could you tell us the story about your career path and education? Maybe give some professional background.

When I graduated from university, I finally realised that the professional path I had chosen – telecommunications – was not what I would like to do in life. I realised that I had wasted a fair amount of my years on something that was entirely not mine, and I decided that I would not make such a mistake again and would only spend my time on those things that bring me pleasure. 

After analysing my preferences and previous experience, I concluded that I like either the career of a game QA or a huntsman in the forest. Honestly, it was kind of a random decision that I didn’t regret at all! So eventually, I began studying all the available QA materials. I collected all the professional books and articles available at that time and began to scrutinise them. A few months later, I decided I was ready to try and apply for a game QA job. I found that Wargaming had an open position for Junior Game QA and applied for it. And then, 12 years passed very quickly and interestingly, during which my professionalism grew and my areas of responsibility changed, but my commitment to QA remained unshakable.

Name several reasons why you chose to join the gaming industry. What is so attractive about the game industry?

The main reason why I chose gamedev is my love for games. I love the video game industry and wanted to be part of it not at an amateur level but at a professional level and, if possible, in the major professional league.

Could you share your perspective on what is so unique about Wargaming?

High professionalism of the company’s employees. I mean both on average in the company and in particular cases. For example, in my work, I quite often met colleagues, and I thought, «wow, this is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met»!

All of them are very cool professionals on the international level and in the whole industry.

I also really appreciate that they are open to communication despite their professionalism. They’re all smart, talented people who know what they’re doing. But they don’t look down on newbies or other employees either; they are always willing to help out when someone needs it.

It’s not just that they’re good at their jobs— you can learn a lot from them as well!

What’s so special about your area of responsibility?

Easy to learn, difficult to master. This area initially has quite a low bar to start with, but a very deep and wide area to explore. Long story short, this is an interesting, complex and responsible engineering profession.

It’s interesting because you are constantly learning something new to understand how and why those solutions that need to be tested are arranged and to maintain your professionalism at a level corresponding to most modern needs.

It’s difficult because you are searching for mistakes in the work of colleagues who may be professionally stronger than you are. This is a kind of «mind game» when you’re asking yourself questions like «Where could they have made a mistake?» or «What could have been overlooked?» etc.

Finally, it’s responsible since QA is the last line of defence. You won’t be insured of a mistake since your function is to insure others. If you make a mistake, the result of your error will be visible to players.

Could you share your thoughts about the privileges of being in Lithuania? What do you like the most about this country? Tell the fact why everyone should visit Lithuania!

There’s a long list of things that I love about Lithuania. All of them kind of surprised me in a good way. Here are just some of them:

1. People. I am still trying to get used to the fact that almost every person on the street knows at least one foreign language. Almost everywhere, you will be answered in good English.
2. A very green country. Vilnius has an insane amount of parks and trees. There is no feeling that you live in some kind of concrete jungle since the nearest park is easy to reach, and some parks are like real forests. And when I say «like a real forest», – this is precisely the forest. One summer, I went home from the gym, drank coffee, and saw a hedgehog crossing my path. Hedgehog, Carl! A 10-minute walk from the national parliament!
3. Security. Not artificially expressed in metal detectors at every step and hundreds of police officers on holidays, sometimes quantitatively exceeding the number of participants in events, but in the ability to walk at any time and any place.
4. Everything is very close. You don’t have to spend hours getting somewhere within the city. There are many places you can get to on foot.

What are your hobbies?

Games are my biggest hobby, for sure. I play primarily on PC. If you look at my Steam stats for the past year, I mainly played RTS, Roguelike and visual novels, but I don’t have any dominant genre as my preferences are constantly changing depending on my age or mood. Also, I love cats. I have two Maine Coons who often keep me company while working from home. Sometimes this is not good company, especially when someone tries to walk on the keyboard with furry paws.

Another one is popular science. I like to jump into the study of any new topic. Often these are very different topics: either the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the design of the Lockheed SR-71, malaria or the formation of neutron stars. I like to learn something new, especially when identifying dependencies and connections from seemingly completely different areas.

Who are you when you close office doors/laptop?

Actually, I have many personalities, so it depends! For my cats, I’m a big cat that must give them food and scratch behind their ears. For my wife, I’m her honey. For my friends, I’m Shen (from League of Legends). And finally, for my teammates, I’m an excellent support and awful carry.

What advice would you give to a new joiner?

You should constantly ask yourself the question, «Am I doing good stuff?»

And more importantly, you should do what you love and make every effort to achieve your professional goals! It’s the key to making a good start in QA. Make sure you have a good sense of what the company does and take some time to get to know your team and position. Ask questions about your role and the organisation’s goals so you can start off on the right foot. Also, be ready for new information, learn, dive into it and do your best to implement this knowledge into your work!