Never stop learning for when we stop learning we stop growing and this motto has stood Sankar Pandiyaraj, Test Lead at iXie, in good stead throughout the course of his life. Like all gamers, Sankar’s love for gaming started at an early age with Mario, Super Mario and City Racer. His love for gaming was so high that when he found out that Indium, iXie’s parent company had a gaming division he jumped at the opportunity to turn his love for gaming into a career. Going forward we will be taking a deep dive into the life of a test lead through the eyes of Sankar Pandiyaraj.
Joining iXie
Sankar has worked in iXie for a decade but the events that brought him here were a total accident. Sankar initially joined Indium through the recommendation of a friend who worked here. It was only after he joined that he learned about the existence of Indium’s gaming division, iXie.
Being an avid gamer, there was no way that Sankar could ignore this opportunity and despite his somewhat shy demeanor, he did just that. His decade at iXie is a testament to his passion and dedication to his work. On being asked how he wants to be remembered when he retires or leaves iXie he gave the following reply “When I do leave iXie, I want to be remembered as fun person to be with.”
Life at iXie
After joining iXie Sankar’s first project involved testing a casino game. Having previously never played card games, Sankar found it an interesting project and looked forward to testing more games within the genre. “I have worked at other places before iXie, but none of them made me want to stay for long until now. It goes to show just how powerful following your passion can be. I can’t even imagine what I would be doing other than gaming”
When asked what he likes about iXie, Sankar answered that one was the chance to play games and the other was the ability to adjust work-life balance based on his needs. “I like the fact that there is a clear distinction between work and personal life. When I joined iXie I was a bachelor and now I am the father of two daughters. I have experienced and celebrated all of my life’s joys and sorrows here at iXie.”
But while Sankar finds his work enjoyable there are some lowlights as well. While most people believe that game testing or game QA involves just playing a video game and finding bugs, they are not aware of the more tedious aspects of the job. In Sankar’s own words “There are many boring moments. At times we will need to test the same level of the game again and again in order to ensure that it works exactly as designed. Most aspiring game testers are not really aware of this aspect of the job until they start their career.”
Future Aspirations
Currently Sankar is focused on upskilling himself. His interests lie in learning more about current upcoming technologies such as Cloud and Automation. His definition of success is that it is something to be enjoyed. “If you are at a point where you can do what you want, whether it is travel, work or anything else without worrying about not having enough time or money that is when you are truly successful.”
His advice to future aspiring gamers is to enjoy what they do. If they enjoy gaming, then game testing is a good career opportunity for them.
