As Mobile Heartbeat continues to innovate and transform clinical communication and collaboration, we’re looking to fill open engineering positions with employees who are eager to work on an important product that affects hundreds of thousands of users and their patients. This monthly article series has highlighted some of the current Mobile Heartbeat employees who exemplify our values and are helping us work toward our goal of improving communication in healthcare.

This month’s interview features Kristina Fartushina, a quality assurance (QA) engineer whose experience at Mobile Heartbeat has enabled her to find purpose in both work and life at home.

When and Why Did You Decide to Become an Engineer?

Even in high school, I knew that I wanted to be an engineer after being inspired by my father, who’s a civil engineer. In Russia, I earned my degree in civil engineering—but I had second thoughts after moving to the U.S. and realizing that a career in construction would be a little more complicated than I’d hoped. That’s when I took an interest in technology—and in particular, the IT industry. I took some courses in QA engineering, and identified that this line of work was perfect for me: I’d always loved to solve problems, create new things and improve products.

Plus, engineering is such a broad career because it allows people to pursue the field of their choice—which in my case is technology. The skillsets translate really well, too: Even if someone chooses to pursue a non-engineering career after doing engineering, they have the freedom to do that. At least, that was the advice given to me by my father, and it’s been successful for me.

How Did You Hear About Mobile Heartbeat, and What Made You Want to Work Here?

Luckily, Mobile Heartbeat found me in 2016. My husband and I had just moved to Boston from New Zealand and I had just started looking for jobs when I received a LinkedIn message from a recruiter at Mobile Heartbeat. The idea of working in healthcare appealed to me because my mom is a pediatrician, so I was intrigued and went in for an interview.

That’s when I learned more about Mobile Heartbeat’s mission, and I was excited about being able to work in the healthcare industry and make a difference by improving our product. Plus, it was a great opportunity to gain experience in mobile testing on both iOS and Android, not just one or the other.

But most importantly, the people solidified the decision for me. I felt really comfortable during the two rounds of interviews here. For other companies, I’ve done intense interviews as long as six hours, where it seems like everyone is grilling you and setting you up to fail. This was nothing like that. At Mobile Heartbeat, everyone was really nice, and there was no pressure, which made it a place I could see myself long-term.

How Would You Describe the Work You Do Here?

Because I’m a QA engineer on the global team, it can be pretty varied. Depending on the day, we might be testing operating systems, patches, regression or overflow—there’s an opportunity to do a lot of different things.

One of my responsibilities is to work closely with our remote teams in Minsk, Belarus to help ensure they have a pipeline of work, keep them informed about our QA priorities here in Boston, and to answer questions. And over the last few months, I’ve been supporting the web app—which involves redesigning our desktop application as well as ensuring we test and release new iOS builds for the app store.

And through it all, I’m involved in different stages and areas of the Mobile Heartbeat Platform, which keeps me engaged in the product and in the process. That’s a rare exception from typical QA work at other companies, where developers tend to get stuck doing the same work—which makes them want to leave after two years because of sheer boredom. That’s not the case for me, and I love it.

In What Ways Do You See Your Work Making a Difference?

Honestly, everyone is a healthcare patient at some point or another, and we’ve all probably felt first-hand how a one-minute delay can cost a lot. I’m proud to be part of a great team that helps with that.

Not long ago, I actually met an acquaintance who works at the Yale New Haven Health system who uses our platform on a daily basis. She gave me some feedback about the app and I felt really proud of myself and Mobile Heartbeat afterward. I may not work closely with customers that often, but when I can hear such great feedback from a doctor who uses our product frequently, it really affirms that we’re doing good work—and that we can keep getting better every day.

How Has Your Experience at Mobile Heartbeat Been Different From Other Places That You’ve Worked?

The industry itself is different, first of all. Unlike other industries where an error is just an error, in healthcare, missing a critical bug can impact people’s life in a major way—so we have to do our work accurately and carefully. We can’t be careless about what we do.

The people are different, too. I feel so comfortable with Mobile Heartbeat’s environment. It’s just so friendly here, and collaborative, too: QA engineers and developers can communicate and discuss fixes or issues together, and more experienced coworkers are always eager to share their knowledge in a relatable way. It’s hard to find that in other companies.

I also think the flexibility makes Mobile Heartbeat stand out. Some companies will claim they have a flexible schedule, but they really don’t. That’s not the case here. As a new mom, I can schedule my work and keep a work-life balance. We even have unlimited vacation, which—I’ll admit—made me a little nervous when I started. As an engineer, I prefer exact numbers. But my manager has assured me that it’s okay, and actively encourages me to make use of it.

And I think that’s a big point, too: The support I get from my manager, Lynn. I like that she really cares about all QA members. I’ve never had that experience elsewhere. We all have different personalities and workstyles, and she responds to everyone’s needs and has a great approach to management overall.

As a New Mom, What Exactly Is It About Mobile Heartbeat’s Work-Life Balance That You Value?

I’ve actually been asked what it’s like to work full-time and have a baby. I’ll be honest: Yes, it’s definitely hard. That’s why flexibility is key. I’m able to work remotely from anywhere—whether that’s at home or across the world. In fact, I’ll be in Russia to visit my parents this month, and I plan to work remotely while there. That’s the beauty of my work.

As a mom of a 15-month-old, that becomes a big help when you have a sick child or a babysitter who can’t make it that day. I know that I can take off (or work from home) to stay with my daughter. Or I can come in earlier to finish earlier for the day—and no one will ask me how many hours I worked. As long as my job is done, everyone’s happy. And I’m happy, too.

Can You Walk Us Through Your Experience of Taking Maternity Leave at Mobile Heartbeat?

It’s been wonderfully supportive. I’m actually from a country where maternity leave is three years, so I grew up with that mindset. So of course when we moved to the U.S., it was an adjustment in mindset. But I’m lucky to be at Mobile Heartbeat, where HR and my manager supported me throughout and made the process so smooth.

They helped me apply for maternity leave, access my benefits and went over my rights with me. Everyone was so supportive during my pregnancy, too. I didn’t have to stress, and had time to just concentrate on getting ready for motherhood.

And then when I returned, everyone went out of their way to make sure I felt supported and had a good and gradual transition back to full-time work. I wasn’t working 40 hours per week right away—instead, I started working a more part-time schedule. As I felt more comfortable, I started working more. I think it took me a total of 1-1.5 months to be back to a regular schedule. They also provided a great mother’s room for pumping, which was wonderful, too!

How Have You Seen Mobile Heartbeat Evolve Over Your Time Here?

The growth is one of the biggest changes. When I first interviewed here, there were only a few people at the office. Just a few months after I started, we moved to a bigger office because we ran out of space for everyone. And now, in three years’ time, it’s grown so much.

The company has evolved in terms of new teams, too. For example, we now have a documentation team, which is proving to be a huge asset, given how big and complex the product is.

With all that growth, it can sometimes be hard to remember everyone’s names or what they do. But at the same time, Mobile Heartbeat has been very intentional about building the culture in a smart way, which has been great. We have lots of social activities and general teambuilding events (like our hackathon) that help to create a closer team, introduce new coworkers to the company, and promote creativity among all.

What Direction Do You See Mobile Heartbeat Taking in the Next Few Years?

I think the company will continue to grow. I think we’ll start using more third-party tools and build more cross-disciplinary partnerships—in healthcare and technology, as well as other fields. And we’ll continue to improve the product, and add in new functionalities and features to help our customers. I’m sure that will lead to even more opportunities to learn and grow professionally.

To learn more about working at Mobile Heartbeat, visit our careers page, or call 781-238-0000.