Detail-Oriented — You’re the kind of person who can notice the little detail or inconsistency that caused a QA issue that no one else could see
Tinkerer — You’re the kind of person that friends & family call for help when something is broken (their TV, phone, etc) because you possess the agency to find answers on Google, in product documentation, and through tinkering with the product itself (this is particularly important as Readwise is mostly a remote-first, asynchronous organization and team members will often not be around to help you help a customer)
Clear Communicator — You’re a lucid writer (particularly via email) who can adopt the “beginner’s mind” of a user or developer to explain new concepts to them in terms they’re likely to grasp
Customer-Oriented — You’re the kind of person who will go out of your way to help customers and make sure they feel warm, welcomed, and cared for
Growth Mindset — You know your abilities are not fixed at birth, but that you’re able to grow and learn how to do new things
Reliable — You’re the kind of person who follows through on commitments and shows up to appointments on time
Warm (Friendly & Patient) — One of the best parts of working on software that caters to elite nonfiction readers is that we constantly meet interesting and friendly people across the globe. But Readwise is still a consumer business and as such we do occasionally get exposed to users who have been scarred by two-hour holds on the telephone with Comcast or Verizon. Nine times out of ten these challenging interactions quickly abate as the user realizes that we are ordinary humans at the other end of a computer terminal — not some evil corporation. But to reach these happy outcomes, it’s important that you are not only a clear communicator, but you’re also warm, friendly, and patient throughout the process. The following passage from Setting the Table sums this up nicely:
"Imagine if every business were a lightbulb and that for each lightbulb the primary goal was to attract the most moths possible. Now what if you learned that 49 percent of the reason moths were attracted to a bulb was for the quality of its light (brightness being the task of the bulb) and that 51 percent of the attraction was to the warmth projected by the bulb (warmth being connected with the feeling of the bulb). It’s remarkable to me how many businesses shine brightly when it comes to acing the tasks but emanate all the warmth of a cool fluorescent light. That explains how a flawless four-star restaurant can actually attract far fewer loyal fans than a two-or three-star place with soul. In business, I want to be overcome with moths. Our staff must be like a scintillating string of one-hundred-watt lightbulbs, whose product is the sum of 51 percent feeling and 49 percent task."
What you do not need is extensive experience in QA or even developing software at all. This role is a great jumping off point for someone looking to transition into tech offering career optionality into engineering, product, and more, in addition, of course, to founding the Readwise QA team.