Reena: Live Search Profile

Search Test Manager

What drew you to the search team?

After working on Windows Networking for over 8 years, I was looking for a change - a job that would challenge me and give me an experience that I hadn't had before. After talking to three other hiring managers, I didn't want to consider any groups other than Live Search. The challenge that the team faces is unparalleled anywhere else in Microsoft and I saw it as an opportunity to be part of a 'startup' within Microsoft! The Live Search team has proven to be everything that the team members told me it would be - fast paced, focused, challenging, uncharted territory... The part I love & hate most is that more to be done everyday! The possibilities are endless.

How do you define quality?

One word (ok, two) - Customer Delight. A quality product is one that delights the customers while keeping engineering & servicing costs low.

How do you balance being a mother and a senior test manager?

I feel that the key part here is setting expectations upfront with my manager, my team and my peers. I let them know what they can expect from me. It is very easy to bite off more than I can deliver on in this team. I have to be conscious of the commitments I make and what it will take to deliver on them. I find that my management and team are very supportive. My list of 'someday/maybe' things growing, but they can wait... there is nothing that helps me relax more than spending time with my daughter! I do feel that as a team we need more models of work/life balance. I encourage my team members to define their own balance and live up to it. This is an area the management team will keep focusing on.

Is your daughter old enough to use search?

Believe it or not, she has caught on to searching the web! She has learnt the define: syntax and uses it to find definitions for words. She also asks me the most obscure question followed by a suggestion to look it up on the internet J. Stuff she has found using Live Search - define haunted or what are baby bats called.