How to develop a novice tester?
The testers forum and blogs often have questions: where to start the tester who just chose his path?
On the one hand, there are now many courses in this area, which are conducted on the basis of the portal Software-Testing.Ru, TC Luxoft, EPAM Systems, etc.
On the other hand, novice testers do not always need courses. If you still do not know in which direction to develop, which areas are interesting, what knowledge you would like to receive - then what courses are we talking about? And there is still no comprehensive university education for testers in the CIS ... As a result, many people cannot quickly “join” the profession, find a direction for development and understand “what should be learned and how to get started quickly?”.
Therefore, I have compiled instructions for beginning testers or people who have just chosen this area of ​​activity for themselves, and provided it with a maximum of references so that information does not have to be collected bit by bit. I hope that this guide will help you in your chosen endeavor.
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This item will help you familiarize yourself with the slang of testers, understand the general principles and understand how interesting this industry is for you. To begin with, the book by Roman Savin about testing web projects will be the most understandable and accessible. It is written so easily and cheerfully that the problems “it’s hard to finish reading” will definitely not arise: on the contrary, you will not be able to tear yourself away until you finish reading it. And it will take a little time, 4-6 hours - and you're done!
Alternatively, I can recommend the Testers Bible from Sam Kaner , the worn printed copy of which came into my hands for the first time almost 10 years ago. This book is more than 20 years old, so it can mislead a novice tester by “printing bug reports in triplicate” or by testing console application features. But at the same time, all the key issues of testing are listed in it in a wonderful, accessible form, the topic of communications in testing (which is important, and which no one has yet described better) is touched upon.
Many novice testers are looking for the knowledge that everyone needs. And they begin to study unnecessary terms for anyone, to master non-distributed tools and the like. Do not think out! View the various vacancies in your city. Choose the ones you like the description that motivated you. What knowledge is required in them? Focus on getting only these skills, do not learn anything that no one needs!
Probably, you thought that the next step would be “read a book on the selected tool” or “search for information on the forum”? No matter how!
Knowledge without practice costs nothing, therefore, in learning any new skills, you will need practice. In the worst case, choose tasks that are as close to life as possible and complete them. In the best - find a short side job. On the portal of freelancers you can always find tasks for testing. Honestly admit that you need it for training, and ask for 10 times less than others. Do not be greedy - this is the only way to get real life practice, and do not forget to get feedback!
As an alternative to free lance, if you have good English, consider uTest - this service brings together remote testers around the world.
Choose tasks that will be interesting and difficult enough for you to have the opportunity to learn something new.
In the process of solving problems, you will definitely have difficulties and questions that you can answer on the forum. In addition to solving specific problems, the forum also allows you to be always up to date with innovations, to monitor industry trends. In the books, new topics appear with a delay of several years, to say nothing of the Russian-language books!
The most common forum for testers in the CIS is the Forum Software-Testing.Ru .
If you are good with English (and in testing it is very important!), Then the largest English-speaking forum SQA Forums will be especially useful. On this resource, if you're lucky, such recognized world gurus as Sam Kaner, James Bach, Richard Black and others can answer your questions.
In order not to stand still and continue to grow, you will need to subscribe to the newsletter. Thanks to this regular reminder of interesting news, articles, events and topics on forums and blogs, you will always be aware of the life of testers. Subscribe to the Russian-language newsletter about testing and quality, which leads Victoria Ptitsyna on Subscribe.Ru, here .
Now in all major cities began to appear testers clubs. Thanks to them, you can go to regular free meetings, communicate among specialists, meet, ask questions and get answers. Also, clubs are a great job search opportunity, as they are often visited by test managers.
Communities of Moscow , St. Petersburg , Novosibirsk , Kazan, Kharkov , Dnepropetrovsk and Bishkek already have their sites.
And if your city is not in the list - then just create your own club! And you benefit, and all testers in your city.
Learning is the best way to learn! Each of us solves problems in his own way, finding unique ways. Perhaps it will be your best way, the best? To create a blog, you can use the simple and absolutely free Blogspot engine , and to let other testers know about it, add it to the test blog .
Then, the knowledge you have gained will not become dusty, you will receive useful feedback from experienced testers, structure the knowledge gained and even, perhaps, interest anyone who is looking for employees :)
And most importantly: no cost, only advantages!
Ready?
Then go ahead!
On the one hand, there are now many courses in this area, which are conducted on the basis of the portal Software-Testing.Ru, TC Luxoft, EPAM Systems, etc.
On the other hand, novice testers do not always need courses. If you still do not know in which direction to develop, which areas are interesting, what knowledge you would like to receive - then what courses are we talking about? And there is still no comprehensive university education for testers in the CIS ... As a result, many people cannot quickly “join” the profession, find a direction for development and understand “what should be learned and how to get started quickly?”.
Therefore, I have compiled instructions for beginning testers or people who have just chosen this area of ​​activity for themselves, and provided it with a maximum of references so that information does not have to be collected bit by bit. I hope that this guide will help you in your chosen endeavor.
')
So, 7 steps from the teapot to the tester.
1. Read at least one book on testing
This item will help you familiarize yourself with the slang of testers, understand the general principles and understand how interesting this industry is for you. To begin with, the book by Roman Savin about testing web projects will be the most understandable and accessible. It is written so easily and cheerfully that the problems “it’s hard to finish reading” will definitely not arise: on the contrary, you will not be able to tear yourself away until you finish reading it. And it will take a little time, 4-6 hours - and you're done!
Alternatively, I can recommend the Testers Bible from Sam Kaner , the worn printed copy of which came into my hands for the first time almost 10 years ago. This book is more than 20 years old, so it can mislead a novice tester by “printing bug reports in triplicate” or by testing console application features. But at the same time, all the key issues of testing are listed in it in a wonderful, accessible form, the topic of communications in testing (which is important, and which no one has yet described better) is touched upon.
2. Review vacancies and rate what is most often required from testers
Many novice testers are looking for the knowledge that everyone needs. And they begin to study unnecessary terms for anyone, to master non-distributed tools and the like. Do not think out! View the various vacancies in your city. Choose the ones you like the description that motivated you. What knowledge is required in them? Focus on getting only these skills, do not learn anything that no one needs!
3. Get to practice!
Probably, you thought that the next step would be “read a book on the selected tool” or “search for information on the forum”? No matter how!
Knowledge without practice costs nothing, therefore, in learning any new skills, you will need practice. In the worst case, choose tasks that are as close to life as possible and complete them. In the best - find a short side job. On the portal of freelancers you can always find tasks for testing. Honestly admit that you need it for training, and ask for 10 times less than others. Do not be greedy - this is the only way to get real life practice, and do not forget to get feedback!
As an alternative to free lance, if you have good English, consider uTest - this service brings together remote testers around the world.
Choose tasks that will be interesting and difficult enough for you to have the opportunity to learn something new.
4. Become a regular reader of the testers forum
In the process of solving problems, you will definitely have difficulties and questions that you can answer on the forum. In addition to solving specific problems, the forum also allows you to be always up to date with innovations, to monitor industry trends. In the books, new topics appear with a delay of several years, to say nothing of the Russian-language books!
The most common forum for testers in the CIS is the Forum Software-Testing.Ru .
If you are good with English (and in testing it is very important!), Then the largest English-speaking forum SQA Forums will be especially useful. On this resource, if you're lucky, such recognized world gurus as Sam Kaner, James Bach, Richard Black and others can answer your questions.
5. Sign up for testers newsletter
In order not to stand still and continue to grow, you will need to subscribe to the newsletter. Thanks to this regular reminder of interesting news, articles, events and topics on forums and blogs, you will always be aware of the life of testers. Subscribe to the Russian-language newsletter about testing and quality, which leads Victoria Ptitsyna on Subscribe.Ru, here .
6. Find a club of testers in your city
Now in all major cities began to appear testers clubs. Thanks to them, you can go to regular free meetings, communicate among specialists, meet, ask questions and get answers. Also, clubs are a great job search opportunity, as they are often visited by test managers.
Communities of Moscow , St. Petersburg , Novosibirsk , Kazan, Kharkov , Dnepropetrovsk and Bishkek already have their sites.
And if your city is not in the list - then just create your own club! And you benefit, and all testers in your city.
7. Create your blog and start teaching others what you have already mastered.
Learning is the best way to learn! Each of us solves problems in his own way, finding unique ways. Perhaps it will be your best way, the best? To create a blog, you can use the simple and absolutely free Blogspot engine , and to let other testers know about it, add it to the test blog .
Then, the knowledge you have gained will not become dusty, you will receive useful feedback from experienced testers, structure the knowledge gained and even, perhaps, interest anyone who is looking for employees :)
The results of the 7 steps
- You will get the necessary knowledge and experience.
- Understand industry requirements
- Earn a little bit on utest and / or free-lance
- Tie a lot of useful contacts
- Enjoy your time in clubs and communities.
- Share interesting insights with even more "beginner" testers
And most importantly: no cost, only advantages!
Ready?
Then go ahead!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/111829/
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