Where to get testers? Principles of search and recruitment
Hey.
At the Test Labs 2009 conference in September, guess what year I gave a talk on the topic “Where to get testers, buy or prepare.” It is based on my experience of recruiting people for a tester position. The action takes place in Ukraine, in Kharkov. Kharkiv is a city of students, but there are worse things with good specialists.
If you look at the slidecast, you will see picture graphics based on my observations. In the text below, only a bare theory.
')
I am sure that the same thing, practically word for word, can be transferred to the recruitment of absolutely any IT-specialists.
A great response at the conference caused a story about the training program, which I, while still working in the Knicks, led to students.
Link to the slidecast itself: http://www.slideshare.net/jnechaeva/ss-2239705 , well, the text itself, here it is:
Every test manager from time to time has to hire new people to join his team. Depending on the situation, people may be needed urgently or not urgently, several or one, certain people with a strictly defined circle of skills, or just a good person who can be taught to do what is needed in this project.
I think each of you has come across a situation where it’s impossible to find the right person at the right time for the right money. The reasons for this may be many. Session - and capable students do not go on interviews. Or Google has opened a branch in your city, and all the good specialists are already there, and they cannot be lured away from there either with money, or with the status of a company, or with interesting projects. Or Slava Pankratov entered the market and was recruiting apprentices, and even Google had problems with recruiting :)
We have nowhere to go - people are needed.
Success depends on the company's strategy in recruiting employees, on its flexibility and ability to adapt, as well as on understanding the market situation and comparing it with the needs and capabilities of the company.
How can you recruit people:
- Invite ready professionals with the necessary knowledge;
- Recruit capable guys with no experience in testing and train them not only in the specifics of the project, but also in testing “vzagal”;
- Always have a pool of resources from which you can get the right people at the right time and quickly put them into work;
- Create an external learning system.
Yes, and, of course, it is not right to simply follow the chosen strategy once, regardless of the situation on the market and which specialists, at what time, and at what budget we need .
Method 1. A set of experts with experience in testing:
- We formulate sufficient conditions - the skills, abilities, knowledge, experience that we need from the candidate, and how much we are willing to pay for it;
- Open vacancy;
- Choose the right specialist.
Advantages of the method:
- Such a specialist does not need to be trained in testing: those disciplines, knowledge of which you required of him when applying for a job;
- The experience brought will be useful for the project and the company: it provides an infusion of fresh knowledge and promotes the exchange of experience with already working professionals;
- Gain in time: a new person is enough to teach only the specifics of the project.
You are likely to get a gain in speed and quality of work compared to a specialist without experience .
Cons method:
- The cost of such a specialist: you need to think about whether the gain is justified by the speed of introduction to work and further work, for which you have to pay more;
- Human factor: in case of hiring a specialist on the basis of only his technical skills, without regard to his communicative qualities and the specifics of an already established team, there may be problems with infusing him into your team.
The method of recruiting ready-made specialists justifies itself if you need and immediately (!) A specialist with a certain set of knowledge and skills and you are ready to pay for it .
Method 2. A set of people without experience in testing and training them in production:
- We formulate the necessary knowledge and skills that we need from a future tester: it can be a foreign language, knowledge of the protocols, the ability to administer the environment or something else specific to this project.
- We open a vacancy: it is better to use universities, because the vacancy "tester without experience" on a job site will not lead to anything good.
- Choose a suitable candidate: pay attention to learning and the desire to learn.
Advantages of the method:
- We ourselves teach the children what we need;
- At first, the salary of such an employee is less: it is important to achieve an adequate level of remuneration by the time a person becomes a specialist;
- The desire to learn and the lack of "star": the probability of the situation "I already know everything and I have nothing more to learn" is minimal, provided that you choose the right person;
Here is a clean sheet that you can teach the way you want and what you want. Relatively inexpensive. .
Cons method:
- A large flow of interviews;
- The ability to grow a very narrow specialist;
- The testing of the student requires additional time: such an employee will not enter the project immediately;
- Opportunity to miss with "learner" and capable.
Thus, this method justifies itself, if you can not afford to pay a large salary to a ready-made specialist, if you don’t burn the resource input to the project, that is, you can afford to spend time on its training, if you NEED such guys, clean and flexible . This may depend on the specifics of the project and the specifics of the team. .
Method 3. Creating a pool of testers, where the right person is immediately taken when opening a burning job:
- We predict the expansion of projects quantitatively and qualitatively;
- Slowly, we recruit specialists in advance;
- We introduce them to projects as needed.
Advantages of the method:
- Reducing dependence on market fluctuations;
- Availability of specialists at any time;
- Predictability of specialists in technical skills and human qualities;
- Reducing the risks associated with the departure of employees.
Cons method:
- Expensive: only a large company can afford it;
- The risk of unjustifiable predictions exists: you cannot rely on backup completely, you may not have the right specialist, you may not have the right amount, etc .;
- People can "turn sour": backup should be properly organized, so as not to turn into a bench.
If you are a big enough company and you can afford to always keep people in reserve, if you have a constant and predictable growth of projects and a constant and, I emphasize again, predictable need for people, and you know how to organize this backup so that people do not feel in stock, it suits you. .
Method 4. Organization of backup outside the company - external training system:
- We study the proposal: we look at universities and students;
- We study the demand: we look inward, we understand what kind of specialists we need in the future, what they need to be taught;
- Create a training program;
- We start the program, teach the children, skim the cream, that is, as necessary we invite the guys to work.
That is, it is such an assimilation of everything together. We recruit capable guys, train them at our own expense, at the output we get a pool of ready-made specialists, whom we can always hire to our place of work.
Advantages of the method:
- We train "by ourselves", but quite widely;
- Predictability of children in terms of learning and the desire to work;
- Predictability of children in terms of abilities and aptitudes;
- During the training, the guys become loyal to your company;
Pay attention - these are ready-made specialists! Yes, without experience, but with theoretical knowledge, a wide profile, flexible, we observe them during training, that is, they will not give us surprises like inability to learn.
- Image component: a company organizing its own training system is perceived as a stable, serious company with far-reaching plans;
- Colossal and very useful experience for the company and professionals who are related to this.
Cons method:
- Resource-intensive organization of the process: agreements with universities, development of the program itself, management and support of the learning process;
- Leading such training should be teachers in the soul, and not just technical experts;
- The risk of training for other companies: during the training you need to interest the children in the work in your company;
- The risk of a lack of knowledge of a person in other industries that he needs to work in your company: you can escape here by selecting at the start of the program.
If you can afford it, this is a very good activity, very useful and very interesting. The main thing - to determine the goals and needs.
There is no right answer at all times "it is better and more effective to hire testers." Before you make a decision, where and how we will look for a person, you need to sit down and think: WHY?
What kind of person we need, what time frame, what budget, what should we give our company, and what can we give it, what is the current situation on the labor market and where is the easiest way to meet the right person.
The approach to the recruitment of people is a very important moment in the strategy of any company, because projects are made primarily by people, not technologies. Therefore, on the approach to a set of people need to pay special attention.
At the Test Labs 2009 conference in September, guess what year I gave a talk on the topic “Where to get testers, buy or prepare.” It is based on my experience of recruiting people for a tester position. The action takes place in Ukraine, in Kharkov. Kharkiv is a city of students, but there are worse things with good specialists.
If you look at the slidecast, you will see picture graphics based on my observations. In the text below, only a bare theory.
')
I am sure that the same thing, practically word for word, can be transferred to the recruitment of absolutely any IT-specialists.
A great response at the conference caused a story about the training program, which I, while still working in the Knicks, led to students.
Link to the slidecast itself: http://www.slideshare.net/jnechaeva/ss-2239705 , well, the text itself, here it is:
Every test manager from time to time has to hire new people to join his team. Depending on the situation, people may be needed urgently or not urgently, several or one, certain people with a strictly defined circle of skills, or just a good person who can be taught to do what is needed in this project.
I think each of you has come across a situation where it’s impossible to find the right person at the right time for the right money. The reasons for this may be many. Session - and capable students do not go on interviews. Or Google has opened a branch in your city, and all the good specialists are already there, and they cannot be lured away from there either with money, or with the status of a company, or with interesting projects. Or Slava Pankratov entered the market and was recruiting apprentices, and even Google had problems with recruiting :)
We have nowhere to go - people are needed.
Success depends on the company's strategy in recruiting employees, on its flexibility and ability to adapt, as well as on understanding the market situation and comparing it with the needs and capabilities of the company.
How can you recruit people:
- Invite ready professionals with the necessary knowledge;
- Recruit capable guys with no experience in testing and train them not only in the specifics of the project, but also in testing “vzagal”;
- Always have a pool of resources from which you can get the right people at the right time and quickly put them into work;
- Create an external learning system.
Yes, and, of course, it is not right to simply follow the chosen strategy once, regardless of the situation on the market and which specialists, at what time, and at what budget we need .
Method 1. A set of experts with experience in testing:
- We formulate sufficient conditions - the skills, abilities, knowledge, experience that we need from the candidate, and how much we are willing to pay for it;
- Open vacancy;
- Choose the right specialist.
Advantages of the method:
- Such a specialist does not need to be trained in testing: those disciplines, knowledge of which you required of him when applying for a job;
- The experience brought will be useful for the project and the company: it provides an infusion of fresh knowledge and promotes the exchange of experience with already working professionals;
- Gain in time: a new person is enough to teach only the specifics of the project.
You are likely to get a gain in speed and quality of work compared to a specialist without experience .
Cons method:
- The cost of such a specialist: you need to think about whether the gain is justified by the speed of introduction to work and further work, for which you have to pay more;
- Human factor: in case of hiring a specialist on the basis of only his technical skills, without regard to his communicative qualities and the specifics of an already established team, there may be problems with infusing him into your team.
The method of recruiting ready-made specialists justifies itself if you need and immediately (!) A specialist with a certain set of knowledge and skills and you are ready to pay for it .
Method 2. A set of people without experience in testing and training them in production:
- We formulate the necessary knowledge and skills that we need from a future tester: it can be a foreign language, knowledge of the protocols, the ability to administer the environment or something else specific to this project.
- We open a vacancy: it is better to use universities, because the vacancy "tester without experience" on a job site will not lead to anything good.
- Choose a suitable candidate: pay attention to learning and the desire to learn.
Advantages of the method:
- We ourselves teach the children what we need;
- At first, the salary of such an employee is less: it is important to achieve an adequate level of remuneration by the time a person becomes a specialist;
- The desire to learn and the lack of "star": the probability of the situation "I already know everything and I have nothing more to learn" is minimal, provided that you choose the right person;
Here is a clean sheet that you can teach the way you want and what you want. Relatively inexpensive. .
Cons method:
- A large flow of interviews;
- The ability to grow a very narrow specialist;
- The testing of the student requires additional time: such an employee will not enter the project immediately;
- Opportunity to miss with "learner" and capable.
Thus, this method justifies itself, if you can not afford to pay a large salary to a ready-made specialist, if you don’t burn the resource input to the project, that is, you can afford to spend time on its training, if you NEED such guys, clean and flexible . This may depend on the specifics of the project and the specifics of the team. .
Method 3. Creating a pool of testers, where the right person is immediately taken when opening a burning job:
- We predict the expansion of projects quantitatively and qualitatively;
- Slowly, we recruit specialists in advance;
- We introduce them to projects as needed.
Advantages of the method:
- Reducing dependence on market fluctuations;
- Availability of specialists at any time;
- Predictability of specialists in technical skills and human qualities;
- Reducing the risks associated with the departure of employees.
Cons method:
- Expensive: only a large company can afford it;
- The risk of unjustifiable predictions exists: you cannot rely on backup completely, you may not have the right specialist, you may not have the right amount, etc .;
- People can "turn sour": backup should be properly organized, so as not to turn into a bench.
If you are a big enough company and you can afford to always keep people in reserve, if you have a constant and predictable growth of projects and a constant and, I emphasize again, predictable need for people, and you know how to organize this backup so that people do not feel in stock, it suits you. .
Method 4. Organization of backup outside the company - external training system:
- We study the proposal: we look at universities and students;
- We study the demand: we look inward, we understand what kind of specialists we need in the future, what they need to be taught;
- Create a training program;
- We start the program, teach the children, skim the cream, that is, as necessary we invite the guys to work.
That is, it is such an assimilation of everything together. We recruit capable guys, train them at our own expense, at the output we get a pool of ready-made specialists, whom we can always hire to our place of work.
Advantages of the method:
- We train "by ourselves", but quite widely;
- Predictability of children in terms of learning and the desire to work;
- Predictability of children in terms of abilities and aptitudes;
- During the training, the guys become loyal to your company;
Pay attention - these are ready-made specialists! Yes, without experience, but with theoretical knowledge, a wide profile, flexible, we observe them during training, that is, they will not give us surprises like inability to learn.
- Image component: a company organizing its own training system is perceived as a stable, serious company with far-reaching plans;
- Colossal and very useful experience for the company and professionals who are related to this.
Cons method:
- Resource-intensive organization of the process: agreements with universities, development of the program itself, management and support of the learning process;
- Leading such training should be teachers in the soul, and not just technical experts;
- The risk of training for other companies: during the training you need to interest the children in the work in your company;
- The risk of a lack of knowledge of a person in other industries that he needs to work in your company: you can escape here by selecting at the start of the program.
If you can afford it, this is a very good activity, very useful and very interesting. The main thing - to determine the goals and needs.
There is no right answer at all times "it is better and more effective to hire testers." Before you make a decision, where and how we will look for a person, you need to sit down and think: WHY?
What kind of person we need, what time frame, what budget, what should we give our company, and what can we give it, what is the current situation on the labor market and where is the easiest way to meet the right person.
The approach to the recruitment of people is a very important moment in the strategy of any company, because projects are made primarily by people, not technologies. Therefore, on the approach to a set of people need to pay special attention.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/81681/
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