SDET: The Challenge of Finding Technical Testers

DevOps Organisations Are Growing

One area where we are seeing large growth at the moment is that of DevOps and Software Development Engineer In Test (SDET), particularly with larger organisations and government departments.

Driving this demand is the desire to breakdown the barrier between software development & IT operations and blend them together so as to build cheaper, quicker and more valuable solutions.

Document Review – 10 Tips & 10 Checks

In testing, as in development in general, we rely on good documentation to help us ensure that we deliver the right product to our end users. These documents may be user stories, requirements, technical designs or any other document that you can rely on to “build It right” and “test it right”. All should all be subject to a critical review.

However, document review is not something most testers are taught and for many, the review will consist of little more than reading the document, pointing out typos and obvious mistakes. They are not aware of the two key elements they should be looking out for which are...

Automation Testing Interview Questions

I was recently asked to help a non-technical Test Manager to draw up a job specification for an Automation Test Engineer with at least one year’s test automation experience. Not too difficult a task as I knew the client fairly well and understood the sort of person they would need but...

The conversation turned to how would this non-technical Test Manager know if the answers given in an interview were: 

• A: right and...
• B: a reflection of the candidate’s true test automation ability

I came up with an approach that I think will work well. More about that in a moment… but first, I will explain about the problem of interview questions.

Kipling, not cakes but 5 W's and H

Do you know the poem that starts?

“I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.”

These six questions can serve you very well when creating user stories. They can be particularly useful if used in a group setting. Even more so if the group has wide representation across the various stakeholder groups. In fact, having input from a mixed group is particularly important if you are looking to get comprehensive user stories that everyone can agree to.

Logical Thinking: 'It's only logical, Captain' 

Being a tester requires a whole mix of skills. Nowadays, it requires as many soft skills as it does technical skills. For example, a tester should not just have the ability to find defects, they should also have the ability to present their findings.

One incredibly important attribute a tester must have and develop is logical thinking or an ability to think logically. 

Test Requirements - When the Answer is more important than the Question

Sometimes, testers are required to think outside the box. Maybe they don’t have test requirements or don’t have sufficient data; or maybe it’s simply a case of unscripted, exploratory testing. Whatever the reason, they are expected to use their testing superpower to interrogate the system and provide some answers…

Applying the 7Ps Framework to Testing in an Agile Environment

If you are looking to find a way to capture the essence of what your testing within an agile project should look like, the 7 Ps approach can work really well. Not only can this approach help you to define the essence of your testing without being overly prescriptive, it has the added benefit that it can be used to involve all stakeholders, either in single or multiple sessions.

Career in Software Testing - How Did You Get Started?

For me, it was a camping holiday and a guy in a field, hooked up to the internet… way back in 1995, but let me ask you…

How did you get into testing?

It’s a question I often ask new team members about their career in software testing. In the old days, many arrived in testing as a result of being a User Tester for new software that their company was rolling out. In more recent years, the answers have been much more focused around having trained in an IT discipline and then choosing to specialise in a test role.

Improving Software Quality - Test Practice Cards

Are you looking to mature the understanding of testing within your organisation, improve software quality or looking for an event for a remote team meeting?

If so, Test Practice Cards might hold the answer!

So, what are they?

Test Practice Cards are a set of digital or physical cards. Each card contains a succinct, pithy sentence with regards to a single aspect of testing. Together, the cards contain the essence of what ‘Good Test Practice’ looks like in your organisation.