The Essential Qualities of an Effective Software Test Consultant

Being involved with the selection days for our prospective SDET Graduates got me thinking about what people expect a career in testing to be and how they can be effective in this space. So, if you are considering moving into testing, what makes an effective Software Test Consultant? Good question! Wish I knew - I might have been one! 

Seriously though, that's not an easy question to answer. Every situation is different. Every client or project throws up different challenges. Testing is so broad with so many disciplines and aspects to it. However, if you are considering a career in it, some fundamentals hold true across the board. We'll try to cover some of them here...

From Graduate to SDET: What You Need to Know

Following on from Tony Simm's recent blog on the challenges of finding technical testers with technical skills, we have asked one of our Graduate SDET Consultants, Joseph Batchelor, to share his experience on this topic. 

Introduction to Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET)

"One area where we are seeing large growth at the moment is that of DevOps and SDET Software Development Engineer, 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. DevOps is still a fairly new phenomenon and this means that there's not a whole load of staff out there with significant experience. That can lead to difficulties with recruiting." - Tony Simms

Becoming an Automation Tester

Last year, I started a new role with nFocus as a Graduate Software Developer Engineer in Test (SDET). I had graduated from the nFocus Academy and this was my first assignment. The role was to be responsible for creating automated tests, undertaking exploratory testing and working in a team of experienced professionals.

Static Analysis Tools: True or False

Not everything that you believe is true. You'll be surprised about the things that you think you know and that you think are true but are, in fact...false.

1: Tins of baked beans

I bet you think that tins of baked beans contain baked beans. To be honest, I wouldn't blame you if you did.  I mean, it's there on the label. There are rules about what you can and can't put on the food labels. However, the truth is that tins of baked beans don't contain baked beans. The beans in cans of baked beans have been stewed, not baked. (Source.)

When should you engage with the testing team on waterfall projects?

I appreciate that most software development these days is done using the 'agile methodology' or a variation thereof. With agile, the testing team is (or at least should be) heavily involved with every sprint.

However, many organisations also deliver other types of projects that don’t have a continuous development path. These are one-and-done projects like bringing in or patching a 3rd party’s software; upgrading or replacing hardware or a whole range of changes that can impact your user base.

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.

Introduction: The Importance of Document Review

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...

Response to sorting my digital weight – an observation into our growing digital weight & the impacts it may bring to our general lifestyle

This is a response to another article written by Asmita Dixit, which I recommend reading first to get a better understanding of the context to this blog post. You can read it here.

A comparison of digital weight & physical weight i.e. spring cleaning

“Digital Age” as a term is commonly understood by many to reflect how we live our lives now but the implication is quite profound when we compare what was before the digital age. It would be quite comical to call the previous age “the physical age” in contrast to now but maybe the importance isn’t in naming an era of human time but what we gained and what we might lose.

The Role of Testing in Process Enhancement

Are you missing something with your testing? Do you know how testing can help drive process improvement as part of a project?

Ok, stop me if you’ve heard this one before, "...well we’ve always done it that way" or ‘"...well, we’ve always done it like that".

If I had even 10p for every time I’d heard either of those from a client, I’d be typing this on a Caribbean beach with Cindy Crawford bringing me half a lager and a complimentary dish of dry roasted nuts! 

How to Prepare for an Automation Testing Interview

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.