Comments for QA Intelligence - a QABlog

Comment on Stop being a NON-Technical Tester! by Dmusil

Dmusil — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:13:00 +0000

Yes, as a QA professional you should understand a lot. Before i became a tester, I was a programmer and I should definitely say, it is helpful in my job.
And someties we, testers, should write scripts for automated testing or load testing. Not everything can be tested by clicking the GUI.
So, you are right: “get rid of non-technical tester in YOU!” (please, do not make it via crash test or stress test :c) )

Comment on 10 reasons why You are NOT a Professional Tester! — Part 1 by Ajay Balamurugadas

Ajay Balamurugadas — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:25:00 +0000

A must read for every tester

Comment on 10 reasons why You are NOT a Professional Tester! — Part 1 by Bill Schlesinger

Bill Schlesinger — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:17:00 +0000

I have had these thoughts for years but did not have the ability to put them into words.
Thanks Joel, Great job. I have forwarded your link to my bosses. I ma retired now after 36 years of testing at Motorola

Comment on Stop being a NON-Technical Tester! by Rene Pally

Rene Pally — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:46:00 +0000

Hi all, I agree with this topic if the tester is not technical one, how he can determine if a process just hang or deadlocked or CPU hog is there? A technical tester must have strong automation skills but hard bug analysis too. How can he determine if the application crashed by out of memory or GDI leak for example? This is why top software companies hires very technical people.

Comment on Stop being a NON-Technical Tester! by Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:34:00 +0000

Yes, this is the point, we need to do our work with as much detail as possible in order to provide higher value to the process.

Thanks!

-joel

Comment on 10 reasons why You are NOT a Professional Tester! — Part 2 by Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:31:00 +0000

Nice point!

I certainly agree.

Comment on 10 reasons why You are NOT a Professional Tester! — Part 2 by Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Hey Greg,

I have worked on places that sound like the one you described above, but as soon as I realized this was the “respect, appreciation, and understanding” of my job for them I started looking for a new place to work. I am sure there are testers who will be happy enough to work on a place like this, but I am certainly not one of them.

I don’t think this is the majority of the places, btw, since I keep meeting people and working with companies where they DO UNDERSTAND the place and the value of the QA team.

With regards to the vicious circle of who needs to respect who…? Anyone can start, but it will be easier and wiser if we start ourselves. I cannot force you to see my point of view, but my experience is that it works. You need to invest a lot of efforts but it is worth it.

My questions is if you believe you can make the change and show the value? If you can’t then I guess this is the place to start looking for issues.

In any case, thanks for the different point of view. It helps to show the different ways in which we can see the same issue.

-joel

Comment on Stop being a NON-Technical Tester! by RaghavendarreddyP

RaghavendarreddyP — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:02:00 +0000

I am with the topic, where Tester must be fully loaded with technical strong, then they can understand the application well, and they can give the value adding to the application or product, many people may think like just validate the things as the role, may be that fill there job profile, As test engineer he or she must be well with all area,update there skills days by day, If any issue find in the application, be report with the details information, that is also add value to the application.

Comment on 10 reasons why You are NOT a Professional Tester! — Part 2 by Greg T

Greg T — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:29:00 +0000

I agree with some of the blog yet I disagree with other
parts. What you are trying to saying is that the testers need to respect
themselves before the industry will respect the testers. (correct me if I am
wrong) I strongly disagree. I think the
industry as well as the testers themselves need to grow that respect together
not one first then the other. I agree we
need to raise ideas, improve ourselves, point out issues and risks, but realistically
how many times have those fallen to deaf ears? Do they implement what you ask for? Do they listen that there are potential risks
if we do not delay the release? Who
are these “they” you ask? I am talking
about upper level managers, programmers, product managers, VPs of engineering. Everyone talks the talk when they say quality
is important but at the end of the day, no one will walk the walk to do
something about it and when the customer raises hell, the blame falls squarely
on the shoulders of the testers/QA dept despite the warnings and red flags
raised earlier. Once the product is release it is much like the home team wins,
fans like to take ownership by saying “we won” but when the home team loses,
fans disavows the ownership by saying “they lost” or “they screwed up”. And once it is proven that QA isn’t the sole
group to be blamed, it becomes not much of a big deal and let’s figure it out
together let’s be friends type of
atmosphere. And guess what? We start the
same viscous cycle all over again ignoring what we learned or we partially
implement something hoping things will not happen again. And there lies the
root of why there is a high turnover in QA/testers: frustration and disillusion.

I hear what you are saying: being humble, learn new things,
learn automation, improving self, etc. Sure the testers need to rise up to the
occasion but it is the industry on the whole that has to change as well. Yes,
some organizations do regard their testers with respect, but honestly has any
organization regard testers the same level to the programmers? Testers are not
paid as the same as programmers. Testing
is outsourced first before development gets outsourced. Testers are laid off first when an
organization has to downsize and last to hire when an organization grows. I do not mean to sound like a disgruntled
tester but time after time I have seen, I have heard, and I have experienced
this. To get responses like these: There
is no budget to send you get more education. Automation is more of programmer’s job not a
tester. Where’s the incentive to improve? Where’s the incentive to learn QA
automation? Testers are treated like a red-headed
stepchild. And if you complain too loudly, you are branded as not being a team
player and promptly dismissed where they can outsource or hire brand new
college graduate at a lower pay.

Comment on Stop being a NON-Technical Tester! by Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 06:28:00 +0000

Totally agree.

I think that the challenges of shorter and more intensive cycles are one of the catalysts making testing a more technical profession.

Thanks for bringing this up!

-joel