Nowadays a lot of people who pass out of engineering and science colleges are interested in taking Software Testing as their career.
When I passed out of my college, IT started to boom back in India, and most of the fresh graduates whom I interacted with didn’t even know that there were jobs or careers in software testing.
I was offered a job as a tester in a startup for 7440 rupees a month when compared to fresh developers (who were picked from better institutes from where I graduated) being paid 34,500 rupees a month.
Today there isn’t such a huge difference between what testers and developers get paid and I consider this generation to be luckier than my generation without ignoring the idea that my generation might have been luckier than its previous one.
When I started my career as a Software Tester, I didn’t find any training center, that could coach me on Software Testing, and I lacked guidance too. I didn’t know about Google and its power of search.
In the organization which I worked for, there existed a Senior Software Tester, not by designation or for the technical competence but just that he joined that organization 6 months before I did. He happened to coach me. I blindly believed all that he said about testing. I believed him and never questioned him at all.
By believing whatever he said, I think I was becoming dumb. I looked for someone who could coach me and found two great people, one a Developer and another a Software Architect in the organization whose ideas were much more impressive than that senior software tester.
The duos were more open to questions from me when compared to the so-called Senior Software Tester. When I questioned all things that I heard from the Senior Software Tester, I found that most of what the senior tester said were highly idiotic.
I realized that my quest in life was to see myself doing good or great testing in the future. To do that, I must learn, I must learn, I must learn, I must practice, I must practice, I must practice…
What do I learn? What should I practice?
When I asked for information about software testing, some of my friends sent me few materials that were nothing more than – Types of Testing, techniques of testing, different types of documentation, a process of testing and development.
A question that I asked myself, changed my life and you as well might wish to know what that question is: Is there something beyond what all these people think Software Testing is which I can learn?
Now that leads to more questions. If it exists, where does it exist? Who has the information? How can I find it?
That led me to discover James Bach, one of the world’s leading expert testers. His career graph is one of the most impressive career graphs that I have seen to date. He is a school drop-out at the 8th standard and yet became the youngest Test Manager in the world at the age of 20 at Apple Computers.
He even helped Microsoft with Test Specification and was an expert witness in court cases that involved investigations of the computer world.
He has traveled to most of the countries where software testing is being done and has carried out consulting assignments over there. He is a kind of tester who can make most testers in the world feel ashamed of their lack of skills, knowledge and maybe money. This reminds me to say that he has made lots of money.
I thought this man must have a secret with him that other Software Testers don’t know and I wanted to learn that. I found that James Bach is very similar to Jackie Chan as he considers skilled testing to be a mental martial art.
Sorry, James doesn’t have any testing certification that you know of and he thinks certification doesn’t help, so don’t try to think of certification when you are thinking of James Bach, the great tester and guru of Software Testing.
I had to pass through several mental martial arts tests before I became his full-time student. Let me not take you through the entire story but to let you know that I reached a stage where he hired me to represent his company in India.
I don’t like comparing myself with others and run a rat race but some of my friends who were compared with me were very disappointed as I progressed. I traveled around the world speaking and coaching at international conferences. I am featured as an expert tester sometimes (which I acknowledge, I am not) in other countries. I have a fan following for my blog.
I am an independent consultant, working on different projects in a day and for different clients from different parts of the world. I coach, consult, speak, write, think, test, manage and learn Software Testing and problem-solving.
I was interviewed by CNBC as they considered me a problem-solving expert and wrote a column for them as an Expert problem solver. I was invited to test for an organization’s products and services division with about three years of working as a Software Tester. I have tested over a hundred and twenty-three products, so far.
Reputation means more money but if you do things just to gain reputation, then you won’t get it. Reputation is a little tricky. People think it is about doing things that other people like but I think it is about other people liking what you are doing.
Don’t worry about too many “I”, I have written in this article, and for the moment, I think if you have so many “I” to say or probably even more, in testing that makes people approach you for consultation, and you would be making more money than you ever imagined you would make as a tester.
I want to see Indian testers make more money than what they have been making. That’s precisely why I am writing this article for you all.
To start the journey, apply this heuristic: Question everything that – you hear, you see, you feel, you want to see, you want to hear, you want to feel, you don’t want to hear, you don’t want to feel and other things you think you missed.
How to apply this heuristic?
Let me give you an example to get you started: There is a common myth (which means something is fundamentally wrong but people blindly believe it) by which most testers to my knowledge in India live: Testing is done to improve Quality
- Who said the above statement?
- Why should I believe it?
- By having the above idea that testing improves quality, can any tester on Earth say how much quality he has improved?
- If a tester can’t say that then there is something wrong with the fundamental behind it.
- Improve what quality?
- What is Quality?
- Who defines what Quality is?
- Does a tester define what Quality means?
- If I go to a hotel and the hotel owner says he serves quality food and I as a customer think the quality is not good, whose view is important?
- How can merely finding bugs improve quality?
- So, if a tester reports 5000 bugs and the developer quits the organization the same day, has the quality improved?
- So, if a tester finds 10000 bugs and doesn’t report them, has the quality improved?
- In the above case, testing did happen, and hence did the quality improve?
- If I was a tester reporting 50 Bugs, and the developer in the context of fixing bugs introduced 100 more bugs, has the quality improved?
- Why don’t all other testers understand the fundamentals that it is a developer who can improve the quality?
- As a tester, isn’t my job to find information about quality rather than trying to think of improving the quality?
- Oh my God! I have been misguided all this while. So what’s testing then?
- Isn’t the above question a good question?
- Didn’t I learn from this that many people around us are fooling and that is what is stopping me from becoming someone like James Bach?
- Do I want to be fooled?
- Should I allow people, bugs, documents to fool me?
About the Author: This is a guest article from Pradeep Soundararajan. He is a Consulting Tester, Satisfice Inc & Software Testing Magician. Reach out to him on his blog Tester tested
Feel free to share your comments/suggestions below.
I think Mr. Pradeep Soundararajan is struggling a little bit with his big EGO! The article wasn’t about “how to help testes to become rich” but just to flaunt. If you didn’t pay attention, it’s all about me, me me… This article wasn’t anyhow related about practical advices, it’s all about the one Man’s Dream and preaching himself up.
Things don’t work this way in the real world my dear friends…
@Life99joy,
I think Mr. Pradeep Soundararajan is struggling a little bit with his big EGO!
Let’s assume for the moment I have a Big Ego as you mentioned. Whose problem is it?
If you didn’t pay attention, it’s all about me, me me…This article wasn’t anyhow related about practical advices, it’s all about the one Man’s Dream and preaching himself up.
How credible a person you are in the industry?
What have you done for the benefit of the software testing community?
Didn’t you read the demonstration of questioning that in my opinion the most helpful part for anyone in this article?
You are so bold to have put up your name as “life99joy” and those believing your words, deserve it.
Things don’t work this way in the real world my dear friends…
Oh, you explored the world?
People like me are aliens, you are right.
Life99Joy (i wish i could have addressed you by your name),
It’s just enough if we have got the essence of the article. I see the article as his viewpoint (having been there done that … i hope you checked his blog) on how one can question, analyze and not blindly follow the so called common wisdom.
Becoming richest tester does not just mean. RICH can be knowledge, RICH can be skill, RICH can be wisdom, RICH can be attitude. If one is RICH in these other worldly riches will definitely follow.
I would like to understand what did you mean by this will not work in the real world. Can you please enlighten?
Looks like This sound a rajan is a real egoistic dude….
we are expecting some good advice from you dude……
Please dont spoil it…….
Hi Pradeep,
Nice article.
It makes sense to question everything.
Horses can be led to the water, but it cannot be forced to drink the water.
Similarly, unless people apply, practice any technique, they cannot condemn/appreciate it.
As I apply ‘questioning’ in my day to day testing and achieve excellent results most of the time, I appreciate your effort of highlighting the importance of ‘QUESTIONING’.
Regards,
Ajay Balamurugadas
@Gem
Hi Gem,
Have you applied the technique of ‘Questioning’ before criticizing this idea?
-Ajay Balamurugadas
http://www.enjoytesting.blogspot.com
Hello Sir,
Its a good thing to share your experience.Actually the title u mentioned and the summary below,don’t u think it is going away a little bit.I will be very keen if u give some tips on the above title u mentioned.What things we have to do to become a good tester.I also think today certifications matter the most especially in Testing domain.Also if we do good job money automatically comes,that’s what i think.
@Amit,
What do you get by reading the questioning that is happening towards the end of the article?
@Amit,
Hi Amit,
What do you mean by ‘good’ job?
It differs from context to context.
See, Pradeep has mentioned one of the skills/techniques to become a good tester and earn lots of money.
It’s upto us to imbibe the lessons and apply.
>> I also think today certifications matter the most especially in Testing domain.
It varies from company to company.
What if a tester has a certification but cannot test better than a tester who has no certification?
Feel free to comment back.
Regards,
Ajay Balamurugadas
http://www.enjoytesting.blogspot.com
@Gem,
Sorry, I don’t offer good advice. Most of what I advice is bad. Now that you are good, you may not want to take what I advice.
@ Pradeep.
Yes, i read the questioning.I know that it is very important for us to understand the application right from the requirement phase.Whatever doubts we have we should ask immediately.
Hi Pradeep, This is greatest and most inspiring article posted ever on the site. hope you will check the junk mail of gmail account. Thanks for sharing the Information
@Ajay
“Good Job”,I mean that doing our job perfectly,trying to avoid mistakes as far as possible.
Also i think that Experience matters the most,but if u have certificate along with some experience then u have a strong hand compare to others.
This article is so far very inspireing one, kudos to Pradeep.. for compiling this for us. I really liked it specially “I must learn.. I must learn, I must practice…”.
Pradeep,
I feel most “Testers” are happy because they get paid for following the process. The techniques you provide might help improve the quality of the information “Testers” provide their stake holder. But who cares?
Why should any “tester” be worried about the “stake holder” – it’s my project manager who does the appraisal – let’s be good to him. – because that’s easy money.
Most “Testers” are happy to follow a process, which might promise them a bug free product or help them achieve “complete testing”.
So please help most “Testers” understand/clear certifications, interviews, process, best practices, etc anything related not to “Testing”, – because that’s easy money.
-Sharath.B
And as far as Certification is concerned.. it can’t guarntee you to become a good tester. It will just add a value to your resume to get a job.. but I think experience makes a good tester rather than certification.
The topic was very good & convincing too.
@Prashant,
And as far as Certification is concerned.. it can’t guarntee you to become a good tester. It will just add a value to your resume to get a job.. but I think experience makes a good tester rather than certification.
Why is it something that doesn’t make a tester good adding value to resume?
Is there no one who said, hey but you never asked me test before you certified me. Why would I want to be certified by those who don’t test me for my ability to test?
I just started my career as a software tester. I ahd one and half years of experience as a manual tester. How should i plan my career in testing going forward?
Sorry DUDE
The above article is beyond my thought. I simply know one thing that testing is a varied field and it requires lot of research. Keeping process intact, you should act like an end user. No body is perfect in testing. Its a matter of fact that some people work in organisation where process are followed and become good tester and the one who does not follow keep delving for the right process as a result average tester.
cheers
JAI
@Kishore,
The above article is beyond my thought.
I did not understand your above statement.
What does it mean?
Could you please clarify?
-Ajay Balamurugadas
@Jai,
If process can make testing happen better then why give money, or probably more money for those who follow?
Followers are usually paid less. Creators are paid more. Create ( not process ) – thoughts that leads to better thinking and testing.
No body is perfect in testing
I like the above statement. Nobody can ever be perfect and yet a lot of people believe in best practices and “complete testing” and “100% coverage”. I wonder if they ever understood what a “human” is all about.
A human is fallible ( which means he fails ) and how can anything that humans create not fail.
Process ensures – whether dumb or intelligent, I will have people to do tasks to an extent that I can replace them. If I do tasks that can be easily replaceable by anyone, I am not doing a great job and hence I don’t need to be paid a lot.
@Ajay
I failed to understand writer’s state of mind. But somewhere in his article writer has pointed out competencies of a tester. So i commented in that context.
@ Kishore,
Remember, process does not make a good tester.
If it did, there would be brilliant testers in all the CMMxx companies and other such certified companies.
Human skills are more important than adhering/following a process.
Regards,
Ajay Balamurugadas
@pradeep, Ajay
Exactly, to some extent you are right and I do agree with it.
But,I do stress on testing basics, process which is a basic part of software testing. And if basics are not clear its like finding sheep in deep shallow water. But it doesn’t mean that you follow the routine task. Testing is about bringing out innovative ideas to find bugs.
But again it is inevitable to ignore process.
Regards
JAI
@Jai,
Can you give an example of process which cannot be ignored?
-Ajay Balamurugadas
@Jai,
But again it is inevitable to ignore process.
When you talk about process, if you mean “something” that “some humans” create for others to “follow” for achieving good results then I think “Its humans – who create for others to follow”.
Everything we do is a process. What is the process of coming early to office?
Getting up early.
Getting refreshed as soon as we get up from bed.
Getting a nice breakfast.
Getting ourselves to office before the traffic snarls.
Getting ourselves to our seat.
Now, those are the kind of processes that organizations follow and yet don’t achieve results.
Exactly, to some extent you are right and I do agree with it.
To what extent?
Testing is about bringing out innovative ideas to find bugs.
Innovation can happen when humans who perform testing, be it the so called manual or automation, human thinking skills like:
Questioning
Brainstorming
Mental Modeling
Logical Thinking
Communication – Reading, Writing, Speaking
Lateral Thinking
Pattern Recognition
Learning
Contextual thinking
Critiquing ( Self, too )
Analysis
Cognition
Managing Bias
Learning to learn
Unlearning
Knowledge of human limitations, ( i.e for ex: Inattentional Blindness )
Observation
Hearing
etc
that really matters.
Its sheer waste of time, having capabilities to do the task right without any defined process. The team will be scattered resuling over budget and overschedue output.
@Kishore ( Jai )
If they are capable and know their mission ( is to find information about quality such as bugs ) do you think they need a process that says do this and then do that?
So, would Sachin Tendulkar need to know what he has to do the next over or his skills decide it?
@Kishore
Suppose you are my customer.
If I give you a product to your satisfaction without following any process, will you be satisfied or if I give you a product which you are not satisfied but adhered to the process, which one would you go for?
I’m not against process, I’m against adhering to process(only) without meeting the mission.
-Ajay Balamurugadas
Yes, No matter how skilled a person is ? If he does not use his skills in right direction, whats the use?
Tendulkar is a skiled player no doubt provided he uses it properly. Despite of having skills if he fails to read the game and current condition. He surely going to loose his game.
@Ajay
I will be satisfied with my right product. But suppose if in future i requested you to deliver similar projects to me, will u be able to do that. Since you have not followed any process, you won’t be having documents to follow. Don’t u think it is a bad practice?
@Kishore ( Jai )
I will be satisfied with my right product. But suppose if in future i requested you to deliver similar projects to me, will u be able to do that. Since you have not followed any process, you won’t be having documents to follow. Don’t u think it is a bad practice?
If Ajay delivers you a good product, it means, he has had skills or has learned ways to do it. Irrespective of whether he has followed process or not, he is doing it and that’s what customers want.
Microsoft and Google do not follow CMM or Six Sigma or ISO for that matter. They rely on hiring people who are highly skilled and also pay them more than any other organization that follows them.
So, why do you think these companies don’t follow those?
If you didn’t know, go to Microsoft or Google website and you won’t discover CMM, ISO and or Six Sigma.
Are you really learning or still reluctant to change your opinion?
Are you really learning or still reluctant to change your opinion?
Yeah, I am not inclined to your opinion.
So you mean rest of the companies are wasting their resources on maintaining and following such processes.
Companies like HCL, INFOSYS, EDS,CSC etc are just wasting their resources and time in following such process.
I just started my career as a software tester. I ahd one and half years of experience as a manual tester. How should i plan my career in testing going forward?
I think the summary of this article can be in below 4 sentences:
“To start in the journey, apply this heuristic: Question everything that – you hear, you see, you feel, you want to see, you want to hear, you want to feel, you don’t want to hear, you don’t want to feel and other things you think you missed.”
Title is totally different from the actual topic discussed.
@Pradeep
Just to make it clear – I was referring to the name of the article – “Money Making Software Career…” Now that’s just not a real life, or some kind of Cinderella story…
How many testers in India can make it BIG??? At the most you’ll get Sr. QA title and maybe satisfying salary. Only being in Management position you may get a break and actually consider your carrier successful. Doing a good job testing software, thinking outside the box, and ect… simply NOT a Money making and that’s my friend a Real Life.
To regards of my name – life99joy… I take everything from life what it gives me and enjoy every bit of it…
You may call it Bald or whatever you’re pleased…
@Renuka,
Title is totally different from the actual topic discussed.
The trick is the that testers who question plus those who have other skills that I mentioned in one of the comments here has been helping testers whom I respect make lots of money. Secret can’t be that open unless you ask the right questions to unlock it.
Hi to all Software Testers.My opinion is every month we may start a discussion regarding software testing and we may just avoid personal conflicts or fame
Hi Pradeep,
You hav shared ur experience with others, Nice to read…….
hi Pradeep,
You shared ur experience With us , very intersting , Nice article
Thanks
Manj Upadhyay
Hi friends
what are the uses of the scripting windows when we use in testing (purpose of the scripting windows )
and Data table integration and data driven test give some explanation and some examples
Hi Pradeep,
First of all I would like to give you congrats for this beautiful written article.This article gives inspires to those who are willing to adopt testing as their career.
No doubt the testing has become a vast career option But I just want to Ask you, For how much time we are safe in this field.?
One More thing, Is the Tester should have a programming knowledge in which the project has been written(To whom he is going testing).
Regards,
Partap singh
Hi Pradeep,
This article is good. I like your socrates approach of teaching things. Waiting for your next article..Hopefully things will get more clear..
The above comment by Sachin Wagh is geniunely mendacious…..the resaon behind this is that, the above articlle is not just good but the best its superlatively correct among the others that i have read…..
Hopefully, waiting to get some interesting articles like this !
Thanku for the information….
How to remove email id from this article? I donot want to follow comments on such articles. Is there any way out to remove email id?
Regards
@life99joy
I sympathize with you!! It’s not your fault that you felt that the great Mr.Poundararajan who wrote this article has an ego which can challenge even the Himalayas!
Mr.Pounadararajan just “pounds” away the confrontation!
For him we small time testers are nothing but villagers wearing a flower on the ear…
And Oh! Mr.Poundararajan here like to speak with his fake American accent .. and likes to flaunt it too!
@Kishore
No wonder you dont wanna be a part of it anymore!
Take a chill pill pounder … diffuse your ego a little bit; and for God’s sake drop the fake accent!
Hi Sir,
It was extremely interesting the way you narrated your journey in the software testing industry. I have started my carrier and hope to follow your footpaths. My quest is and has been to explore and ask “Why,Where,How,What,Which”. I call it W2W -> Will 2 Win.
I have started my own services entity called FOCUS Testing (FIST)
http://www.focustesting.com
I hope to follow your footpath to glory.
Thanks for your contribution.
Mr .Pradeep Soundarrajan ,
I can understand that we should question everything that comes across us.I can do that .But who is there to give me answer for those questions.Will you be with be All time to answer those.Then there will one point of time where i end up with only questions.There comes frustration if u face such answerless questions.So to avoid that you need not question everything but just get satisfied with available answers and explore only if you are not satisfied with the Given answer.
Poundararajan
“Take a chill pill pounder … diffuse your ego a little bit; and for God’s sake drop the fake accent!”
I don’t think I need your advise. Kindly stop advising and comment sincerely without taking personal.
I agree with Mr.Sathesh. Most of the time, our questions go unanswered. Developers tend to ignore or slip away from our questions. Superiors just don’t have the time or patience to answer us. If we search the net for answers, we end up losing the little time given to test the application.
Most of the testing goes on in assumptions that we make by exploring the application. When we end up with a report, we get an answer that most of the bugs are invalid and the client wants it to be as it is. Where’s the end to this dilemma?
Hi Pradeep,
U r really good and this article is great.
it is a motivation for me
pls do not go by the harsh words written by other people in this blog to intimidate u
U r great
hi every1, i read all of your blogs..i think ..all we are getting away from the topic of testing…every1 is having his/her own expereince of life in this field…ths good we shoud share ..even i am happy abt u all for experiences….but it look bit sad that…Mr. Pradeep or none of u have replied a simple questioned mentioend
by pbk that he tht he has started his career as a software tester with one and half years of experience as a manual tester. How should he plan my career in testing going forward?
this is a general question a tested always have…level of exp. could be different….so i would like to ask to Mr. Pradeep and u all of experts of testing to do what ..to get beyond in this field…!!!! how an individual should get growth in this field and earn and get rich ..!??? thnks
@Sudhanshu,
What they should do in their career should be guided by what they want to do. Why should someone else suggest that?
PBK asked how to plan his career. Is he going to ask in any forum, whom should I marry and how to live my married life?
When PBK, you, me and other dumb testers don’t want others to decide whom we should marry and stay with for a lifetime — why should we allow someone whom we don’t know much to decide what path we should take.
If you look at North American mindset and some successful people in India – they have always worked and done things that they would enjoy and not what others thought they would enjoy.
If a man is not successful, then his basics cannot be strong. No unsuccessful man is bothered to re-look at basics.
For instance some great minds who shouted against me after reading this post is crying foul. Shouldn’t they be happy that a fellow Indian tester is making name. If I have not made it, let me appreciate it?
or
A fellow Indian tester has something to say which I discover to be non obvious ways to get to the place where I wanted to get, let me think about it carefully.
I just want to revisit this post after a couple of years or so to see if all those who cried foul are great minds of testing. One who is more appreciative of counter ideas are likely to make it big in testing as testing involves learning a lot of counter ideas.
I want to thank all those who cried foul because it is because of those people I am rich today. I am rich because after employers and customers have seen such mindset and they see someone with little better thinking – they want to ensure they pay me a lot to retain me.
Thank you folks!
hey.ur article is to gudd…to kuch kamm ka bhi likhk dete to its gud..
Hello
I want to know the job openings in testing in the present market please help me to get through.
The articles are realing great!
Hey Pradeep,
Article was thought provoking.
I have been a manual tester for the past 1.5 years now. Your article has inspired me to think and act independently rather than listening to what other testers say/do.
Thanks,
Alka
Really good!!!!…..
Very well guys, you are best!!!!1
hi all,
I have 10 months of experience in testing , i have helped a lot to find the missing links and given many suggestion to improve the application.
But still i feel that i am not being appreciated to an extent i deserved as i could make it out through the appraisal. Can u any one guide me to improve my self.
@Pradeep…
Appreciate your effort to write the article and moer specifically answer.reply to others. However I don’t take all the contents as it is…I am going to take the points what is going to make me enjoy…Keep writing..
Hi Pradeep,
First let me tell you that “the article brought back the certain amount of Nostalgia” but there are a few questions which i would like to ask you.
“Should I allow people, bugs, documents to fool me?” –
What should we do for certain things which are above us?
Hi all,
Where we have to use c# for testing? Please let me know. Thanks in advance.
Any body know about Testing Certification?
Online examinaton is there or not?
Why there is so much discussion on this topic???
Answer:- Article title ‘Money making, software testing career and secrets of a richest tester’ is misleading, content is not matching with the title (it’s a bug -:)) Please go to the depth of any topic, be simple and concise if you want to keep such a attractive title for your experiences.
@ Tester and others,
Article title ‘Money making, software testing career and secrets of a richest tester’ is misleading, content is not matching with the title (it’s a bug -:))
If the secrets of money making in testing is as simple as a+b the whole square is equal to a square + b square + 2 ab then everyone would have become rich by now.
As it is complex and tricky to figure out the message and deduce our own formula, not everyone have been able to do it.
If you are really interested in becoming a rich tester then I would prefer you become the 1% who understands this article. If you were God, would you create a straight forward way to success for humans?
If you do that then people will enjoy failure more than success and call failure as success and make you fail with your intentions in seeing them succeed. Gotcha?
If you were God, would you create a straight forward way to success for humans?
So you think your god or something ? 50% of the article makes sense to me regarding the testing, I appreciate that…rest of the stuff about u blowing your own victory need not be shown here !!
Nice…
@ kishore
The advise was for the great Mr.Pradeep Soundararajan [Poundararajan].
Hi Everybody,
I am working as a software Tester. My salary is not enough . Is there is any way to earn money extra from my salary.
can i get any sepearate software to test with in a period to earn money.
Can anyone have any suggestion on this
Hello folks,
Wow, from the original article to very insightful ideas from experienced folk. Nice to see. To address “what is quality?” let me first say….It is what the customer believes to be quality. The customer being your boss then his/her customer’s. The statement that you can’t please everyone must apply. Secondly, quality is changed and therefore usually improved. If nothing is done then it is obvious the quality of a product is what it is. Only through testing and developmental changes do we realize there is a need for more change and testing. This is usually quite cyclical but improvement occurs. Overall perception of the quality of a product changes over time with use and more individuals. Only metrics can prove this in every case. I have sent out 16+ software’s to about 800,000 users under 5 different companies. You know what? Quality has to be improved in order to “keep” your customer base as well as grow it. That’s it, really. No matter how it is achieved albeit backwards means or questionable development, it has to be addressed. Also, YES, get over the EGO, leave it at the door and you’ll work better with all groups and get more accomplished over time. And also, you WILL get more fixes into a application because they’ll respect you more. It’s a balance…over and out.
shut this pseudo-intellectual stuff up.
at the end of the day, you’re still a tester. take it easy ,leave the kids alone.
hi pradeep i read all statement u written but i dont clear the title what specific has been done for a practice n u use the word i want 2 learn n i want 2 practice,so can u give me detail what type of practice i want 2 do in my day 2 day life i m new n searching for new job plz guide me
thankuu
Hello Pradeep,
you are thinking that ur a god and u r the person to reach this place.Many peoples are there who got this palce already.Ofcource what u hv said on Testing is More then 50% is ok, but rest of the article is not necessary to say others. it is upto u.Any how the article is nice.
Hello Soundarajan,
I have 4 years of experience in s/w testing.according to me this article have a high severity defect.no body will fix it.ofcource u will.
Nice Article. Nice … Comments…!
Hello Soundarajan,
I have just 7 month experience yet i have confidence that you way is totally wrong about software testing.
May be confuse about some your khowlege.
After applying all the Heuristics and questioning logic…blah…blah…blah….I have come to a conclusion that this guy Pradeep Soundarajan is a big looser, who has made money only through stupid hypes and publicity throughout his blogs
Hi,
This is Nitin here..
I work in software MNC and have strong Experince of 5 years in Manual Testing & Automation.
I run Tution classes for those who are looking for JObs in Software Testing at a very cheap/reasonable rate.its like in very less amount of money u get huge experince about realtime s/w testing STufss which enables you to fetch a job in max of 2-3 months.its not only coaching but a complete guidance till you get the Job.Follow the steps shown by me and you will be in a software MNC soon.
during course you will be working with me in my project.
Rest of the details we can talk face to face or on phone.
Feel free to contact me @9980213597
Regards
Nitin
9980213597
bangalore
Hi Soundarajan,
I want some information related to do sometging extra things apart from job.
What can I do for this – Do you suggest anything
1. External Fauclty – etc… something like this.
Pls suggest something for extra income.
Hi Pradeep Soundararajan,
Thanks a lot for the awesome article…it was a lot helpful.
Can you please provide the link of your Blog website…thanks….
tell me the book for software testing which could lead me t o strong my basics for softwae testing
hi pradeep,
I really shocked because i am having same thinking , same story, same goal as u(really want to come up in life)(want to achieve something in life)(want to give a value to company). I am seeing u r invisible in this blog from jan09. Whole world is working because of money rite. k leave that for time being. I am really worried abt my career. will u be visible in this blog so that i can ask abt lightining path for career in testing. hope this msg reach u soon
Actually I think, testing is an art where the tester should work according to project stage and requirements using his own skills (if he/she has so).
It doesn’t make any sense
Hi,
I got the oppurtunity to read the entire stuff a bit late. As you said sometimes one cannot find any guiding person who can specifically train on the field.
Being in testing and QA since years, I see that the only way a tester can make his/her flag in organization and career is only by their aptitute and reasoning knowledge. And nothing to worry on different types of testing. If one can visualize in the imaginary world about the product from many dimensions, its done.
Thanks for this good one,
Regards..
Hi,
Myself Aniket Katkar, I am currently working as developer in software organization and now i want to make my career in Software Testing. So do you think that i had a little bit of chance of making career in Software testing?
Please Help me.
Thanks & Regards
Aniket Katkar
Hi friends,
I’m just a beginner in the testing field. I struggled for job for years after my M. Tech (IT). My struggling taught me many things in my life and one of these is “World is like a mirror” and this goes to Mr. life99joy (a small piece of advice) please take the things which are useful to you and don’t see the bad ones (if any). This article was a real eye opener for me because it taught me the basic principle of a tester who wants to stand out from the rest. If you (Mr. life99joy) think that you can help me with so called real world help please do it. I’m looking forward to it.
Congratulations Mr. Pradeep Soundararajan and thank you very much.
Now I too have the same beginning career in the IT, just before three months I completed my masters degree in computers. Few of my friends placed in Giant software companies (with more earnings) and I placed in a small IT company (with less than 10 thousand earnings/month), everybody is suggesting me to try to get a job in the companies like where my friends placed. Now I am working as a tester (manual). I’m working here from project duration itself (Over 6 months). The question arises in my mind is without gaining good knowledge how to enter into those companies…
Whether I need to do any testing courses apart from manual testing? Or any other way is there? What is the next step u r suggesting me to take, that help me to get a bright future….
Dear Kayal,
After going through your post, I get reminded of initial days of my career. My situation was same like urs. Never mind….difference bet small and big companies not only the salary package but also the learning…In small companies you get to know lot of things domain side, or technology side, or your specialised area (here testing). In small companies you get to recognised for your hardwork and greater chance of you progressing in ur career ladder interms of roles and responsibilities. My friends who still are in small companies after 4+ yrs, are in better role compared to mine. This is true and you will realise it when experience the same.
I would suggest you to stick on for atleast 2 yrs before switching to so called big companies. Iam sure by that time you wouldve gained so much so, that you land in a role and package much higher in comparision with your friends.
Hi,
The artical you wrote is very motivating.
I have a question and if you can help me find a direction:
“I am working in a fairly big organization, after spending 2 years into Manual Testing, I feel that I lack skill setup. Also, after being deprived from Automation Projects/Automation Tools (Which the organization is never going to offer me), what(where) should I and people like me do(go) to improve our career in software testing?
Thanks..
this article is very good for testers
Hi Pradeep
i went thru some of the articles in ur blog …pretty much interesting… n sorry to say some are not that much impressive….i really admire the way u scribble down ur thoughts , but please make the content a bit more elaborative……….coz the freshers ( like me !!! ) who just started our testing career will find it more useful..we can learn some practical ideas…spy ur thoughts which u have gained from your experience…
Hi Predeep,
Your article was really grt but it is confusing to me a bit related to the carrer in testing bcz nowdays also people give prefrence to developers as compared to tester.
Who is BIG ?
Tester or Developer.
What a great article!
I am really proud to say that i am a software tester.
You are great!
I am just 6months in Web application testing.
I Challenge you that i will become more great than you!
Hello MR pradeep, I just decided to take up sw testing as my career, so i read the article in view to gain few points but initially disappointed and irritaed with the article as it is meaning less with the title..but after reading the comments by you “IF success formula is as easy as a+b square thats when i re read ur ariticle and though it is still a bouncer i am sure i will find atleast one point bcoz one cannot be successful on mere luck if u have reached that point then there is something that xtra u have …i hope i get the essence of ur topic ..i am taking a printout and wuld keep it .thanks for making me think …i hope to get back to u with a gud job .
pls answer me …so that i can crack that secret
@sripraveena,
http://careers360.com/news/3757-Software-Testing
i too agree… Pradeep thinks that he rocks in testing
Hi @Pradeep,
“Questioning
Brainstorming
Mental Modeling
Logical Thinking
Communication – Reading, Writing, Speaking
Lateral Thinking
Pattern Recognition
Learning
Contextual thinking
Critiquing ( Self, too )
Analysis
Cognition
Managing Bias
Learning to learn
Unlearning
Knowledge of human limitations, ( i.e for ex: Inattentional Blindness )
Observation
Hearing
etc
that really matters.”
All the above listed really matters for a tester. You are exactly correct Pradeep.
Its good to add “process” also to list. Process makes a lot of difference. Its an advantage actually.
Process knowledge saves a lot of time spent in training. It streamlines and helps to deliver customer satisfied product. From the above article, I understand that you believe that the process makes a resource to loose these qualities that you listed. Never, it only helps to direct to the same mission. If everyone in team knows the mission and if all of them target the same point, its easy to reach the goal. This is where you apply process.
If you find a resource A with all the qualities that you listed above and resource B with B= A + process knowledge. Whom would you prefer in your team? Its obvious answer B, that’s what Kishore also explained earlier.
Nowadays “I” doesn’t matter unless “I” fit into company processes to bring profits to organisation. So lets follow the process streamlined by the company or customer and find the bugs.
Thanks Pradeep. keep posting more articles and your valuable reply. You make everyone to quest. This is interesting !
Lets take this as a learning curve and try to take away more good. If process is one which brings improvement /cost saving, then lets not hesitate to include that. Thanks to Kishore for pointing out this.
2 suggestions:
1- is to encourage the critics always. Only friends send criticisms.. Never stop critisicisms, it’s a tool for your improvement or to get to know where you are.
2 –restrict the comments to the topic and avoid sending personal comments. It stops the interest to return to the forum.
Regards,
AnuRam
Hello Everybody,
Just want to say don’t worry be happy. The whole world is mad. Do whatever you want and leave rest for the god..
Jai Hind Jai Maharastra !!!
@ Shashwant,
Who is BIG ? Tester or Developer.
Why compare testers with developers? Why not with the CEO of the company? Why not with Network Administrators?
So, the idea of comparing testers with non testers is not plausible. You might want to compare yourselves with other testers who are successful. That might make sense.
Once again: http://careers360.com/news/3757-Software-Testing
@SaiPraveena,
Can you help me understand your question.
@Priya,
i too agree… Pradeep thinks that he rocks in testing
Well yes, I do. I accept that. Is that wrong? Is “Pradeep” thinking about that wrong? OR Is anyone thinking about that is wrong?
Do I need to get to an age of 50 to be able to say that? Experience is not necessarily based on age, it is what we have done to the time that has passed by.
I rock in testing and I want you to rock, too. Is that bad?
@pounderrajan
u r great tooooooooooooo great but what is the use u donot have ———–fill it up
@ Mr Pradeep Soundararajan , I am not from Software Testing Field & Neither do I wish to get into it, But I will tell you something “You Have a Great Mind” I wish 1% out of of so many people Understand really what you wish to say….
Its when you ask questions you really get the Answers… Stupid Modern Population of India… Open your eyes…
well..
i loved the article…and whoever disliked it are those who are waiting for simple answers and simple way to reach what you’ve reached to be rich by doing so and so and so….thats it…
well what i’ve learned from you is that we should work hard we should have different perpective than other testers to be able to compete and to be unique …Thanks for sharing your experience waiting for more articels…if you have any documents that would help i’d love if you send me…
Have a great day :)
Greetings from Egypt.
Jermeen Nasr
Tester in the Quality control department- Hp Egypt
Regression testing should be performed:
v) every week
w) after the software has changed
x) as often as possible
y) when the environment has changed
z) when the project manager says
a) v & w are true, x, y & z are false
b) w, x & y are true, v & z are false
c) w & y are true, v, x & z are false
d) w is true, v, x, y & z are false
Pradeep,
I like your post.
I like the way your are countering to the feedback with logical points. I think your really talented, gr8 self confidence and damn care attitude
Dont counter me with….
hw can you judge it?
what is feedback?
what is attitude?
what is confidence?
-praveen
I am very new to software testing, I have worked in a company for nearly 7 months. I have confusion towards knowledge that I should acquire. Till now I have done only manual testing:- Functional, Usability, Compatibility. My question is shall I go for learning some automated testing tool right now or shall I keep my self pushing into this areas more and more so that I make my base strong. I will really appreciate, If any one can guide me how should I design my career in testing, i.e what to do , when to do and things that I should not do.
@Preeti:- First thing i wanna clear about manual testing is that its much better than automation testing but its also depends upon the project i.e. what kind of project you r testing. for eg:- Website or Any other app software.
i will suggest you do what ever u r doing.but keep the knowledge of all the domains.
just learn from your experience and start reading some testing books. you can also join a short term testing course from any institute in your city.
if you have habit of reading books you can visit my scribd account.
http://www.scribd.com/PartapGusain
Hi Pradeep, this is worth reading. Indeed if we do Root cause analysis, ‘NOT QUESTIONING’ is one of the biggest reason for low quality work in testing. Not to mention, we need to continuously improve and update ur skills to sustain in today’s competition. I would also agree to get certified just for the sake of getting interview calls and ornamenting our Resumes. But in a high level – one should really understand what you have mentioned… We should really understand what we testers are meant to do.. else no matter what we know, we will not be able to add value to the system
Hello Pradeep,
nice article motivation for many people…….. i have some question can i have ur mailid please mine is kapildevkapoor@gmail.com.
Thanks & Regards
Kapil
Hello Pradeep,
Its a good thing to share your experience. and I newly joined in one company for testing. could you please guide me on testing. My mail id is sanganesh86@gmail.com..
Thank u……….
hello frds,
I newly joined as a tester trainee in company…..could you guide me on testing & my future in testing
my email id is urs_vishu72@yahoo.com
Observe….think out of the box…create…..document…question…question…question….question….
Good artical…This is how i became a good Tester…..agree to disagree..
This site contains lot of free service. I have benefited from this site. So thanks to Admin
I am married to a test engineer but I am in the medical field.We are based here in the US. I came across this article to understand my husband’s line of work.
I have the highest regard for engineers.
I gained considerable insight from this article. Thanks to you.
I hope we stop squabbling and talk like men.
Hi,
Please advice me on this.I wrkd as a HR for the past 5 years want to shift my career into software testing to earn money and to learn all about software testing.
Hi Pradeep ,
This articles is awe-inspiring. Especially, for a bright testing career, one should keep on “Learn …… & practice”…. really good article
@Pradeep
BULLSHIT!!
Hi sir,
I am starting on my journey as a software tester and your article was really inspiring. I see some people criticizing the article as ‘egoistic’, but i don’t agree with them. There are many books and resources where I can learn about software testing. I don’t need resources here. I need to hear someone who has ‘been there, done that’ to tell his story. The story will motivate me. And if I am motivated enough, resources will follow automatically. I think this article truly serves the purpose. Thanks for writing it.
what a wast of time..To reading this blog (biography of other)..i think to ” secrets of a richest tester” is to explore yourself rather reading other..he always do copy of James Bach and never teach/explain what James do..
Pradeep ur such a loser…….. try not to copy jamesbach ideas and start giving ur own ones………. each tester is unique in his own way of testing . ur not god to judge others ……… u bully
@Arun @Jeet,
Thanks. You said it right. I copy James Bach and don’t do all that well. James Bach will be in India during December 2012. Check out with him.
Hi Pradeep,
I have been working for a software company with online marketing as my profile. But I can’t find pleasure in this job, and guided by a senior professional I am taking classes in software testing. I am a graduate in Arts and after that about to complete MSc in IT in next April. Is software testing a suitable job for me since I am happy doing and understanding the classes.
Please advise…
Regards,
Anup
ALl I want to say is .. Software testing is a shit career … there is nothing like career ..any school going child can do wat these so called prof. testers do ..!!
Hello pradeep..
Awesome article……. Very specific and very logical way of putting things in front of readers about testing .
I just loved your article…. not only this article but other articles too. Few months back, I was going through the same situation as you narrated…. testing being less important/ easy/ any one can do it..blah blah comments from my friends and even industry people. But ultimately it totally depends on one’s likings., what kind of work he/she should engage into. And I sincerely feel, Both developers and testers/QA people r backbone of industry. Creating a software product is a TEAM work… and not just work of Developer or any one section….
Kudos….
Keep writing…
Thanks
sagar
Hello Dear,
I am working as a software Testing Engineer. I have gone through your article which really useful to software testers. But still i want more information about the testing knowledge both in manual as well as automation. And also scripting knowledge. Can you let me know about free automation tool as well as scripting where we can automate for our practice purpose.
Please get in touch & send me the links to my mail id.
Thanking You.
Abhay
Nice Article but some what Confusing… i really not understand completely what “Pradeep Soundararajan” want to say “Tester Community”
“I think Whatever ours professions, we need passion related to ours Professions then Our Works Like ours Hobby.”
Pradeep, Kudos man. Excellent Article. Thoroughly liked all the post and replies. yes of course its Inspiring.
Hi Folks:
This advice is for freshers and Not for Testers who already have 2-3 years experience and would find it difficult to change career lines even if they wanted to.
Freshers- PLEASE, Stay out of Testing. If your company forces you to get into Testing, and if it is financially feasible for you to say NO to them, please say No. Never ever fall into Testing, that too at this stage.The reasons are as follows:
(1) Middle and Senior Management ladder is already clogged with folks from the 80s,90s and early 2000s. The chance that you would reach a manager position anytime soon, is EXTREMELY less since the first batch of folks haven’t retired yet. You will have to invest 10-15 yrs, whereas earlier 5 years was sufficient to be considered for middle management positions.
(2) Unless you are into management, there is NO MONEY in testing. Chances of you getting more than 10 lacs is very slim unless you reach the MM grade. There are guys with more experience than me, who report to me and make much lesser than i do just because they were not interested in the management ladder. Whereas in Dev, you can stick to the techn ladder and be compensated for it..IE..You can make good money for being an individual contributor.
(3) Even if you were ok with the above 2, here comes the nail in the coffin. Its a NO SATISFACTION, BORING AS HELL job. Many feel this job as a knife being pushed in and out each and every day at work.
(4) Easily replaceable. If you try to pull shots in your company, its so easy for your management to tell you to take a hike cos they could even get a Zookeeper to do this job (exaggerating..but you get the point)
(5) Low self esteem. Testing is looked upon (and rightly so) as a menial job, so chances are you will always be demoralised.
(6) These jobs are the first in line to go, if the white countries look at destinations other than India.
I have 10 years of exp in Testing, 3 years as Test Manager handling multi million dollar accounts and managed 70,000 hours of testing in the last one year alone. So you have an idea of what my team size was.
This article is written just to give you a perspective and then you can make an informed career choice. I never had anyone to advice me. If i knew this in 2000-2001, i would have never, ever taken this career path.
For those who are in Testing, this is not to get you angry/depressed/ demoralised….i know you can more than meet your families needs on this job, but i just wanted to tell the juniors that if you have diamond and gold on the table and you have to select one, please be aware that diamond has more value.
Hi Wellwisher and pradeep,
I have 2 years of experience in s/w testing. I worked in a telecom domain as a manual tester. Could you guys plz provide me your valuable suggestions to improve my profession in this field. Currently I know HP QC,SQL basics and UNIX basics..nothing more than this..plz advice me what should i learn completely to improve my current profession
Hi wellwisher
you are simply lacking commonsense ,
1.we have work to do ,whether its development and testing .
2.just ask a soldier who is going to war ,is he really enjoying his work
3.any body can learn code
developers are not that hyped genius
and this is the reason there are so many existing
and last of all take course and do your job
you seem to be having less sense …
Hi Pradeep Sir,
Nice Article… :)
I agree with u mentioning that “A tester should question”
But I think making people answer the question properly is also important.
I started as a manual tester, and questioned the process of testing and other processes in the organisation. I asked them “WHY” and they answered – “It is the way things work in this organisation.” I guess even they didn’t have a specific reason.
Getting a questioned answered properly becomes more difficult from a higher management personnel (Project manager). I never had training for Testing. So to increase my knowledge, I did ISTQB certification, and it is through its Syllabus, I understood the WHY of the Testing process.
Now it has become my habit that I do not question them (unless its regarding the project :) ) but I search for the answer on such forums and on Google. This makes me quite satisfied about the answer i get.
I hope what I am doing is the correct process. :)
your new fan
Shweta
Hey,
Your telling about urself how you struggled and there is no solution for that.
Ppl search for the answer not the question..
Yes, watever u told was true which every Tester Face. It will gud if u can give the solution for your article.
Regards,
Trupti..
scammer!
Sir,
I went through your article. I am just 6 months old Software tester. I need a suggestion from you. To excel in Software Testing what are the skills and knowledge that I need to have.
Hi Admin,
Request you to please remove the comments from Wellwisher, as this is a good site for testing professionals, and such demotivating comments may distract and demotivate the testing professionals. Software testing domain is a vast and good domain and such comments could be harmful.
dear sir
I am currently persuing my MCA degree
now I am doing My internship
I m bit good in J2EE but due to the current market condition it is difficult for the fresher to get job in java as from my and friends experience …
so i just plan to move into testing
for fresher which wt r the courses to do in testing ???
wt step to follow??
plz reply..
with regards..
I think this article was motivating for true software tester
Hi Pradeep,
I am a fresher. I was working in a testing project(IT Compliance Testing). can u pleasr share ur knowledge about compliance testing???
Dear Mr Pradeep Soundrarajan
I had finished my MCA ten years back but could not find an IT job. But I want to make a career in IT. So far I have been working in non-it jobs. Please suggest me if I can make a career in IT as a software tester. I am now 37 years old.
Hi,
Can bcom graduate person choose software testing as a carrer….
I liked the article and especially the arguments on what is quality. However, I would like to think that developers can contribute to quality as opposed to them being able to be the sole people who can deliver quality.
One thing I don’t see time and time again in articles about testing is the mention of the competencies of the developers! There appears to be more focus on a testers competency than any other person involved in a project.
For me, testers are only advocates used to affirm functionality (or whatever it is they are testing!) based on someone else’s (be that developer, business analyst, customer, etc.) documented or interpretion of how something should work. What they bring to the table is the concept of “You told me it would work this way, and it does not” OR “You told me it would work this way and it does” OR “You told me it would work this way and it does BUT it also does this too, is that acceptable?”
In my opinion, there needs to be more focus on project management and how it can help a tester achieve the the intended goal so as to alleviate finger pointing.
Developers deliver an interpreted solution based on verbal or documented specifications. Testers use the same information(if they are lucky to have it!) to affirm the functionality.
But there is a whole layer missing from testing discussions that leaves me wondering why there is so much focus on the the competency of the tester. For example, developers very rarely look back, they are always moving forward. They concern themselves more with new code as opposed to existing code. Meaning, they are forward thinking and for good reason, the application must continue to mature. But, how do they ensure that they are not breaking any code as they continue forward? Very rarely have I been a part of projects where developers pay attention to the past in order to continue into the future. This task is usually left to testers. Why?
Anyways, good article and if you have anything to add to what I have said above I would be more than willing to listen
Thanks for your contributions to testing!
Hello,
I’ve completed M.Sc(CS) in 2010,Later i had 1 year teaching experience.Due to personal reason,i had 1.6 yrs gap.now i am looking for job in Testing,n joined course.so is it worth my trying to enter into IT.Please do reply me sir…
hello,
I completed my B.E. in the year 2012
i have not placed and was in search of job for more than 18months,
now i got a job in small 3rd level IT company as a tester
can any one clarify me how the role of the tester be and how the growth will be.
here i am doing manual testing of a product
please help me to make my carrier good
I dont know nothing about Testing
please help me
what to learn to become a quality tester?
how to learn to become a quality tester?
where to learn?
Please Please Please help me………
Misleading article. Thanks!
Okay, now I think your making tons and tons of money.
Hi Folks:
Why can’t we just appreciate him for his article and take away good things he mentioned? Why every time we make mess of someone who tries to benefit others?
No body is bad and no body is great in anything .We have learning aspect in everything. He just wanted to share something that can help others what is big deal in this? When I joined testing career 7 years back I was confused asking others can I make 3L per yr? Can I make more than 6 Lakh/Yr. What I got reply from seniors is “no being a tester you can not”. God my life was shattered but was it true? Did I ask the correct person the correct question? Sharing experience is always good at least for me its really good if we can take something out from it. We can discuss more and sharpen our skills.
Thanks Pradeep for this nice article and for your time writing this.
hello sir ,iam so inspiried by your artical, you’s good & infomative
Half way through the article I got bored, honestly…, not as informative as it looks, its not even inspirational. Anybody can become a tester and developer, but what sets great developers and great testers is commonsense. I read through James Blog too, I think this guy is copy pasting thing from that blog and to satisfy his ego. Yes as a tester if you just reporting bugs, and getting it corrected, I feel that any body can do that, but what makes a tester different from others is to think like a customer. Apply a rule, if I am not happy using the product its very likely that the end user will not be either, that’s my thought.
@Pradeep
Have you trainer anybody for free? The once you have trained have they got any job? Or you just let people read your bold and gain knowledge?
Agree with AnotherTester. Commonsense and ability to think as customer makes one a great tester. As far as making money is concerned, being at right place and right time is important.
Freshers and experienced guy don’t go by this article. Practically speaking this article sucks. In my experience certification doesn’t do a thing. I can mug up for a certification and attend interviews and clear the interviews, but I cannot perform a job. Like Tina mentioned Commonsense and ability to think as customer is more important than having ISTQB certification or any other recognized certification. This article is written is copy paste of James. Honestly, to excel in a job and learn more, you have leave ego, and not gloat about yourself in such a manner as in this article. I have read James blogs too, he is different. I doubt this article seriously, may be this guy made money. I have met real great testers who can put developers to shame though they don’t know anything about coding, they don’t have certification, they have such in depth knowledge and yet they don’t call themselves as experts and they don’t gloat that others call them experts, they do their work silently and certainly they don’t talk about money making. I am still learning from such people. Testing is creative process it’s an art, which people can cultivate, and honestly testing is all commonsense applied.
I think I rock, you think I rock, but there is a difference in the meaning of the rock you are thinking and I am thinking, there is ambiguity i.e. you are thinking about a real rock that is just stationary, but whereas I am thinking that I am a rock start in. We have to be very specific.
What matters is what you can apply practically, there is a difference between certified knowledge for the sake of knowledge than certified knowledge for the sake of certification.
I have interviewed people with ISTQB certification with 5+ years’ experience, but still their answers come exactly like textbook answers, come on after 5 years I need practical answers. I have interviewed a few freshers in testing, some of them apply the knowledge they have gained, and others still remain bookish. Honestly not all interview questions are straight forward. Other things is as you gain more experience you should never forget basics and concepts.
To the freshers that are reading this blog don’t get carried away. Don’t do a certification because testing is easy, and don’t get into testing because testing is easy than development. Both jobs are equally difficult, no training institute will tell this, compared to manual testing automation is tough because now-a-days testers are supposed to write scripts, so if consider coding is tough, I guess then automation is not your cup of tea. Then again it can be learned with your effort.
Everybody thinks they rock in their job, I think too, it doesn’t count, other should tell you, not just because of the hype, other should truly appreciate a person based on real knowledge. When they appreciate I should keep quiet, I need not feel happy, because there are others that are better than me and they are humble, so when they don’t gloat I shouldn’t.
Great comment. I found this blog by searching desktop application testing techniques. I thought it’s worth smth. But than I opened this article. I saw such guys in Ukraine. They fool a lot of people by name themselves “QA specialist and mentors”. They can’t produce anything, they like to kiss QA Lead ass and etc. One guy even called himself QA automation specialist but in fact he didn’t script at all. One very senior guy told me, that guy like this “automation specialist” just dumb and we can’t spent time on him even during our discussion. I guess author of this blog is the same type of person. Comments of this “specialist” made me feel it on 100%.
Thank you, sir, for such a great facts about testing & definitely going to follow this thing afterwards…
I m currently working with a small organisation having a team of just 15 experienced people. My designation is Software Test Engineer..I m the only one Tester right now & no senior experienced testing person in our organisation to help me out..if getting trouble I always discuss my issues with Developer & Designer..also always taking help from online expertise,…so please give me suggestions, How to raise my skills in Testing further ?? What particular area or Skills I need to focus right now??
Nowadays the value of a good tester has really gone down, all the testers feel that they are underpaid and not having a respected job in the software world.
Nowadays mostly all the testers desktop would should some or the other IDE and some programming code would be there on his/her monitor. Most of them are trying to learn coding, and move to SDET roles (which is a fancy term to attract talent).
The person who was a great tester is now in the verge of becoming a mediocre developer.
Let me ask you all in the 1st place, why you became “testers”, i will start with my answer “to find the mistakes made by others-(DEV) as i really like to break things”. but that seems to have changed now as everyone is trying to d o stuff which they are not good.
and the fact and irony in the industry is that, you report 1000 defects in a year and at the same time some mediocre automation guy writes 10 TCs automation which wont catch any defect. But still the automation guy will end up getting more hikes and recognition.
The art of software testing is dying. save it.
@Srinivas
There are a lot of things to learn in software testing. Its a ocean, best way to the learn about testing is pick each of the testing types and research them. For example Database testing learn about, then pick the next security testing read and learn about it and so on and so forth. Not only read it, but also implement practically. Practical thinking and applying common sense is very important to grow as a tester.
Sorry the above comments was even address at Pawan too
Hi ,
Iam shakthipriya,Iam a fresher interested in software testing only can u please help me in finding which testing course to be learned to get a good salary.
Hi Pradeep,
To give you a genius title for you i can save that you are the “Thevidiya paiyya” of softeare testing world
@Amit, I am not sure what is that you want you say but I think you are angry, what you said certainly doesn’t sound like a c compliment
@Pradeep
Process and People make a good product and not in isolation. I second @LifeJoy and @Jai aka Kishore that you seem to be more self-centred rather than understanding the facts.
Okay, now my point:
Analysis on your analogy: There are better players than Sachin and do you know why he made it big, because he followed a process, one of which is practice before a match even though he is immensely experienced unlike other players like KP, YS etc who many time partied before the match.
#2. Let’s assume person A is a very skilled driver who doesn’t care about process and person B is an average/poor driver who does.
Now the process is:
1. Wake up
2. Get Ready
3. Listen to traffic updates
4. Take the commute on the less traffic route
Now on a critical day at work, both person A and B starts at the same time and their usual route is closed because of an accident. Who do you think will make to office on the big day even tough one person is more skilled driver than other? I am sure A will do extremely well if he follows “THE” process.
One more point:
You mean to say that Google and other companies don’t follow the process and just rely on people? Following the process is different and getting certified/assessed is different.
Infy and TCS are consulting firms and so they have to get certified/assessed to win projects unlike google who award projects or get it done in-house. My point is not having a certification/assessment doesn’t mean that they don’t follow “A” process.
Weather documented or not, certified/assessed or not, “A” process is critical in growth. By the way I worked for the so called big companies who didn’t have any certification but have “A” process/processes. Wake-up SID :)
To Add:
My recommendation: Freshers, ignore this article and I am sure I dont need to advise experienced people ;)
I didn’t care to read ahead after the first 2-3 paragraphs of self glorification.
hello sir,,,,
i just read the above article nd i must say u have speaken the truth….that most testers in india live by the the myth that tester improves the quality nd as an fresher im also one of them,,,,some of the points in the above articles really motivates me,,,,,hope so i could implemented your ideas in my testing skills
@Pankaj
If you really go through this article, its different from the real world. Being a test lead I am telling you this article sucks and is false. If QA team is not for improving the quality of the product, its a waste. We are here to find the bugs and get them fixed, which improves the quality of the product. If developers improve the quality why do you need testers.
Developers fixes the issues/bugs/defects found, and if that improves quality why does a tester need to re-test them again to confirm if that the bug/defect/issues is closed?
To be honest if you attend the interview based on reading such blogs, best of luck. At least I won’t select such candidates who think that testing is about finding and reporting bugs, that any body can do it, that’s not testing. Testing is not about delivering quality product to the customer. I bet we have all seen “tested OK”, that doesn’t say “Developed OK”, “QA Checked” doesn’t say “Developer Checked”. If I write code I won’t know its good or bad, it can be correct it need not be correct, who knows. That’s why I need someone to certify that its correct.
@Pradeep
I don’t know how I came here again, but I enjoyed reading it again…its fun and really fun. Please don’t ask me what is fun and how I know its fun?
Your statement:
“Let me give you an example to get you started: There is a common myth (which means something is fundamentally wrong but people blindly believe it) by which most testers to my knowledge in India live: Testing is done to improve Quality”
I am trying to be heuristic here!!!
How many testers do you know in India?
“To my knowledge” – Really?? How did you gain that knowledge?
You seem to have an esoteric knowledge, how did you achieve that. I think you need to write a blog on your magical powers…Abracadabra
Your story is very impressive. Actually everything is in google. If we want to learn something first we have to learn how to google that thing.
Software Testing has a very good scope in IT industry also people who wants to learn something in IT field I will refer Software Testing.
There are lots of tools used in Software Testing. Choose the latest technique wisely.
Hi, it is a very nice initiative that you had created a list of blogs about Software Testing.
It will be very useful who want to know more about Software Testing.
Thanks for the blog.
tHAT WILL REALLY WORK.
I am JAme smith, the Software and QA trainer with JanBask training, I write articles on QA career trends, certifications etc, to help the individuals get the most out of their career.
This article is very helpful to those who want to learn as a fresher. If you want to become a master in software testing means you have to learn simultaneously should practice with real-time projects and that make you as a skilled person in software testing.
wanted to know to become a good tester, what qualities it should overcome
Do you know that feeling, “If you not sure if you dreaming or awake” !!
Or just following a white rabbit.
The matrix is around us “you can not feel it or smell it, But its there !!
Nice personal touche to the article, i like it
@Swapna i like your comments and how you explained everything. you could be a good mentor. i had like to have your contact to put me through. thanks