In the Software industry, we follow the hierarchy as:
Quality manager => Team Lead => Senior software tester => Software test engineer => Trainee.
Generally, as per the trend in India, the person who has the most experience will sit on top and the fresh graduate will sit at the bottom in the hierarchy. The only difference between the two is the number of years of experience.
Do you think this is the right path to follow?
Undoubtedly, a person grows with time and effort and when it comes to domain knowledge; the more time spent on the specific domain the better. But on the other hand, it should be coupled with fresh brains.
Software Testing is not about the years you have spent while testing. It’s about how your mind instructs your eyes to look at the product. During my professional years, I have found that most of the time, a testing team, consisting of multiple trainees, juniors and a couple of senior engineers works well and gives better output.
In the below table, I have tried to explain the co-relate approach of what the right tester should be. Please do not misunderstand. I am not saying that people sitting in senior positions are not good (I too am one of them); with time, we all need to grow.
So go through the table and ask yourself where you fit. What is required to grow efficiently?
Table of Contents:
Approach To What A Right Tester Should Be
Conclusion
Ultimately, software testing is not a job; it’s a process where everyone learns to analyze different things. Software test engineers with the right attitude and brain + eyes combination do not need experience; he needs an opportunity to jump in.
About the Author: Bhumika Mehta is a project lead, carrying 7 years of experience and working with Indusa Infotech. She is totally into testing and loves to test everything that exists. She appreciates good ideas, innovations, and risk. Of course, she hates monotonic work, people, and the environment.
All the best for your endeavors in Software Testing. Happy testing.
@Sneha : Thanks for appreciation and encouraging words. Second article will be out soon. Keep watching 🙂
Nice Article 🙂
Hi,
Nice article..But a passionate tester always thinks similar to growing software testing mind thinks.
@Gentlin, @Sunaina, @Pooran, @Vinod : Thanks a lot for your comment, it means a lot to me.
@ Divya, @ Sundar, @Dinesh,
Thanks a lot for considering efforts and appreciation.
@Vijay : That was superb example and Sachin is definitely a legend because he allowed others to walk on their tracks. He focused on his goal and did not interfere or used his seniority to stop others.
Thats what is needed from so called seniors of any industry. Leave EGO and love work :-).
Thanks for sharing.
Very good article. And Bhumika mehata can i get your mail id??
@Naveen : Thanks a lot for stopping by and commenting.
Yes; Absolutely you are right.. And it’s really very good article.
Very good article.. 🙂 Happy Testing … 🙂
@Preeya, @Raghavan, @Abhaya kumar : Thanks a lot for stopping by and commenting. It really matters a lot.
Nice one
Very nice and useful aricle for self learning.
its just says help your self.
@mai, @Fadi, @Amita, @Surender, @Shwetha, @Hari : Thanks a lot for stopping by and commenting. I really appreciate this encouragement and support and it leads me to write one more post for Software Testing Help. Keep watching this place 🙂
Good to see this kind of article’s. and its also good for ppl who wants to learn more n more into testing.
@Sam, @Charles : Thanks a lot for your appreciation.
Hi its very useful as we work and face challenges in corporates. Please do post more and more likewise things.
Nice article..
A very nice comparison chart which you have drawn here – having ‘n’ years of experience in Software Testing (and any other stream for that matter!) isn’t alone enough to conclude the persons caliber as a software tester.
I have met newbies in ST profession having just joined and doing very well contributing to teams and even met many professionals who have 3, 5, 10 years of experience and still not making any sense when talking about ST, if you know what I mean! 😉
The Grown Software Testing mind should also be appreciated to same level of Growing Software testing mind, when he/she is capable of identifying, appreciating and encouraging the smart growing testing mind without feeling any ego or jealous.
With this perception, both Growing and Grown minds will be equally good with their respective capacities.
Thanks,
Sathish
I completely agree but these things vary person to person an introvert and egoistic person is never a good tester , the first column is somewhat me.
Its a very good Comparison between Experience & Fresher
Kindly Share with your New Views to Help us to growing for new Commers those who starting with Career in Software Testing.
thanks sir…
good article
Very nice article..The author has read the minds of experienced testers very well…There is a vast difference between juniors and experienced testers when it comes to level of interest and seriousness…
This is the Nice article definitely we need to appreciate. when the Freshers are coming out off good creativeness we need to appreciate it
@Jitendra, @Jagannath : Thanks a lot for good words, they really help me to share more views.
Thanks for the Article…I appreciate
@Gurpreet : Thanks for commenting and sharing your views.
I completely agree with your point that everything should go in process. My point here is – as a senior, one should not stop growing professionally. For freshers, its definitely an opportunity to learn and implement new things but when we grow and designated as SENIOR, we forget that we are forgetting to something important : learning new things.
Thanks again for reading and sharing your views.
Really im new in the field of IT and im hired as a data QA tester.Everything thing seems new to me and hard to understand the environment.But the way you gave the answer seems best to my understanding .But i don understand how they take the situaton and how the judgement is done.only i know is.”If you judge the people you will never find time to love them”.AND heard that”Even a dog has a day”Thank you so much for your answer
excellent article Bhumika. and 100% true.
it really inspires and motivates me to go ahead!
please keep writing such things, will be waiting to read.
to conclude your article i would say that if a tester keeps learning attitude throughout his career Sky is the limit.
keep it up!
All the best! 🙂
@Amandeep Singh : Thanks a lot for sharing your views.
Thanks for the Article,
Very well versed differences between Seniors and Juniors Software Test Engineers
@Bhumika…Wish I had a team lead like u, and loved to see you replying for each one who commented on your post
But regarding Fresh minds, we ask so much but obviously the answer comes from the grown up….
The comparison is childish but its good to see a team lead valuing fresh minds
To be a good QA or ST we should mix the two tables…..in simple words let yourself grow and never let the child in you die 😉
I want to quote a statement that Sachin Tendulkar said during his interview yesterday … he said when you are prepared to learn from even the youngest player in the team you will become a better student of the sport.
Thats an excelent statement from the Master. I think it just not apply to cricket but for any other field including Software Testing. The senior testers should have an open mindset to listen to the young minds.
I primarily design/build automation test tools to program, configure and test new electronic devices, components, modules, and products. I follow the TDD(Test Driven Development) where I don’t wait for the design ‘to be tossed over the wall’ for test, instead. with TDD, i work from the point of inception with the design team to eliminate, up front, problems BEFORE they get the chance to be show up again further down the chain in the process. That being said, this simplifies work required for testers and speeds throughput to product release. So I ask the question to the author of this article; what TDD practices does your company employ in your products(and this can be hardware or software based — does not matter which)?
@Dhaval : Yes, truly said. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
@Satish : Yes, I completely agree with you. Both – grown and growing are requirement of this industry and need to work together. Thats the only process, the industry needs :-).
Thanks for sharing your views.
@Hari : Thanks for commenting and appreciation. I could read the minds very well because I am part of it 🙂
Good one.
Guess author has given too narrow view of the topic.
Is software testing only about testing functionality?
He forgot to address the root problem, why is a 10 yr experienced tester still expected to sit and test?
@Srikanth : Thanks for the comment and encouragement.
Very well written article. One thing I always say about testing is that its a task of keen observation + aptitude. If something you are doing is not interesting from your perspective then you will never seek in depth knowledge related to it. I totally agree with every single word written over here. Thanks for sharing.
Very good article. Good comparison and matured demonstration with examples.
Nice Article.., Thanks for sharing.,
Yes, this is really a good article analyzing the mindset of a junior vs a senior. According to me, seniors should learn avoiding ego, which is the major factor keeping them away of learning new things and appreciating juniors’ well done.
These differences are very common in IT industry. People should break these kind of attitudes and work together and give the best results.
Thanks for your article and discussed some valid reason.
Really nice!!!.. Happy to see this post as a fresher with good eyes..
Bhumika..kudos!
very nice article. You have very well differentiated between growing testers and already grown testers:)
Good article,
Hay Seniors : “Don’t forget to keep learning new things every day or you will put your self in a bottle :).
and Juniors: keep doing fresh eye things … you rocks 😉
yes said truly I am partially agreed with you ..
this is very in depth mind reading of freshers and experienced testers 🙂 very well put.
I am partially agreed with you. As no doubt, some of the things are best and correct as you mentioned in a Growing Tester. But for everything there is a process..and
Assume the same scenario with you: That a fresher is your team lead..coz he is good at catching defects.
Each and every individual is different and learning at his/her own pace. And now a days,if individual (either growing or grown) has to learn and keep himself updated with latest technology otherwise he/she is obsolete. And importantly, a good TEAM should comprise of freshers, intermediate and experienced members to acheive a common goal – quality of project/product
Hi Bhumika,
Very informative article on the differences between a senior & fresher mindset approach to testing. I wanted to see if you or anyone else on this article chain, can offer some advice for getting in the door in QA as a career change? Like you mentioned, QA is a mindset (which I already have) not necessarily about the experience. But how do you get the attention of a recruiter or hiring manager having little or no direct experience?
Thanks,
Jeff
There is NO CORRELATION between numbers of years in the field and curiosity. It all depends on the person. Those who are good/great at what they do are ALWAYS fine tuning/practicing/etc. etc. This is TRUE in sports, and this is true in ENGINEERING. Just because you have been in field for years does not automatically make you stale. It is all about ATTITUDE. You could reverse your columns and have those ‘fresh’ minds display the same stale attitudes you show for the senior folks.
great 🙂 Happy testing 🙂
This article is so true……very well differentiated between entry level and experienced testers….. I have never come across any software testing website so far… which has article on this topic. Well done Bhumika.
Thanks for an interesting post,
Hierarchy is mostly good – but should be based on achievements and not on Years of experience,
Also not anyone who is best Tester, can be even a good Manager (Many times by following expectations for promotion – we not only loose good testers, but we may loose the productivity of the whole group lead by inappropriate manager.
While Fresh view has many advantages (mainly lack of bias), still testing knowledge relies vastly on experience – the Bugs we have seen or read which leads us to seeking similar issues in later products & features.
@halperinko – Kobi Halperin
I agree with points mentioned in the article. There should be proper mind set .Ego is the major factor to adopt new things. Juniors always follow seniors if seniors not interested to learn new things and always try to escalate their burden to juniors then junior will also learn same things. Very few seniors are capable to motivate juniors.