Joel Montvelisky Chief Solution Architect Simple & Flexible Test Management 12 Tips for Becoming a MoreProfessionalTester (or how to stop being a Non-Professional tester)

A little about me Professions : (last 17 years) - Tester - QA Manager - Blogger - Speaker - Solution Architect Some numbers: - 1 wife - 3 kids - 1 dog & 1 fish - 21 Km PractiTest - Chief Solution Architect - QA Manager (retired) Simple & Flexible Test Management Other interesting stuff

State of Testing Survey & Report 2013 Whats the state of the global testing community? Tea-Time with Testers, PractiTest & tens of bloggers and tweeps 600+ respondents & 40+ countries Report available for Free (PractiTests blog) Webinar with Jerry Weinberg &Fionna Charles (TTwT Site) Will run yearly context driven work in progress Simple & Flexible Test Management

Is Testing a Profession? Simple & Flexible Test Management A type of job that requires special Education, Training, or Skill A profession is also something you belongto and identifywith Profession (Merriam-Webster):

Why do so many testers feelthey are not Professionals??? Simple & Flexible Test Management

What makes someone A Professional? Simple & Flexible Test Management

Lets take a couple of examples of Professionals in other fields A Doctor A Wood Craftsman A Soldier Knowledge Experience Tools Simple & Flexible Test Management

The Professional Virtual Toolbox A set of tools that the professional knows when and how to use. Simple & Flexible Test Management

The Testing Professional Virtual Toolbox Methodological tools Technical tools User Advocacy tools Project tools Communication tools Simple & Flexible Test Management

Do you know whats in Your Toolbox? Simple & Flexible Test Management

Mapping and planning your Testing Toolbox Tip 1 Map your virtual toolbox Study your strong and weak points, what tools do you have right now and what you need to acquire or develop. Simple & Flexible Test Management Tip 2 Define your career path Understand where do you want to be in 2, 5 and 10 years from now, and draw a plan on how you will get there.

How do you test today? Simple & Flexible Test Management

Your Virtual Toolbox- Methodological Tools Tip 3 Combine multiple testing techniques Dont work all the time only with one knife. Sometimes you will need to use a fork and a spoon too. Tip 4 Renounce your Testing Ego Leave your emotions outside the testing lab, concentrate on the testing tasks and NOT on the people around them. Simple & Flexible Test Management

Are you a Technical Tester? Simple & Flexible Test Management Youneed to be (at least) Technically Proficient !

Your Virtual Toolbox- Technical Tools Tip 5 Use more technical tools Find ways to automate parts of your work to become more efficient. Learn a scripting language, download a tool/s and spend some time perfecting your knowledge of it. Tip 6 Be part of the technical talk of your project Get involved in the technical aspects. Participate in design sessions, code walkthroughs, learn about the systems architecture, ask your programmers about the internals of their work. Simple & Flexible Test Management

Tip 7 Work with internal feeds & logs Learn to work with as much internal information as possible. System feeds, product logs and monitoring tools will help you to understand not only what happens to the UI but also whats going on behind the scenes of your product. Simple & Flexible Test Management Your Virtual Toolbox- Technical Tools

What are you doing to get to know your users? Simple & Flexible Test Management

Your Virtual Toolbox- User Advocacy Tools Tip 8 Meet your users Interact with your users, if possible visit them to see how they work, understand what are their real needs and problems. Tip 9 Create user profiles Have something tangible you can use while planning, developing and discussing your product. Simple & Flexible Test Management

How are you collaborating outside of your actual testing? Simple & Flexible Test Management

Your Virtual Toolbox- Project Management Tools Tip 10 Manage the Risk of your Project Many project lack Risk Managers. Asses the project and product risks, manage them and provide on-going visibility Tip 11- Start testing Earlier Dont wait until they throw the first build over the wall and ask you to test it Simple & Flexible Test Management

How do you communicate the information you gather? Simple & Flexible Test Management

Your Virtual Toolbox- Communication Tools Tip 12 S-M-A-R-T Communication Simple Measurable Actionable Repeatable - TIMELY. Simple & Flexible Test Management

Tip 13 Respect is earned and it cannot be given Behave professionally Prove yourself in a number of situations Solve issues, it is not enough to point at them Simple & Flexible Test Management

Becoming a more Professional Testers all 13 tips 1. Map your toolbox 2. Define your career path 3. Combine testing techniques 4. Renounce your testing ego 5. Use more tech tools 6. Be part of the tech discussion 7. Work with feeds & logs Simple & Flexible Test Management 8. Meet your users 9. Create user profiles 10. Manage all Risk 11. Start testing earlier 12. S-M-A-R-T communication 13. Earn your respect

And finally, back to our Doctor If you got to choose, who would you go to? The one who has all the fancy diplomas on the wall and sits all day in his office? -- or -- The one who is constantly learning from experience and treating the latest illnesses? Simple & Flexible Test Management

About SaaS ALM Solution Simple & Intuitive yet Methodological & Flexible Integrates with Jira, Redmine, Bugzilla, SVN, Selenium, QTP, Ranorex, SoapUI, etc Best Darn Support in the Business Simple & Flexible Test Management

Thank You! joel@practitest.com http://qablog.practitest.com Simple & Flexible Test Management