Who’s a good tester?
I was clearing out some online trash and bumped into an article that I wrote many years ago on a Wordpress page… I have moved away from that blog page since and Wordpress does not help me remove stuff… 🙄
In any case, I see that the article is still relevant hence sharing it here…
During my career as a software tester, I have heard the term “good tester” so many times that I have lost count of it. ” You are going to be a good tester if you do things this way” or “These are the things you need to do to become a good tester”. Well, while all of that really sounds great at that moment and you feel a rush of blood, the fact is that mere words or a pep talk would not necessarily make you a “good tester”. In one of the interviews Pradeep Soundararajan, the CEO of Moolya Testing points out that becoming a good tester is an ongoing process and cannot happen overnight. I completely agree with him. I have evolved as tester and in fact, I am still evolving. Technology is changing too fast for us to believe that once we have acquired a skill we are done. By then you would realize that, the world is taken over by a new technology and you end up playing a catch up game. The key here is to keep updating yourself constantly to keep abreast with technology and all that’s happening in the world. Read about new stuff, attend conferences, meet ups and be willing to experiment a lot.
I think the one skill that a tester should possess is story telling. Now what’s story telling has got to do with software testing? If you are relating it to a well written defect report then that’s just a part of it. A good story teller would only be able to tell his/her stories better than anyone else. He/she would know precisely the high and low points of his story and would be able to bring our the exact emotions around it. In the same way a tester once having interacted with a product would be able to share stories about it and tell us more about the behavior of the product and the discoveries he/she has made during the journey of testing it. He/she would be in the best position to get into the little details and would know the exact scenarios that he/she would need to test application out.
Becoming a good tester is a process - A journey in itself. It is about continuous learning and implementing what you have learnt. The obvious question - Learn from whom? Try and learn from everyone around.
I have seen testers reading the requirements documents again and again till they are absolutely sure they understand them completely. And obviously the more number of times you read it the more questions you would have. The golden rule is - Ask, ask, ask until you are absolutely sure. I learnt these tricks very early and found my life becoming easier and easier.
OK so is that it? No way. Testers test and good testers test with innovation. Practicing from every day learning and from people who have been testing for a long time, is one way and reading is another. I love to read about technology. There’s something new everyday. It makes me curious and makes me think of new ways to test. The next step is to share your knowledge and experience and that’s really easy. Participate in testing events. Write blogs Talk about your experience. I have always found that I have learnt more when I have shared.
Finally, one should just explore. I see a new app in Google Play or App Store, I don’t hesitate to download it and play around with it. I find new things and make some startling discoveries almost every time which makes me feel good and teaches me a lot. Exploring in my opinion is one of the best possible ways to learn testing and getting better at it.
I am sure all you testers have your own story to tell so just open up and I am sure you will get on the road to becoming a good rather a great tester.
