Testing Career
A student asked: “I am working as a software tester for a company. If I want to be a very good tester or quality assurance, what skills should I acquire? If I like to move up to test manager and be professional test consultant is it possible? What do I need to build a career like that? Please help.”
Answer: It is an excellent career plan as you describe in your email, starting from tester to quality assurance to test manager and then test consultant. To be a good tester, you need to have some software development skills, a strong knowledge of the development process, understand various methodologies, and the ability to select and use some testing tools. You also need to prioritize tasks when working on projects where time is limited. A good tester needs to be patient, pay attention to details, willing to take the point of view of the user, with a quality conscious attitude. Beside technical skills, you also need to build strong soft-skills such as communication, negotiation to maintain good relationship with developers. You also need an ability to communicate with both technical (developers) and non-technical people (customers, management).
Most good testers become excellent software quality assurance (SQA). A good SQA should have some knowledge about quality standards, especially the international quality standards such as the ISO 9000-3; ISO/IEC 2382-7:1989; IEEE Standard 610.12: 1990; IEEE standard 1228 1994; IEC 61580; EIA/IS -632; ISO/IEC 8631: 1989. Additionally, A SQA must be able to understand the entire software development process and how it fits into the business approach and goals of the company. Of course, soft-skills such as communication, reporting, presentation and the ability to understand various sides of issues are important.
Most good testers and SQA are good candidates for Test Manager Positions or Test Consultant when they have more experiences. Basically everything they did previously become the foundation where they can use their experiences to build upon. In these positions, the important skills are mostly software –skills such as leadership to promote teamwork to increase productivity; be able to promote cooperation between developers, testers, and SQA and the ability to withstand pressures and say ‘no’ to other managers when quality is insufficient or QA processes are not being adhered to.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
