Many testers feel that their organizations do not treat them with the same level of professionalism and respect that their development peers receive. Testers attribute this to the fact that testing is a relatively “new” profession, that few universities grant a formal degree in software testing, and all sorts of other external factors—things beyond their control. But, to be perceived as professionals, we need to start by becoming more professional. Joel Montvelisky shares a number of things we can do to improve our professionalism while increasing the value of our work in our organizations. These simple yet important things include expanding our technical involvement in projects, increasing the interaction with our users and their representatives, leading the risk assessment process in our projects, and more. Joel reviews twelve specific points—practical tips you can start using right away to become a more professional tester.

1. W5
Personal Excellence
5/7/2014 11:30:00 AM
Twelve Tips for Becoming a
More Professional Tester
Presented by:
Joel Montvelisky
PractiTest
Brought to you by:
340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073
888-268-8770 ∙ 904-278-0524 ∙ sqeinfo@sqe.com ∙ www.sqe.com

2. Joel Montvelisky
PractiTest
For the past fifteen years, Joel Montvelisky has been a tester, QA manager, and consultant,
working with both small and large organizations in Israel and the Silicon Valley. Joel believes
that testers should always strive to provide more QA intelligence value to their organizations
and to expand both professionally and technically. As principal solution architect at PractiTest,
he works with hundreds of teams worldwide, gathering knowledge and experience on the
changing roles and the challenges testers face in today's dynamic reality. Joel is a blogger and
collaborator in multiple QA communities and testing magazines. Read more of Joel’s thoughts
on the QA Intelligence blog, qablog.practitest.com.

3. 4/26/2014
1
Joel Montvelisky
Chief Solution Architect
Simple & Flexible Test Management
12 Tips for Becoming
a More Professional Tester
(…or how to stop being a Non-Professional tester)
A little about me…
Professions:
- 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)
Other (interesting) stuff
Simple & Flexible Test Management

4. 4/26/2014
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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
State of Testing 2013
Tea-Time with Testers &
PractiTest
(with the help of tens of
bloggers and tweeps worldwide)
Over 600+ respondents from
40+ countries
Will run yearly
Download the report FREE from
PractiTest’s blog
Simple & Flexible Test Management

5. 4/26/2014
3
Is Testing a Profession?
Simple & Flexible Test Management
Profession (Merriam-Webster):
“A type of job that requires
special Education, Training, or Skill”
Then why do so many testers
feel they are not Professionals???
Simple & Flexible Test Management

6. 4/26/2014
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What makes
someone A Professional?
Simple & Flexible Test Management
Let’s take a couple of examples
of Professionals in other fields
A Doctor
A Wood Craftsman
A Soldier Knowledge
Experience
Tools
Simple & Flexible Test Management

7. 4/26/2014
5
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
Testing tools
Technical tools
User Advocacy tools
Project tools
Communication tools
Simple & Flexible Test Management

8. 4/26/2014
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Do you know what’s 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.
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.
Simple & Flexible Test Management

9. 4/26/2014
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How do you plan &
run your tests today?
Simple & Flexible Test Management
Your Virtual Toolbox-
Testing Tools / Approaches
Tip 3 – Combine multiple testing techniques
Don’t 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 ego outside the testing lab, concentrate on the
testing tasks and NOT on the people around them.
Simple & Flexible Test Management

10. 4/26/2014
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Are you a
Technical Tester?
Simple & Flexible Test Management
You need 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 tools and spend
some time perfecting your knowledge of it.
Tip 6 – Be part of the technical discussion of your
project
Get involved in the technical aspects. Participate in design
sessions, code walkthroughs, learn about the system’s
architecture, ask your programmers about the internals of their
work.
Simple & Flexible Test Management

11. 4/26/2014
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Your Virtual Toolbox-
Technical Tools
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 what’s
going on “behind the scenes” of your product.
Simple & Flexible Test Management
What are you doing to
get to know your users?
Simple & Flexible Test Management

12. 4/26/2014
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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

13. 4/26/2014
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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
Don’t 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

14. 4/26/2014
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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

15. 4/26/2014
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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?
-- or --
The one who is constantly
learning and treating
the latest illnesses?
Simple & Flexible Test ManagementSimple & Flexible Test ManagementSimple & Flexible Test Management

16. 4/26/2014
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Thank You!
joel@practitest.com
Simple & Flexible Test Management