1. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Being
a
Tester
in
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin

2. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
A
li7le
about
us
Teri
15+
years
tes=ng,
co-­‐organizer
of
Boulder
QA
Meetup
Twi7er:
@booksrg8
Lisa
20+
years
tes=ng,
agile
teams
since
2000
Currently
tester
on
Pivotal
Tracker
team
Twi7er:
@lisacrispin
Email:
lisa@agiletester.ca

3. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
How
About
You?
Tell
us
a
li7le
about
yourselves!

4. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Why
So
Much
Confusion?
Automating is the answer!
Let’s hire some SDETs!

5. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Examples
of
Job
Descrip=ons
• 2+
years
C#
is
a
must
• 2+
years
working
as
a
Quality
Assurance
in
a
SoYware
Engineering
test
capacity
• 2+
web
applica=on
development
• 2+
JavaScript
MVC
framework
• 2+
years
ASP.NET
MVC
• Ability
to
architect
and
op=mize
test
frameworks
for
key
automa=on
ini=a=ves
• Integrate
automated
tests
into
con=nuous
integra=on
workflows
• BDD,
TDD,
Unit
tes=ng,
Jasmine,
SpecFlow

6. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
More
Examples
of
Job
Descrip=ons!
• ASP.NET
Web
API,
RESTful
API
development
or
integra=on
• Single
Page
Applica=on
(SPA)
development
• MongoDB
or
other
NoSQL
database
• Ember.js
or
SproutCore
• AWS
deployment
and
management,
cloud
automa=on
• Expert
knowledge
of
relevant
development
tools
&
code
management
repositories
(Netbeans,
Eclipse,
Komodo,
SVN
or
equivalent)
• High-­‐scale
performance
tuning
• Competency
in
one
of
the
following
languages:
C,
C++,
Perl,
Java
or
Python
is
a
plus

7. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Where
is
the
Confusion
Coming
From?
• Recruiters
• Hiring
Managers
• Testers

8. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Ques=on
In
your
current
job,
what
was
the
job
pos=ng
vs.
what
is
it
you
actually
do?

9. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
To
code
or
not
to
code,
that
is
the
ques=on!

10. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Do
You
Need
to
Learn
How
to
Code?
• Do
you
want
to
learn
how
to
code?
Ø Then
do
it
• Do
you
not
want
to
learn
how
to
code?
Ø Then
don’t
do
it

11. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Most
Importantly…Don’t
Freak
Out
• Figure
out
who
YOU
are,
what
are
YOU
interested
in
• Get
more
technical
Ø Get
more
comfortable
looking
at
code
Ø Know
your
domain
Ø Learn
a
bit
of
SQL,
shell…
Ø Use
IDE
team
uses
Ø Ask
ques=ons
Ø Know
what
you
need
to
add
value

12. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
What
is
“Being”
a
Tester?
• Think
like
a
Tester!
• Being
a
detec=ve!
• Ask
the
ques=ons!
• Communicate!
• Courage!
• Learn…learn…and
then
learn
some
more!
• Is
it
knowing
processes,
wri=ng
test
plans
and
test
cases?
• Competencies
trump
roles

13. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Learn
the
Rules
So
You
Can
Break
the
Rules!

14. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Ques=on
What
do
we/you
love
about
it
being
a
tester?

15. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Group
Exercise
At
your
table,
write
one
item
per
s=cky
note.
• What
do
you
do
now
in
your
job?
• What
would
you
like
to
be
doing?
Each
person
read
your
s=cky
notes
and
place
on
table.
Group
similar
items.
• Do
any
similar
themes
emerge?

16. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Learn
New
Skills
• Mentors
• Publica=ons
• Books
• Blog
pos=ngs
• Webinars
• Conferences
• Meetups
• Online
communi=es

17. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Exercise
• Pick
your
top
learning
goals
and
make
a
plan
Ø For
next
week
Ø For
next
month
Ø For
next
six
months
• Bonus:
Pair
with
a
buddy,
exchange
emails,
keep
each
other
informed
on
your
progress

18. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Educate
Others
• One
of
the
best
ways
to
learn
something
is
to
teach
something!
• Hold
a
brown
bag
at
work
• Write.
Get
published!
• Present
at
conferences
• Present
at
local
Meetups
• What
are
some
other
ideas?

19. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
Learning
Resources
• Tes=ng
Resources:
h7ps://www.mindmeister.com/
311371613
• The
Giant
Mind
Map
of
Testers
to
Follow:
h7ps://
www.mindmeister.com/542046667
• Lambert,
Rob,
"T-­‐shaped
Testers
and
Their
Role
In
a
Team",
h7p://thesocialtester.co.uk/t-­‐shaped-­‐testers-­‐
and-­‐their-­‐role-­‐in-­‐a-­‐team/
,
2012
• Levison,
Mark,
"The
Beginner's
Mind
-­‐
An
Approach
to
Listening",
h7p://www.infoq.com/news/2008/08/
beginners_mind,
InfoQ,
2008
• McMillan,
Darren,
"Mind
Mapping
101",
for
Tes=ng:
h7p://www.be7ertes=ng.co.uk/content/?p=956,
2011
• Pa7on,
Jeff,
User
Story
Mapping,
2014
• Wynne,
Ma7
and
Aslak
Hellesoy,
The
Cucumber
Book:
Behavior-­‐Driven
Development
for
Testers
and
Developers,
Pragma=c
Programmers,
2012

20. Copyright
2015
Teri
Charles
and
Lisa
Crispin
More
Learning
Resources
• Adzic,
Gojko,
SpecificaGon
by
Example:
How
Successful
Teams
Deliver
the
Right
SoMware,
Manning,
2011
• Adzic,
Gojko,
Impact
Mapping:
Making
a
Big
Impact
with
SoMware
Products
and
Projects,
2012a
h7p://
impactmapping.org
• Gärtner,
Markus,
ATDD
By
Example:
A
PracGcal
Guide
to
Acceptance
Test-­‐Driven
Development,
Addison-­‐Wesley,
2012a
• Karten,
Naomi,
"Are
You
Listening?",
h7p://
www.agileconnec=on.com/ar=cle/are-­‐you-­‐listening,
Agile
Connec=on,
2009
• Keogh,
Liz,
h7p://lunivore.com
-­‐
look
for
her
posts
on
BDD,
Real
Op=ons
• Knight,
Adam
P.,
"T-­‐shaped
Tester,
Square
Shaped
Team",
h7p://thesocialtester.co.uk/t-­‐shaped-­‐tester-­‐
square-­‐shaped-­‐team/,
2013