** FULL WEBINAR RECORDING: https://youtu.be/IC6ul_-PLj8 ** Find your hire power: Learn what managers look for when hiring (and firing...) testers. Being an expert tester is no different. While the art and craft of testing and being a thinking tester is something that is built within you, simply going to work every day and being a tester is not always enough. Each of us can become “gold medal testers” by practicing, studying, refining our skills, and building our craft. In this webinar, we will evaluate extracurricular activities and practices that will enable you to grow from a good tester to a great tester. Listen to this webinar, and enjoy these key takeaways: ** Inputs from testing experts on how they improve their skills ** Suggestions for online training and materials, which should be studied ** How to leverage social media to interact with the testing community ** Contributions you can make to the testing community to build your name as a leading test engineer

1. TESTING IS NOT A 9 TO 5 JOB
AppliTools Webinar
Mike Lyles
Thursday, March 15, 2018

2. ABOUT ME - @MIKELYLES
Director of QA & PM with over 20 years in IT:
• Development
• Project Management Office
• Development Manager
• Testing
• Functional Testing
• Performance Testing
• Automation in Testing
• Test Environments
• SCM, Test Data Management
• Service Virtualization
• Building New Test Teams
• Processes, Methodologies, Measurement
• Releasing a Motivational Book in 2018
2
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikewlyles/
@MikeLyles

3. AGENDA
• What is a 9 to 5 Tester?
• Testing EVERYWHERE!
• Experiences from the testing community
• Thinking beyond the 9 to 5…
3

4. MOTIVATIONAL
TESTER
TESTER
TESTERS BREAK
4

5. MOTIVATIONAL
TESTER
Tester
5

6. Hiring
Testers…

7. Do You Love Your Job?
7

8. Do You Want To Get Better?
8

9. Michael Phelps
9

10. 10

11. My Dad Worked in a Factory
11

12. 9-to-5 verses Professional Tester
12

13. You never realize how
boring your life is until
someone asks you what you
like to do for fun!
- Unknown -
13

14. Do Not Confuse
this with a
Workaholic
14

15. Did You Start Your
Career as a Tester?
15

16. Are You
Born
with It?
16

17. The Drive-Thru
is Not Always
17

18. There are worse things than
"We've always done it this way"
“Everybody is doing it this way”
18

19. “A good way to learn how
to deal with something is to
listen to those that have
already been through it
themselves”
- Mike Lyles -
19

20. Survey Results
20

21. HRS PER
WEEK IN
MEETINGS?
49.07% > 5 hrs
21.25% > 10 hrs
21

22. HRS PER WEEK IN
REQUIREMENTS
AND
PROJECT
REVIEWS?
72.28% <= 5 hrs
20 hours?
22

23. HRS PER WEEK
IN COMPANY
FUNCTIONS
NOT RELATED
TO TESTING? 23

24. TESTING
ACTIVITIES
OUTSIDE OF
WORK?
Reading Blogs
Discussions on Social
Media (LI, FB, Twitter)
Testing
Conferences
Testing Training
Classes
Testing Meetups
Reading Articles /
Books on Testing
Crowdtesting
Other
24

25. THE “OTHER” 17.98% WERE….
• Learn development skills and automation skills
• Watched videos and listened to podcasts on testing
• Mentoring
• Face-to-face with other testers at local events
• Practicing testing on self made exercises
• Mobile games
• Photography
• Job searching
• Non-testing books & watching videos to find a testing relation
• Testing the Quality of Whiskeys
25

26. Conference Numbers Are Growing
26

27. Blogs
and
Articles
are
King
27

28. HOW DO YOU LEARN TESTING AT WORK?
1. Learning multiple domains
2. Latest technologies and strategies
3. Learning development practices
4. Customer views of the software / understanding the business
5. Exploratory Testing / thinking of new scenarios to test
6. Pair Testing
7. In-house brown bag lunch and learns
8. Studying security testing
9. Training junior or entry level testers
10. MAKING TESTING FUN!
28

29. IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING…
1. Process improvement / more creative approaches in testing
2. Stop project teams from minimizing testing hours
3. Learn coding where needed
4. Include testers in the whole SDLC (especially in the design phase)
5. Mentorship / coaching programs
6. Meet the customers
7. Flexibility in working hours
8. Change mindset of non-testing teams about testing importance
9. Testers influence quality instead of seen as gatekeepers
10. REMOVE QUOTAS FROM TESTING! (e.g. # bugs, # test cases)
29

30. MINIMIZE
MEETINGS!
IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING…
30

31. No test team ever woke
up one day and said
‘We Are Going to Fail’
31

32. As testers, one of our most
important jobs is to reveal
problems that threaten the value
of the product and the on-time,
successful completion of the
project at every level of
granularity.
- Michael Bolton -
32

33. THE LATEST DRIVER ON THE ROAD
• My son is 15 now
• Learner’s permit to drive
• Knows the fundamentals
• Has NOT seen real life yet
• Testing has new surprises
every day – BE READY!
33

34. Look
Under
Your Seat
for Your
Number!
34

35. We All Have 24 Hrs a Day
Sleep Sleep Sleep
YOUR
TIME
YOUR
TIME
Work Work Work
Sleep Sleep Sleep
YOUR
TIME
YOUR
TIME
Work Work Work
Sleep Sleep
YOUR
TIME
YOUR
TIME
YOUR
TIME
Work Work Work
35

36. My Distraction…. TV!36

37. Have an Opinion
37

38. Socialize!!
38

39. Follow Testers on Twitter
https://twitter.com/mikelyles/lists/testing/members
• Join my “Testing” list on Twitter
• Over 1200 members
39

40. Read: Study Writings of Testing Leaders
40

41. Sites to Follow
https://mikelyles.wordpress.com/testapedia/
• View my “Testapedia” list on Wordpress
• Updates are coming soon!
41

42. Test All
The
Time
42

43. Are You
Born
with It?
Test This TV
Controller
43

44. WHAT WOULD YOU TEST FIRST?
• There are many things to test
• But, did you consider everything?
• Is there a service connected to the TV?
• Are there batteries in the controller?
• Is the TV plugged in to power?
• Is this the controller for THIS specific TV?
44

45. 45

46. OK… NOT “EVERYTHING”
46

47. Share
Your
Story
47

48. Q6: Do You Have a Mentor?
267
testing professionals
surveyed
243 (91%)
said they DID NOT
have a mentor
48

49. MEASURING MENTOR SUCCESS
• Build roadmaps and track results
• Solving the coach’s testing exercises
• Blogs and articles are my coach!
• Testing community is where I obtain mentoring
49

50. 50

51. “People know you for what
you’ve DONE, not for what
you PLAN to do”
- Unknown -
51

52. What Do You Want to Have
Achieved in 20 Years?
52

53. If you want
to see growth
in your
career, help
someone else
grow theirs!
53

54. You Have
the
Potential
to Change
the
World!
54

55. MIKE LYLES
Director of QA & PM, Bridgetree
Twitter: @mikelyles
mikewlyles@gmail.com
www.MikeWLyles.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikewlyles/
www.TheDriveThruBook.com
55

56. WRAPPING UP
• Practice, practice, practice!
• Think outside the requirements
• Don’t do it because “Everyone else is doing it this way”
• Get SOCIAL
• Study writings and articles from community
• Test EVERYTHING
• Tell your story
• Blogs are right now the best way to get info
• Influence the community at work and around you
• GET A MENTOR!
56

57. Q1: WHAT IS
YOUR TITLE /
ROLE?
57

58. 9 to 5 Professional
Test at work / in office only Tests everything they see
Doesn’t study testing outside
work
Studies testing, attends
webinars, reads blogs and
articles
Isn’t involved in the testing
community
Talks to the community, learns
from others
Learning is limited to work Learns from mentors/peers
58