Thursday 17 September 2009 - Are testers still being hired on their testing ability? |
I posted this on the Softwaretestingclub forum and on linkedin and it's proving to be quiet a discussion, so I thought I'd blog it:
Are testers still being hired on their testing ability?
I'm looking for work, I'm a tester. I've noticed, in the UK at least, that the majority of roles are:
a. Extremely specific - To the point that people are either lying to
get hired and/or just don't exist and so are lying to get hired or
nobody is getting hired.
b. A lot of job descriptions mention Agile and are only looking for
people with Agile experience, but there are a lot of organisations who
admit they aren't doing Agile properly or are looking for help doing
Agile so again people are lying to get hired or nobody is getting
hired. Or the organisation (judging from the job description) have no
idea what they are doing and have just decided they are agile. If you
have been working some where in a collaborative team, working to tight
schedules, getting the job done, you won't get a look in because the
organisations hasn't adopted the Agile 'badge'.
c. Agile is about the people, the right people, using the right tools,
which ever tools they maybe, working together, using process which help
instead of hinder to get the job done. So then looking for people with
experience with a specific tool rather then the capabilities of working
with any tool is against the Agile 'spirit' is it not? Looking for
people who have had experience in a certain industry rather then the
right capabilities and drive is against the Agile 'spirit' is it not?
Am I missing something?
d. Organisations are in such a rush that testing is actually third or
forth on the list of requirements when they are looking for a tester.
IE security clearance, experience in an industry like *********,
finance, etc come first. Candidates aren't actually being vetted just
checklists ticked off..
e. Because organisations are so specific(ally wrong) that they maybe missing out on the right people for the job.
I can understand looking for someone with experience with the tools you
use and experience in the industry but it seems like it's got to such a
point that these are the first choice rather then a good candidate with
the ability to use the tools you have and learn the industry,
experience is what you do with it, are you sure you have the right
candidate?
Or maybe it's just me?
|
| 1 Comments Permanent Link |
Tuesday 15 September 2009 - Soo....how many do you actually have? Aw go on, tell me. |
At the moment I have a desktop machine and a netbook. I've got Ubuntu running on the netbook and I had WinXP on the desktop. I decided to wipe the desktop clean and stick Ubuntu onto it. The powers that be decided that it was not to be and the HDD lost it's partitions and just won't repartition. I tried a number of things, zapping the MBR, tried a few different tools, Testdisk, etc. It just shows up as a RAW drive. For the time being I'm moving on and I'm ordering a new HDD today. I was checking out a few different sites for prices as you do. I've gone onto Amazon, they've apparently decided that the number of different drives they have a is a secret for themselves and only themselves, you will never ever know you eager beaver shopper. What's it to you anyway? Mind your own!
I'm so confused. If I was to select 'By Capacity' should that give me both SATA and IDE drives? Then shouldn't the number of IDE and SATA drives added together match the number of results for 'by Capacity'?
And what results are you showing me? 1-24 of 3,946? What? Where's 3,946 come from?
As you start scrolling through and see random HDD related items showing up you start to think that maybe there could be some fine tuning needed.
I like this one though, picture is a bit small but anybody know who it is? Is his name Tank or Gateway or something along those lines?
 |
| 0 Comments Permanent Link |
Wednesday 9 September 2009 - I love you........Read more |
| Hehe, Linkedin is now a dating service.
Read more... 
|
| 0 Comments Permanent Link |
Tuesday 1 September 2009 - From Play Time to Exploratory Testing |
| So I started a Exploratory Testing group on Linkedin. In one of the discussions (it seemed like) somebody was calling Exploratory Testing 'Play Time' and so following on from the 'Why is there a exploratory vs scripted, manual vs automated mindset?' discussion I'm curious to know at what point do you stop randomly clicking and put some thought into it? We briefly discussed this on Friday night at the London Tester Gathering, or rather I said, 'James (Lyndsay)! Nick (White) is calling ET play time' and then stood back and listened to people talk. Basically it was stated that ET and randomly clicking (play time) will pick up a lot of bugs, this we know. There is a difference though, randomly clicking and finding a bug usually comes with somebody saying 'I have no idea what I was doing but I got this error'. ET will give you a much more information and will point you in the right direction to *******te the error. So at what point do you stop and think 'maybe we should stop being random and focus in a little bit'? |
| 1 Comments Permanent Link |
Wednesday 26 August 2009 - Why!? Somebody tell me why?! Freaking automated phone systems. |
If I ring a large mobile phone company (I won't say it's name but think of the EasyJet colour) why do I have to enter in my mobile number and then my password on the automated system and then have to repeat this information to the person I get through to? That is, if you have the patience to work your way through the 6 menus and 19 options before you hear a crackly staticy voice who says his name is Mike, sure doesn't sound like somebody whose name would be Mike.
Surely (don't call me Shirley) in this day and age, with our advances in basically all things except common sense we can set it up so that they can see on the screen I've gone through the very same security questions they are about to ask me?
Maybe they can see that, maybe, they believe I'm being held captive by a bunch of madmen who really want to sort out my mobile phone account for me and they took over the phone as soon as I did the automated questions.
And also, if they sent me out a SIM card, they must have it on record and therefore also have the number of the SIM card on the system. Why must I read the SIM card number out to them? They sent it to me! They know what it is! If somebody somehow found the SIM card they would not know the security question answers unless Shawn Spencer is on the phone.
Grr I say. Grrr |
| 1 Comments Permanent Link |
Thursday 16 July 2009 - Audio Book Review: How To Talk To Anyone Anytime Anywhere - Larry King. |
I've just finished listening to How To Talk To Anyone Anytime Anywhere by Larry King.
I have to say that I've never actually seen or heard Larry King talk, I just know who he is.
It's always good to hear from people who are known and respected for something. Larry King is a respected and known.... I guess 'talker'.
While it's always interesting to hear other peoples stories, ideas and points I have to say straight away that if I was actually reading the book I most likely would have put it down, as I was listening to it I was able to get on with other things.
I think the issue is that there is nothing in there that isn't just common sense. It's full of things like 'If you are in a conversation, talk about something the other person is interested in', 'If you know a conversation is coming up, be prepared', 'keep eye contact' and so on.
If you can get the audiobook, give it a go, you may pick up something, you may not, I imagine the book would be very difficult to get through though. |
| 0 Comments Permanent Link |
Sunday 31 May 2009 - AutoIt WinZip install script. |
So in the AutoIt Help file there is a tutorial on writing a script to install WinZip. For anybody else working on their scripting I've attached the one I wrote as the Help file one is out of date as it's for WinZip 9.
#cs ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
AutoIt Version: 3.3.0.0
Author: Tony Bruce
Script Function:
Install Evaluation Version of WinZip 12.1. Keyboard shortcuts used (Send function)
#ce ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
; Run the WinZip installer
Run ("winzip121.exe")
; Wait for the WinZip 12.1 Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZipฎ 12.1 Setup", "&Setup")
; Click/Send S
Send ("!s")
; Wait for the WinZip 12.1 Setup Uniblue RegistryBooster screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip Setup - Uniblue RegistryBooster 2 Offer")
; Click/Send N
Send ("!n")
; Pause for 3 seconds
Sleep(3000)
; Click/Send Enter
Send ("{ENTER}")
; Wait for the WinZip 12.1 Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip 12.1 Setup", "&Next")
; Click/Send N
Send ("!n")
; Wait for the WinZip 12.1 Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip 12.1 Setup", "&accept the license agreement")
; Click/Send A
Send ("!a")
; Pause for 1 second
Sleep(1000)
; Click/Send N
Send ("!n")
; Wait for the WinZip 12.1 Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip 12.1 Setup", "&Next >")
; Wait for the WinZip 12.1 Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip 12.1 Setup", "&Next")
; Click/Send N
Send ("!n")
; Wait for the WinZip 12.1 Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip 12.1 Setup", "&Next")
; Click/Send N
Send ("!n")
; Wait for the WinZip 12.1 Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip 12.1 Setup", "&Next")
; Click/Send N
Send ("!n")
; Wait for the WinZip 12.1 Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip 12.1 Setup", "&Next")
; Click/Send N
Send ("!n")
; Wait for the WinZip Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip Setup", "&Next >")
; Click/Send N
Send ("!n")
; Wait for the WinZip Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip Setup", "&Next >")
; Click/Send N
Send ("!n")
; Wait for the WinZip Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip Setup", "&Next >")
; Click/Send
Send ("!n")
; Wait for the WinZip 12.1 Setup screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip 12.1 Setup", "&Finish")
; Click/Send F
Send ("!f")
; Wait for the WinZip screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip", "&Register")
; Click/Send V
Send ("!v")
; Wait for the WinZip Tip of the Day screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip Tip of the Day")
; Click/Send Enter
Send ("{ENTER}")
; Wait for the WinZip screen to become active
WinWaitActive ("WinZip (Evaluation Version)")
; Close the WinZip screen.
WinClose ("WinZip (Evaluation Version)")
; Close ("WinZipฎ - Installation Complete")
WinClose ("WinZipฎ - Installation Complete") |
| 0 Comments Permanent Link |
Monday 23 March 2009 - 10 Ways To Do Exploratory Testing Badly |
1. Don't stay on track, if you come across something you think needs some exploring, do it then and there.
2. Answer your emails, take and make phone calls, talk about the weather, cats and dogs, how The Princess Bride is the only movie ever where the lead actor is prettier then the lead actress.
3. Don't take any notes, keep it in your head.
4. Don't have anything written down, no need for a mission/charter.
5. Read articles, white papers, blogs on Exploratory Testing as you perform Exploratory Testing.
6. There are a few tools out and about to help with Exploratory Testing, ignore all of them. Tools? We ain't got no Tools. We don't need no Tools! I don't have to show you any stinkin' Tools!'
7. Don't log anything you find, keep it to yourself, all mine, mine, mine mine. My Precioussssssss.
8. Once you've finished, do it again, and keep repeating the same thing.
9. Don't worry about coverage, you covered stuff, that'll do.
10. Don't look for anything odd. |
| 1 Comments Permanent Link |
Monday 23 March 2009 - O-M-G! Me and AutoIT! BFFs 4 Eva!!! |
| So I've been having a play with AutoIT, in one word, wicked!!
Easy to pick up, lots of community spirit, lots of tutorials, examples, etc.
At the moment all I've scripted are two scripts, one makes a phone call through Office Communicator and the other picks it up in the other client, the phone calls are a random length between 5secs and 60mins.
I'm working through the tutorials, all good stuff.
If you're looking for a way to learn a bit of coding and create some useful tools to help with your
testing or write a few apps take a look at AutoIT.
|
| 0 Comments Permanent Link |
Wednesday 25 February 2009 - Anybody seen it? |
I read some bad reviews. Not as good as the first one.
|
| 0 Comments Permanent Link |
Tuesday 17 February 2009 - No results have been found |
On Friday, on the way to meet the R&D team in Paris (more on that in another post) my Sony Ericsson W850i decided it no longer wanted to be in this cruel, cruel world. While wearing its best angst face it quoted a few lyrics from a couple of Cure and NIN songs at me then gave me nothing. All I was left with was 'No network service' or something along those lines. I did the usual, powered it off and on, powered it off, took out the battery and SIM card, put them back, powered it on, etc. No go, my phone was never more all it did was flash a white screen at me. Doh! I decided to check out the warranty details. So I head over to the Sony Ericcson site. Find my phone. Type 'Warranty' into the search.  Some of you eagle eyed readers would have spotted 'Warranty' under the Quick Links... I did not. However I did try the Search...  Hmmm, I then pressed Back and noticed the Quick links. Link details look OK  Wicked! Thanks for that Sony Ericsson.
And the piece de resistance...... The results of searching on the sample search...
|
| 1 Comments Permanent Link |
Sunday 8 February 2009 - It's February already! Woah |
| It's February already! Time is flying by and slapping me in the face with both the little and big hands of a clock! I've been at my new role since early December and it's been good. It's been a while since I've worked for a smaller firm and I'm enjoying the change. I've joined a Unified Communications firm which is a new game for me, lots to learn.
My role is a little bit open ended, I'm 'the tester'. That covers a lot. In fact the whole lot. There have been some attempts at testing and setting up test doco and so on but done by non-testers. I've been shifting through and taking the useful bits.
The R&D team are based in Paris, I'm based in London, I met them for the first time last week. Seem like a bunch of hard work dedicated people which is good. Communication between the offices is lacking for some reason, which is bad. Have to see if we can improve on that.
Requirements are lacking. Have to see if we can improve on that.
TBC... |
| 0 Comments Permanent Link |
Sunday 8 February 2009 - How important is Test Automation? |
There was a post on linkedin: How important is Test Automation? which essentially was a link to a blog post. My answer following: I think the question and the post are a little bit too open ended (which does make them a good discussion starter). How important is test automation to who? For what? For when? You wrote 'failures and unexpected behaviors have become more prominent.' Prominent in what way? Are there more bugs in software now or are there more people using software and therefore finding bugs? You wrote about advancements in different technologies which of course there have been but does that mean the testing has to be automated? As others have said, it's situational and dependent on a lot of factors, too many to list. I disagree it will prevent human mistakes in testing though, after all, humans are creating this automated testing. Is automated testing going to find more bugs then a manual tester? No, but then again it's not supposed to (although again, situational). Is automated testing more important then manual testing? Maybe. Is manual testing more important then automated testing? Maybe. They are both part of the test process, they are used to achieve different things, both tools to be used to achieve your testing. /answer I didn't actually see a case for (the importance of) automated testing, maybe I missed it? I don't understand why automated testing is (according to some) at the forefront of testing? It's one aspect of testing, only one. |
| 0 Comments Permanent Link |
Wednesday 19 November 2008 - Says who? |
So I'm sitting here on my lunch break, burning my tongue on my baked potato with Chilli which will be followed by a quick bit of discreet trouser loosening. I'm browsing through random test sites. I stop to read this: Software Testing Best Pratices and Tips .
It starts off with: 'Following are some of the software testing best practices followed
by experienced software testers in the industry today:'. Fair enough. Says who? That sentence is not followed up with anything like 'These best practices were collected via questionnaires posted to the top 5 most popular testing forums' or 'They were collected by surveying testers at such and such expo and convention'. So........following on with my train of thought this is actually one persons list of best practices and tips and nothing to do with anybody else.
I'm not going to start in on best practices, there's plenty of discussion regarding best practices already out there so I'm going to bite my tongue, or rather my fingers.
I however love, absolutely love the fact that the following is a best practice followed by experienced software testers in the industry today: Start testing the application by intend of finding bugs/errors.
...........I don't really know what to write after that, it's not the complete paragraph, I think dear reader you should go read the whole article.
I could go on about the article it but I think it should be read by yourself, share your thoughts.
I would however like to write a best practice for the article writer, there are 20 hints and tips so I'd like to add tip 21.
21) During and after writing up anything run a spell checker. The article title is copied directly from the site.
|
| 1 Comments Permanent Link |
Tuesday 14 October 2008 - Hmm where to start...where to start? |
| So I just got some goodies, some new books that I should have got a long time ago: How to Break Software: A Practical Guide to Testing. Beginning Programming for Dummies. Lessons Learned in Software Testing: A Context Driven Approach. As Brian Johnson screams into my ears I wonder where to start? I read the first chapter of Lessons Learned last night before hitting the hay, I think I'll continue doing, a chapter a night as the chapters aren't too long. I'll try set aside half an hour to an hour and work through the exercises in the Dummies Guide and I still need to get some time to have a better look at IE8 Beta2. There isn't enough time! This reminds me of something I heard recently and makes me feel great, confirms for me that I have chosen the right path for myself. Earlier this year my family and I went to see a noted speaker, Chris Rock, a wise man (well kind of), on his 'Kill The Messenger' tour.
*****Possible spoiler of the show.*****
He spoke about the differences between a job and a career, I won't go into it but essentially, that if you have a job, you clock watch, if you have a career, there's not enough time in the day. Strange as it sounds, I don't have enough time in the day to cover everything I want to, I could do more, but then I'd be ignoring my family which is not the best option. I'm just going to have to try fit it all in. And so as Wilson Pickett tells me to Hold On, he's comin' I tell any testers wanting to improve to find some time, any amount of time, read a blog, a better blog then mine! Read a book, watch a video, learn where you can, practice where you can, it all helps. |
| 2 Comments Permanent Link |
Sunday 5 October 2008 - Price Comparison. Hmmmmmm, no I'm fine thanks. |
So I was checking out laptops on Friday and ebuyer have a price comparison tool on their site advertising 'Find the best deals with Price commparison that's quick and simple!'. So I clicked on it, this is what I got.  The Price Comparison tool hasn't picked up the price change. I thought 'maybe there's a delay, not the best idea but who am I to judge?'
I checked again just now, Sunday night.  Think I might just check up on pricings myself for the moment thanks. |
| 1 Comments Permanent Link |
Wednesday 1 October 2008 - IE8 Beta 2 |
| So I was accepted to be a IE8 Beta 2 tester and I've finally had a chance to stick it on a VirtualBox VM. I launched it and thought, holy moly what a lot stuff!! Buttons! Tabs! Kitchen sinks! Hobbits! All on one browser! I'm not sure whether it's because I've been trying out Safari or if there is actually a abundance of stuff but it sure looks like an overload.
I'm not sure what Microsoft's need is to always cram so much stuff in but I'm sure it'll make for some interesting testing.
I've noticed that the file versions differ slightly; 6.3.15.0 or 6.3.0015.0 depending where you look.
I also selected UK on downloading but the default language is still English (United States).
Haven't had a chance to fully get into it or check how the other testers are getting on, I'm going to try over the next few nights and have a proper look this weekend.
If you've had a look at IE8 Beta2 let me know your thoughts.
|
| 0 Comments Permanent Link |
Wednesday 10 September 2008 - Can't work well under Waterfall or V Model won't work well in Agile. Discuss! |
| So, I was walking my mutts the other day, it was a nice weekend morning, I was walking the streets, smelling the morning smells of the neighbourhood. The coffee brewing, the pancakes being cooked and for some reason I got to thinking, would a team who for whatever reason can't work well in a Waterfall or V Model environment perform well in an Agile one? It's an open ended question as there are a lot of different factors as to why teams may not perform well but generally, I would have thought; no. It's kind of like saying if you drive badly in an old VDub Beetle are you going to do any better in a Porsche Boxter? The actual answer IMHO? Maybe. It depends on the people and the reasons performance with Waterfall or V wasn't working. Whether it's a matter of trust, experience, lack of skill sets etc etc. Moving to a cycle which requires discipline, a lot of team work, people wearing multiple hats, streamlined documentation etc will not suit everyone. So this brings me to ask, how is the decision to move to Agile reached? Is it always the right decision? From the amount of posts on blogs and forums I'd have to say no. It seems to me that a lot of firms want to join the Agile club and get the nice shiny badge but aren't actually fully prepared or committed to becoming Agile. It then seems like a lot of confusion ensues and doesn't seem worth the excerise. I'd like to hear your thoughts? Experiences?
I started this post the other day and I finished it tonight while I was checking out Metallica's new album; Death Magnetic. I have to say, welcome back fellas, the sound that got people into Metallica in the first place is back! Hetfield's growl is no longer there but a definite and welcome return.
I'm 100% happy with the post though, it may need a review and a few amendments.
Any views or opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author only.
|
| 1 Comments Permanent Link |
|
About Me
A place for me to write about testing and tested related things. Occasionally general items will sneak in but that's life.
Friends
philk10
jimtest
PeteNairn
strazzerj
|
