Being an employee has always been a challenge, but, as a tester experience is no less than a roller-coaster ride every day inside a QA office. I come, mark my attendance, review the results’ report, schedule further test projects… testing… fixing… reporting and the cycle go on…
This piece of writing is dedicated to every tester who wants to share a day from his testing life.
Enjoy reading your everyday testing story! 😉
Well, if I talk about myself, I was just an aspiring computer geek who loved to play and experiment with new techie trends and software.
I confess…I am guilty of hacking a couple of accounts back in my teens just like any other kid my age would have…you know trying to be a tech-junkie. But who knew that the teenage hacker will become a gatekeeper of those software applications one? Well, here I am!
When I started as a junior…
When I entered the testing industry, I was a bit nervous and obviously new, but the guidance of my team lead and seniors helped me grow like a pro. I was assigned new tasks each day, it was tough, but undeniably I learned plenty of innovative techniques in the process. For me, QA testing came as an adventurous ride that taught me how to be flexible and become more adaptive towards an intricate software development project.
Sometimes they’d pamper me, sometimes they’d scold me. But yes, it was part of my beginner testing journey!
Life as a senior tester
With the passage of time I became an experienced tester, however here I would like to add that, gaining expertise is not like sleeping on a bed of roses. Always remember, roses come with thorns!
Same goes for my life as a tester in my QA office!
There are days when I am actually excited about new projects, but then there are also those times when I just wish the day ends sooner. Though, rarely but, yes, do have those moments too.
This maybe the case for nearly every other tester that every one of you wishes to complete the day’s tasks and reach home in time, but as I mentioned before, it is a frequent expectation that rarely fulfills. There are 70% chances that a bug pops up at the end of the day and it’s the moment when you know you are left with no choice but sitting for more two hours fixing it.
As a team lead…
Eventually, I got promoted as a leader, but what I perceived about a team manager proved a stereotype later. I was not having fun and enjoying being a boss, instead, my routine became more perplexing and troublesome. I had to manage getting chores done within the deadlines assigned by our clients. Every new testing project came with new complexities where I had to mold myself accordingly every time.
Above all, QA team leads spends his day managing their teams and believe me, it’s a huge responsibility to get along with Agile and DevOps with people having different ideas and mindsets. However, I manage it somehow.
It’s been a long run, I look back and see how my QA office has polished me becoming a professional tester.
If you are new to testing and going through some hard time, here, I have some pro tips for you that can improve your reputation in your QA office impressively.
Every time you start your day, don’t forget to follow these tweaks:
Know Your Task
Make it obvious that you know the testing scope of your assigned task. If you don’t, don’t hesitate to ask your lead about it. But have knowledge of what you are going to do.
Prioritization is a key to Success!
Make a checklist, prioritize your testing tasks, and follow the flowchart till the cycle ends. Be rough, be disciplined!
Set a Goal
After you are done with the checklist, set a target and stick to it until you accomplish it by the end of the day.
Time Management
It can get really troubling when you have to run multiple test cycles and sometimes you don’t even realize that there is no time left for bug fixing!
Make sure you divide the test suites into different platforms and get the tasks done in shorter time frames.
Make Reporting a Habitual practice
Reporting should be one of your everyday habits. A summed up report has everything from test plan to the end results. So make sure you add itsy bitsy details in that report in a very precise manner that is understandable by every team member.
Though it does tend to drive me nuts sometimes, I still love my profession and of course my QA office!
