I'll continue my heart-warming story from the moment I was demoted from technical writer to tester. I was upset then, but in a way I was happy, because I no longer had to deal with the tyrant boss. And indeed, our communication came to an eight-month hiatus. But I'll tell you about our new meeting at the very end.
First Steps in Testing
At first, I was full of enthusiasm, as befits a novice. I'll try to give advice to our reader — try to maintain your enthusiasm for work from the very beginning, it gives strength and allows you to take on new and new challenges. After all, many people are happy to help you — seeing the spark in your eyes. I started by reading as many articles as possible about web testing (this was my project). You won't have to suffer as I did, gathering bits of knowledge across the internet — all the necessary knowledge is collected in the course Galaxy QA Academy.
How to work?
At first, there was little experience and intuition as a tester, so my first helpers were documentation and common sense. I spent a lot of time studying the functionality in every possible way — reading help files, specs, manuals, and everything related to the product I was supposed to test. Knowing the product allows me to create a mental map of it, which helps understand all the connections. For example, if there's a renovation in the basement of a house, an error might bring the whole house down, but if it's on the top floor, you need to check that floor and the roof. Moreover, people still prefer to hire new testers from support — because knowing the product is already 50% of the success in testing.
And of course, I'll mention the most important thing — torturing colleagues. While I was just learning, I literally tortured them all, especially the senior tester, whom I helped at first. After all, they essentially possess unique knowledge and experience in testing your product. Don't be afraid to ask how it works, which bugs occur more often, whether I'm testing this correctly, what test cases you already have (I went through all existing test cases, and there weren't many), and so on. Of course, you can't be annoying to one side, but on the other hand, people who are interested in work and show enthusiasm start to gain more respect from colleagues. And the last important point — what really annoys people is when they're asked the same thing twice. So try to write down important information if you're not sure you'll remember everything.
The Path to Success
And then everything became more prosaic. I really enjoyed the QA work, and I still see no less creativity in it than in design. After all, it's your imagination and skill that determine what tests you come up with. What also attracted me to this job is the responsibility — it's pleasant to realize that it's up to you to ensure the product's quality and the success of releases. Later, I moved up the career ladder: I started by testing the product, then led a team of web bank testers, and then the entire testing department. Is there any secret to success? It's simple — take responsibility, always ensure software quality, and never stop learning. After all, the path opens first of all for those who know more about new technologies.
Thank you and attention, I hope my experience will help you in life, and success in testing!
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