Want To Grow In Testing Career? My 5 Strategies For You !
Growth.
That is what all of us want. Right?
We need to grow-both personally and professionally.
Some people think that there is no growth in testing. According to them , we just test. Execute test cases, report bugs. Some times, we use automation.
But that is wrong perception.
You, as a tester is important to a product’s success.
If product becomes success, company, which launched project will be successful. It grows.
And as company grows, you can grow.
Ah, your growth need not be limited to organization where you are working.
Growth can be outside also.
With about two decades of experience in the testing, I’ve picked up some time-tested strategies.
They have not only helped me survive but grow in this dynamic industry.
I am sharing 5 of them, so that you can implement them and grow.
They are implement them. Form today.
Rollup your sleeves..
Let’s grow !!
Want to discuss about your career? Call me 1-on-1
Continuous Learning and Skill Enhancement
Learning.
Keep learning. Always.
You can not grow, the moment you stop learning.
Learning in my opinion is limitless.
Learning can be new skills-technical skills, soft skills, processes, graduation, learning product, learning from mistakes, end less list.
You can learn new and trending skills (skills in demand).
They can be Cloud technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Information security etc.
But I would suggest to focus your attention on technology related to you.
Since you are in testing, I would suggest to learn API testing (manual and automated), security testing performance testing, Accessibility testing, DB testing. Many more to list.
Point to be noted here.
Automated testing is good. You should learn it. Implement it.
In that, learn different tools, different frameworks. Understand why particular framework is being used.
But automated testing is not enough. Testing is like ocean.
You should learn the domain where you are working.
Understand regulations (if applicable).
Now, soft skills.
This is never ending learning.
To grow in testing career, you need to be proficient in multiple skills.
Communication is of prime importance. It can be written, oral, any form of communication.
You need to precisely ,effectively communicate.
Then listening skills, public speaking, presentation, critical thinking, analysing…again a endless learning.
Networking and Collaboration:
Testing is not done in silos.
It is a team work. Team work within QA team, with developers, with product team and other stake holders.
You, as tester work together with different stake holders.
That is, you are collaborating with different teams to make product successful.
But, here I am talking to collaborate to achieve your goals, make yourself successful.
Now, how to collaborate?
Collaboration can be within your company, outside of your company. And of course online.
Collaboration can be started only with networking.
Approach people. Appreciate their work.
Ask them if you can help them. In any way. Take up some of their tasks.
Attend the workshops, seminars and meet-ups.
There you will learn many things.
More importantly, you will get chance to meet with industry experts.
You can learn from their experiences, their mistakes and much more.
By participating, people will know you.
You will know them !
Also, you can participate in your company discussions, seminars. You will come to know who is who in your company.
Have chit-chat with them.
They are great source of learning.
Later you can have offline discussion with them. Develop the professional relationship with these experts.
Remember, DO NOT approach the people only when there is a need.
No one will care.
Personal Branding
Brands sell.
I think you know it already. You buy the products seeing advertisements in television, social media etc.
So, advertisements are key here.
Similarly, if you want people to know you, you need to create your brand.
Now, how to create brand?
Well, here are the options.
You need to showcase (advertise )your skills. This can be done by multiple ways. Few of them are writing online blogs, knowledge sharing sessions etc.
Today, you have lot of options.
Write in Medium, Linkedin etc. You can write in your company blog site ( I am sure almost all companies have provision for this).
You can make training videos and upload them in Youtube.
Also, you can you can contribute to open source projects.
Internally, I suggest to offer your service with stake holders. Of course for free !
Example, I collaborate with Product manager to help create stories, write acceptance criteria, ask questions about products features, usage, etc.
You can offer your service to developers by performing unit testing. Just giving you an example.
By showcasing your skills and providing value to others, you can create your brand.
Once the brand is created, people will trust you.
And then ,when you earn the trust, you will grow.
User-Centric Mindset
You are the first user of product.
Proud user of product. You, as the tester, get the privilege to use the product before it is released by the product.
So, you need to think like a user.
You need to understand the user persona. What are user’s challenges ? How are they supposed to use the product ?
Known bugs.
If product is released with known bugs, then how is it impacting the user? How can this impact user decision to continue to use the product?
So, answers to all these questions make you to think like a user.
If you start thinking from user’s point of view, you will have more suggestions to product. You can suggest improvements, help uncover usability bugs, performance bugs etc.
By doing this you elevate yourself in the view of your team.
You will be heard.
You are adding value to user. Value to product.
These don’t go unobserved.
That means, you will grow !!
Continuous Feedback and Improvement
You should know what are you doing.
Also, how are you doing.
To know that, you need to get the feedback.
Now, feedback from who?
Well, I get feedback from all, whom I work with. They are my manager (oblivious), testing peers, testers, who are reporting to me, developers, product manager.
Why do I do that?
I get 360 degree feedback.
So, why should you take feedback?
You can be doing great work. Great. But how is it impacting others? Is it helping someone else? Are you adding any value to anyone?
Are there any negative points you are having?
You need to focus more on these. You need to take them as constructive feedbacks. Work on them.
Improve.
Then only you will grow.
Conclusion
In software testing, the journey to personal and professional growth is an ongoing. By applying these five actionable strategies and learning from my own experiences, you can becoming a more versatile, skilled, and sought-after software tester.
Remember, success in this testing isn’t just about finding bugs; it’s about continuous learning, adaptation, and a passion.
So, keep exploring, keep testing, and keep growing.
Want to discuss about your career? Call me 1-on-1
