The problem of plenty is real in the profession of Software Testing. Clearly that’s not an understatement. I don’t need to show you research data about how testing field is overcrowded. There are new entrants, as well as there are established testers from different parts of the world. If you are about to hire software testers, how would you spot the great ones? What are the characteristics you would look for in a great tester? In this blog, let’s talk about the topic of “Software Testing: How To Spot A Great Tester”.
There are some essential qualities that a software tester would naturally have, which we have already looked at. In addition to that, there are a few interesting items that I think are quite worth noting.
360-degree feedback
It would not only be important to get opinions about a candidate from testers in the panel, but it would also be very important to get opinions from a wide range of people from different roles. Testers don’t work in silos. They interact with product managers/owners, developers, software performance experts, software security experts, usability experts, cloud, microservices, and deployment experts, site reliability experts, and production monitoring experts. This is the reality of today’s software industry. It would be wise to have a judicious mix of all these types of experts to interact with the potential candidate to get a 360-degree opinion on the candidate.
Problem-solving and Critical Thinking skills
Thinking out of the box, thinking innovatively to solve problems, ability to uncover issues, ability to traverse unchartered paths, are all desired characteristics of a great tester. Especially in these days of complex product scenarios, testers need to have these characteristics to be successful. A good lab that would exercise all these skills can be put together in place to test whether the candidate can perform satisfactorily along these lines.
Teamwork, Communication, and Collaboration skills
It’s not only important to be technically competent and have brilliant problem-solving and innovating thinking skills. It is also important to have teamwork, communication, and collaboration skills. Interaction sessions can be designed to check how the candidate performs in the areas of teamwork and collaboration.
Conclusion
Hope this blog gives you a fair idea on the topic of “Software Testing: How To Spot A Great Tester”. As described, it is critical to have assessments in the areas of:
- 360-degree feedback
- Problem solving, critical and innovative thinking
- Teamwork, communication, and collaboration skills
If you have any questions related to the topic of “Software Testing: How To Spot A Great Tester”, or if you would like help regarding the same for your organisation, please feel free to get in touch with me. Glad to help!