TITLE: Becoming a Software Testing Expert

ABSTRACT: You’re already an experienced tester. You know how to design tests and report bugs. Now what? Do you feel like an expert? Unfortunately, if you want to become very good at testing, there aren’t many classes or programs available to help you. This means you must manage your own education. This tutorial is about finding a path from experience to expertise. It’s based on the context-driven school of test methodology. It focuses on what it means to think like a tester and how to design and critique testing practices (rather than just copy what the “gurus” tell you to do). You’ll also get self-study strategies and methods for developing a colleague network. It’s an ideal tutorial if testing is your career and you intend to excel in it.

THOUGHTS: I got the idea for this video from a post on Coding Horror. The video is only tangentially about testing and more about becoming an expert.

I personally can’t stand people who don’t want to increase their knowledge. In the IT world, and especially in the realm of the internet, to stand still is to quickly become an antique. We discussed that a bit in training, as well as being comfortable with your own ignorance. Most “experts” that rub me the wrong way and people who act as if they know everything. They are too afraid of relinquishing their status as “expert” to admit they don’t know something.