Software testers - Westmeath

Xcellor

There are a couple of positions going in software testing in Westmeath.

PM me if you want more details

RedXIV

PM sent

Xcellor

Surprised not that much interest.

There is a graduate role as well...

AARRRGH

Xcellor wrote: »

Surprised not that much interest.

I'm having the same problem. People don't want to work as software testers it seems...!

RedXIV

Just looking at the two roles posted by both of ye, they are a bit more demanding on the technical side.

I've done QA for games companies and did programming in college (finished in may just gone) but still don't have all the requirements

Afraid i need to upskill some more

cronos

System testing does not really get the respect it deserves to be honest.

AARRRGH

cronos wrote: »

System testing does not really get the respect it deserves to be honest.

Testing in general doesn't get the respect it deserves. People think it's easy --- if that were true, we wouldn't have so much buggy software.

Atwork

Surprised by this, What level of qualification/skills is required to do the job correctly?

blast05

Very few people appreciate what is involved in testing..... however, you can get by doing "monkey see as monkey do" or you can get down to the level of troubleshooting the OS your application runs on .
Xcellor - you could sex up the role a bit there !! ..... "chance to work with a midlands company who develop a system that is involved in managing 50% of the worlds phone networks where once you get in the door and prove yourself then you will have limitless opportunities aceoss the whole world" ...

AARRRGH

Atwork wrote: »

Surprised by this, What level of qualification/skills is required to do the job correctly?

Well the most important things in my opinion are:

• Intelligence
• Imagination
• Attention to detail
• Structured thinking
• Ability to connect the dots, e.g. if I see x, that could mean y & z
• Integrity
• Drive
• Communication skills

Technical skills are obviously an advantage, as is having a genuine interest in technology, but it's possible to be good at the job if you're simply able to "think like a customer" and use the software in unexpected ways.

Typically we would want to hire someone with a degree as it shows us they are willing to commit to something.

Just curious, whereabouts in Westmeath is this position based?

Cheers

Xcellor

The positions are in Athlone, for Ericsson.

If you put Ireland into the search criteria you should get them.

http://www.ericsson.com/uk/ericsson/about/jobs.shtml

There is at least one graduate role and several other roles that would fit persons with experience. Don't worry if you don't have all the skills, Ericsson provide competence development through training and certification.

PM me if you are interesting in applying for any of the positions.

iceman777

Xcellor wrote: »

The positions are in Athlone, for Ericsson.

If you put Ireland into the search criteria you should get them.

http://www.ericsson.com/uk/ericsson/about/jobs.shtml

There is at least one graduate role and several other roles that would fit persons with experience. Don't worry if you don't have all the skills, Ericsson provide competence development through training and certification.

Are you working in Ericsson or are you a Recruiter?
If you work there are you looking for the recruitment payment that staff get if they refer someone that gets hired?

Xcellor

iceman777 wrote: »

Are you working in Ericsson or are you a Recruiter?
If you work there are you looking for the recruitment payment that staff get if they refer someone that gets hired?

I work in Ericsson, not in recruitment. I gave the direct link to apply for job . I don't get any referral for this. I'm just putting the info out there because a lot of people are unemployed and and technology jobs in the midlands are rare enough.

If I referred someone directly then there is a referral bonus but I'm not sure even if this is still active.

Onikage

AARRRGH wrote: »

I'm having the same problem. People don't want to work as software testers it seems...!

cronos wrote: »

System testing does not really get the respect it deserves to be honest.

That's pretty much it right there. The perception amongst graduates is that testing is an inferior job, and if you do testing you may be branded as inferior. I can think of few enough people who are actually happy to work in a test role, oddly enough they are the same people who can do a competent job at it.

Smoggy

Onikage wrote: »

I can think of few enough people who are actually happy to work in a test role, oddly enough they are the same people who can do a competent job at it.

Are you suggesting the better testers are the people who were trained as a developer ? I know in our place the best testers have a dev background, but it always seems like a waste of training to me. Spending 3-4 years of education not to fully utilse the skills just doesnt seem right.

tja

I'll offer an opinion as to why your not seeing much interest.

1) Its in Athlone, which will probably rule most of the Dublin based grads.
2) With the greatest of respect to QA professionals, no matter what way you dress it up, testing is boring and graduates know this.

Generally speaking theres 3 areas IT graduates will be intrested in:

1. Software Development
2. Servers/Desktop/Sys Admin
3. Networking

IMO the people who are interested in areas 2 & 3 will not even consider a software QA role so they won't be on the lookout for this.

That leaves those people who are interested in software development. Now I doubt very much those with an interest in development have visions of a career as a tester. Secondly the general advice given to graduates who ask how to get into development - and you'll see this on the development forum here - is to write code i.e. contribute to open source projects, offer dev services to local companies etc. You can't do that in QA.

If I was recruiting a developer and see they were in a QA role for anything longer than say 6 months that would raise alarm bells for me (lack of ambition, happy with the paycheck). [Yes they're would be other considerations too, but I'm speaking generally].

For example, we have a lack of Java developers at the moment (sorry folks also have a recruitment freeze). We've discovered that we have had people with the right skills in our QA department for the past 2-3 years. Problem is they're very rusty, a bit out of date and still have the college level bad habits as they've never had proper development roles.

Given all those factors I think your probably trying to appeal to a very small pool of people.

helimachoptor

Athlone isnt that far away from Dublin, I'd hazard a guess you could probably get to Athlone quicker than some places in Dublin, obviously depending on where you're commuting to/from.

Atomic Pineapple

Very true,

I work in Dun Laoghaire and I had to move up from Slane because the journey took so long due to traffic.

If I worked in Athlone, it would take me half an hour less to get there from Slane than to Dun Laoghaire (in heavy traffic)

I actually applied for that position in Ericsson a couple of months ago and I never heard anything back until last week where I was invited to reapply for the job if I wanted an interview!?

I also applied for a job in IBM, have a face to face interview in October and heard nothing until last week as well where they told me that I was still being considered for the position and sorry for the delay.

A 3 month delay!? In hiring someone!! Why would companies like Ericsson and IBM take so long to reply to someone interested in working for them? I thought it might be due to a massive amount of applicants but obviously not?

The Hill Billy

A broad knowledge of Ericsson OSS-RC experience a advantage (Preferred but not mandatory)

In addition to the location, that's your other main reason for not getting a better response.

I'm surprised as some of the comments above in relation to "who makes the best tester?" There's obviously a blinkered view of testing out there. In some instances developers make good testers, but it depends on the type of testing being undertaken. Dev's are good for system/component testing as are those with application architecture experience (& there's a good few of them out there right now). There's no way that the same could be said for E2E, UAT or OAT, etc. Different test phases require different skills, be they technical or non-technical.

To be honest, when I'm hiring testers - not matter what sort of testing is being done - I more look for those with the correct mentality. Technical skills &/or relevant previous experience is very important, however, I'll generally be more interested in someone who has an inquisitive mind & an "instinct" for testing.

Dave!

Most testing jobs I've seen advertised have specified that a minimum of 3 years' experience is required. Is it worth applying anyway? I have a computer science degree, but no real I.T. experience as I've only graduated recently. You say technical skills are secondary to the other stuff, is that really the case?

Onikage

Smoggy wrote: »

Are you suggesting the better testers are the people who were trained as a developer ?

Far from it. Good testers can come from any career path, but they have similar positive attributes. Patience, diligence, persistance... mostly patience though! Not to be confused with laziness, which is a defining characteristic of poor testers.

Smoggy wrote: »

I know in our place the best testers have a dev background, but it always seems like a waste of training to me.

Good devs usually make good testers. It's not a particularly big change in skills as, for example, becoming a project manager would be.

Smoggy wrote: »

Spending 3-4 years of education not to fully utilse the skills just doesnt seem right.

Thats's life!

Onikage

Dave! wrote: »

Most testing jobs I've seen advertised have specified that a minimum of 3 years' experience is required. Is it worth applying anyway? I have a computer science degree, but no real I.T. experience as I've only graduated recently. You say technical skills are secondary to the other stuff, is that really the case?

3 years is probably way overstated, unless you are a one-man test team in which case you would find the work overwhelming. If it is a role as part of a team, you would have to convince your prospective employers that you are willing to learn, are prepared to do whatever is necessary to bring yourself up to the level of your teammates (at least!) and are generally able to fit in. You won't be writing any code, so technical skills really are the number two priority.

AARRRGH

Dave! wrote: »

Most testing jobs I've seen advertised have specified that a minimum of 3 years' experience is required. Is it worth applying anyway? I have a computer science degree, but no real I.T. experience as I've only graduated recently. You say technical skills are secondary to the other stuff, is that really the case?

You should always apply anyway as you never know how stuck they are.

We require experience and glowing references as most people unfortunately are not cut out for testing.

plasmaguy

I work in testing and might be interested in a change.

Is it flexitime?

helimachoptor

Hill Billy wrote: »

To be honest, when I'm hiring testers - not matter what sort of testing is being done - I more look for those with the correct mentality. Technical skills &/or relevant previous experience is very important, however, I'll generally be more interested in someone who has an inquisitive mind & an "instinct" for testing.

Agreed, I did testing for a while and really enjoyed it mainly because I hate not knowing why something is nto working and finding problems. I like knowledge

plasmaguy

Oh well if they are still looking for testers, pm me, or if anyone is looking for a tester, send me a pm.

Sleepy

Anyone have a rough idea of what I could expect salary wise were I to move from app consulting to testing?

I've just heard of a position with a company who's software I'm an expert in with 6/7 years worth of experience.

I've never coded commercially (not done it since college) but it's something I would be interested in, can read and follow and I'm an excellent problem identifier / solver.