Software Testing jobs requirements

fluff_daddy

Hi, Ive seen a good few specs for testing jobs recently and alot of the mention 1) knowledge of Unix/Linux, 2) .Net Experience.

Im not sure what is meant by this - Is it that I have tested systems built on these or that I can code in these?!

I have worked on many systems/projects that are built on different platforms but i couldn't specifically say if these were either of the 2 mentioned above.

Any feedback would be great,

Thanks!

Ray Palmer

Most places looking for UNIX/LINUX are to do with coms. They use Linux based systems which is very different to windows or mac. It is kind of closer to DOS in look and feel. If you have no experience using it then getting up to speed on the job is much more difficult. Hence companies like to hire experienced people.

.NET experience is a bit of a pointless one IMHO. It is just the nature of how it is programmed and deployed. Most users can't see any of this and it is typically deployed in Java or a web browser.

When you say you have worked on project what were you doing? People tend to think of testing as an easy job and not much skill/experienced required. I can tell you a tester may often be more skilled and knowledgeable on software than many developers. You often have to have knowledge on a wider variety of platforms and system than a developer who is only proficient in on language and platform.

Testing is in high demand due to the prevalence of scrum methodology which requires more testers than traditionally required. My advice would be to learn SQL as most places use databases in one form or another. W3 school do a good job in teaching it and is free. I am sure there are others and maybe better but that one does the job well.

fluff_daddy

Thanks, so could i generalize UNIX/LINUX as being mainframe testing of sorts?

Ive been doing manual testing of different systems [web based/Client Server/Integration/DataManagement] so I think I might avoid the Unix/Linux roles but consider the .net roles

Ray Palmer

fluff_daddy wrote: »

Thanks, so could i generalize UNIX/LINUX as being mainframe testing of sorts?

Ive been doing manual testing of different systems [web based/Client Server/Integration/DataManagement] so I think I might avoid the Unix/Linux roles but consider the .net roles

No mainframe is different again. Linux is just a no graphical interface OS in general. Unless you want to go into coms, mobile phone, VOIP I would avoid Linux required jobs. Lots of mainframe system use .Net and graphical interfaces.

I would say read up on .Net as some interviews will expect you to understand it even though it won't make much difference to what you would manually test.

Increase your chances more and learn Selenium or another freeware auto testing product.

jester77

Just taking where I work as an example, you would need to be able to do some basic coding for writing selenium tests (java and ruby where I am), you would need ISTQB certification, foundation level at a minimum, and you would need some basic unix/linux skills for setting up and creating sandbox test environments.

fluff_daddy

Ray Palmer wrote: »

No mainframe is different again. Linux is just a no graphical interface OS in general. Unless you want to go into coms, mobile phone, VOIP I would avoid Linux required jobs. Lots of mainframe system use .Net and graphical interfaces.

I would say read up on .Net as some interviews will expect you to understand it even though it won't make much difference to what you would manually test.

Increase your chances more and learn Selenium or another freeware auto testing product.

Whats wrong with Coms/Mobile? think ill stay clear or Linux either way Yeah I will do some research on .Net

I was looking into a Selenium course and it was 1,500e for 1 week but I dont think you would learn enough in 1 week to justify that price tag..

Ray Palmer

fluff_daddy wrote: »

Whats wrong with Coms/Mobile? think ill stay clear or Linux either way Yeah I will do some research on .Net

I was looking into a Selenium course and it was 1,500e for 1 week but I dont think you would learn enough in 1 week to justify that price tag..

Nothing wrong with coms jobs at all only issue is there are less jobs and they tend to require more specialised technical knowledge. So it is a bit like taking the hardest route into the career.

You can learn Selenium on your own using on-line tuition.

ISTQB is being asked for more often now so that may really be worth having in order to get an interview. It is a bit of a scam as it doesn't really hold any real world relevance but that isn't the point people are asking for it.

I personally think understanding scrum would be much more relevant. You don't have to have formal training on a lot of this stuff and can do it on your own.

fluff_daddy

Think i will look into Selenium online and complete either ISTQB/ISEB exam. Yeah I have done some scrum training and its beneficial alright..

biko

There are two types of software/web testing, white box and black box (google it).
White box means you need more knowledge of the code itself.

You just need a working knowledge of many tools as companies vary greatly in their tool box.
However, if you're good in automation then that is a big plus as many companies still do a lot of manual testing.

Most automation tools are basically macros. They record your actions and can they play those actions back.
The difference it was happens next, how they integrate with for instance load testing tools or how much they allow you to manipulate the recorded script or data.

Download iMacros for Firefox, I find it a really good starter tool that has a lot of room for expansion as you learn more and more.

Mr. Loverman

Knowledge of Unix/Linux is an easy one. That just means "be reasonably comfortable at the command line". You can probably learn the basics in a weekend.

The aren't expecting you to have sysadmin level skills.

The .Net experience one is a bit weird. The majority of testers/QA folk won't have real .Net experience. Regardless, the easy way to get around this is to do a 24 hour C# crash course and write a tiny .Net app. (That's what I would do). You can then say you have made .Net apps as a hobby but never in work. That will probably be good enough.

I have many years QA experience and most people hate it. Be careful.

biko

One of the more important, and neglected, skills of QAing is to write good test plans.
It's boring as hell but must be done, and be done good.

Essentially it's all about getting the requirements mapped into test steps that can then be manually or automatically executed, looking for errors/unexpected results.

Devi

I’ve seen a lot of requirements for sql in software testing. Does anybody know what level of knowledge is required? Is it just writing basic queries or is there more to it?

Ray Palmer

Devi wrote: »

I’ve seen a lot of requirements for sql in software testing. Does anybody know what level of knowledge is required? Is it just writing basic queries or is there more to it?

Relatively basic. You need to be able to join tables and specific queries. Able to update tables too.

Not hard to learn but knowing how and when to use them seems to be the issue many people have. You can get by in most places with very basic knowledge.

Devi

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Relatively basic. You need to be able to join tables and specific queries. Able to update tables too.

Not hard to learn but knowing how and when to use them seems to be the issue many people have. You can get by in most places with very basic knowledge.

Cheers, so an oracle/microsoft sql cert might be overkill then?

Ray Palmer

Devi wrote: »

Cheers, so an oracle/microsoft sql cert might be overkill then?

Certainly is, if you learn all of this you would be doing very well. I would say all the basic stuff and the joins would do you 90% of the time. Fore the other 10% just look it up or ask a developer. I normally write the SQL for the other testers here and would say I have a basic knowledge.

As I said knowing how and when to use it is the key bit which seems to puzzle people. One of the people here knows exactly what I have written but can't think it up themselves.

Devi

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Certainly is, if you learn all of this you would be doing very well. I would say all the basic stuff and the joins would do you 90% of the time. Fore the other 10% just look it up or ask a developer. I normally write the SQL for the other testers here and would say I have a basic knowledge.

As I said knowing how and when to use it is the key bit which seems to puzzle people. One of the people here knows exactly what I have written but can't think it up themselves.

Ah right, simple enough so.

Software testing seems completely different than it was years ago. I did localisation testing back in 2001 for a couple months after leaving school, jeez back then if you could do the basics you could test. It's way more technical now which I like tbh.