Advancing Career into Automation

rafa05

I am currently working as a Manual Tester but my company has got me involved in a training program and I am now learning Java Selenium with TestNG. I have been able fully automate a front end app with the help of mentors.

I'm really enjoying automation and I feel like I've learned so much within a few months. I would like to possibly get away from manual testing and into automation or at least do a lot more of it.

How can I progress into automation and what training/learning should I look to do. Just any advice would be great. My Java is not great.


Thanks

smacl

I'd have a look at Rosie Sherry's Software Testing Club. Been a while since I was a regular over there but always found them to be a very helpful crowd. You get a bit of a split between the modern context driven school of testing versus automation by times but I think both deserve looking at in depth. For a pragmatic down to earth approach to how to succeed with automation, Jim Hazen is well worth a read. You should also consider downloading and playing with the demo versions of some of the commercial automation tools out there such as TestComplete and other free automation tools such as AutoIT.

ARGINITE

If your company has gotten you involved in a training program for automated testing wouldn't that indicate that they intend to expand or add automated testing to there current software?

To move into automation couldn't you attempt to expand or add automated tests for the current software?

trafficlight

Hi How are you?

I just seen this thread and wondered - what training program are you completing - is it an online course?

Im currently a manual tester also but want to learn how to automate app testing and looking for some advice/direction on where to start. Any advise or tips you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

rafa05

ARGINITE wrote: »

If your company has gotten you involved in a training program for automated testing wouldn't that indicate that they intend to expand or add automated testing to there current software?

To move into automation couldn't you attempt to expand or add automated tests for the current software?

Yes they are trying to get manual testers up to speed with automation so that they can automatic the applications they work on. I am automating my application at the moment. And I am really enjoying the work. It is has got me thinking that I would like to get away from manual testing and do automation all the time. I want to progress in the best possible way, so if something did come up I would be able for it.

rafa05

trafficlight wrote: »

Hi How are you?

I just seen this thread and wondered - what training program are you completing - is it an online course?

Im currently a manual tester also but want to learn how to automate app testing and looking for some advice/direction on where to start. Any advise or tips you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

I am not really doing a training course. I just learnt some core java from looking at YouTube. There is also loads of courses on Udemy. I started by trying to automatic the login in Facebook.

The best way to learn is by automating something you work on and getting guidance from an expert in work.

RedXIV

I started my professional career as a manual tester and worked my way up to to a lead developer in test, effectively leading software automation across the company I was working in and one of the main goals of my role was bringing manual testers along into automation.

In my mind the only thing you NEED is the drive to improve and initiative to get stuck in.

Automation as a way into a more technical role is a great path in my mind as the tools lend themselves well getting gradually exposed to software development, technical concepts and good processes. The beauty of it too is that depending on what you're working on, there are a bunch of tools that help enable automation.

Postman or SoapUI for API testing, Selenium or Cypress for browser based testing, JMeter or Locust for load testing are all examples of dedicated tools for test automation where the idea is for ease of use and adoption.

However, where this gets more difficult is when you aren't doing something that is either a web app, APIs or a mobile app, which I'd guess 75% of all software that's being tested today falls under. However when I started in my current role I needed to build a test framework to deal with a big data, distributed data pipeline which had a ton of challenges so there comes a point where building custom tools becomes necessary. In order to do that, I've recommended the following resource to people which is good for getting people with basically no development knowledge up to a point where they at least have a basic understanding of what is possible:

https://automatetheboringstuff.com/

This is in python but you get useful, practical exposure to development tutorials that build tools that could be used in a real workplace. If you get through all this, you could easily start contributing to test automation in a company.

Ultimately though, it's a case of always thinking about new things to try, trying to learn how things work, getting people you work with who can support you with their knowledge. Have a project on the go! Build your own website, publish a mobile app, build an alexa skill or release your own game, every one of these will massively improve your ability to understand how software works and your ability to build test automation tools.

Its a great position to be in though, we have a terrible time hunting down decent automation engineers, they can name their price usually

Sephiroth_dude

Is unit testing considered a form of automated testing?

rafa05 wrote: »

I am currently working as a Manual Tester but my company has got me involved in a training program and I am now learning Java Selenium with TestNG. I have been able fully automate a front end app with the help of mentors.

I'm really enjoying automation and I feel like I've learned so much within a few months. I would like to possibly get away from manual testing and into automation or at least do a lot more of it.

How can I progress into automation and what training/learning should I look to do. Just any advice would be great. My Java is not great.


Thanks

Hope you don't mind me asking but for that job did you need a degree? I did a testing course over a year ago with the city and guild (a fas course essentially) passed the course and got my certs but haven't been able to get any work.

RedXIV

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Is unit testing considered a form of automated testing?

Its definitely an element of it but I would say it's traditionally owned by the developers who build their own code.

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Hope you don't mind me asking but for that job did you need a degree? I did a testing course over a year ago with the city and guild (a fas course essentially) passed the course and got my certs but haven't been able to get any work.

I'll be honest, we generally look for some sort of IT degree but we've taken people on without it if they show a genuine interest and capability. You could look at some of the consultancy groups who are generally constantly on the hunt for new people such as Accenture, Expleo or Deloitte. I started in one of these and they were very accomodating to beginners trying to get their foot in the door. Once you're in with more than 2 years experience, certs etc matter far less

scaldy_balls

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Is unit testing considered a form of automated testing?



Hope you don't mind me asking but for that job did you need a degree? I did a testing course over a year ago with the city and guild (a fas course essentially) passed the course and got my certs but haven't been able to get any work.

It's not something i'd recommend to everyone for various reasons, have a read through my post history to get an idea why (and in your case you might already have the "qualification", city and guilds level 3 and 4) but there's an FIT apprenticeship you can do, it's 2 years, pay isn't great(dole for 6 months, 260 for 6 months, 360 for 1 year), but the benefit of it is you get a foot in the door of a company. If you're any way competent, after a year and a half with them, they'd be more than happy to hire you. Tbh, if you're any good, you could probably find a job as a tester after 6 months or so.

I did it a few years ago, placed with accenture. worked as a tester during the apprenticeship, moved into development with them after it ended and they hired me.

I think there's courses where you could skip part of that, but you really want a course with a substantial placement with a company

Manach

The nice thing about Selenium is it is fairly easy to tranisition to other languages - I went from Python to Java ( different jobs ) and the threshold to switch was low.
If you have access to O'Reilly learning there are a good number of courses/books on Selenium.

As well, it might be worth spending some time on looking at JMeter for performance testing - which is a handy adjunct skill set.

rafa05

RedXIV wrote: »

I started my professional career as a manual tester and worked my way up to to a lead developer in test, effectively leading software automation across the company I was working in and one of the main goals of my role was bringing manual testers along into automation.

In my mind the only thing you NEED is the drive to improve and initiative to get stuck in.

Automation as a way into a more technical role is a great path in my mind as the tools lend themselves well getting gradually exposed to software development, technical concepts and good processes. The beauty of it too is that depending on what you're working on, there are a bunch of tools that help enable automation.

Postman or SoapUI for API testing, Selenium or Cypress for browser based testing, JMeter or Locust for load testing are all examples of dedicated tools for test automation where the idea is for ease of use and adoption.

However, where this gets more difficult is when you aren't doing something that is either a web app, APIs or a mobile app, which I'd guess 75% of all software that's being tested today falls under. However when I started in my current role I needed to build a test framework to deal with a big data, distributed data pipeline which had a ton of challenges so there comes a point where building custom tools becomes necessary. In order to do that, I've recommended the following resource to people which is good for getting people with basically no development knowledge up to a point where they at least have a basic understanding of what is possible:

https://automatetheboringstuff.com/

This is in python but you get useful, practical exposure to development tutorials that build tools that could be used in a real workplace. If you get through all this, you could easily start contributing to test automation in a company.

Ultimately though, it's a case of always thinking about new things to try, trying to learn how things work, getting people you work with who can support you with their knowledge. Have a project on the go! Build your own website, publish a mobile app, build an alexa skill or release your own game, every one of these will massively improve your ability to understand how software works and your ability to build test automation tools.

Its a great position to be in though, we have a terrible time hunting down decent automation engineers, they can name their price usually

Great post thank you. Some great info in this thread.

At the moment I am very new to Java so I am just trying to learn that. I have no programming background. I have enough automation work for a good while in my job with Java Selenium. So I can grab a front end app and automate it. But my job is manual testing and I am doing a lot of the automation work in my free time to learn it.

Should I try learn python too at the moment? And should I try to get some Java certification?

smacl

rafa05 wrote: »

Should I try learn python too at the moment? And should I try to get some Java certification?

I'd say finish learning Java to a point you feel you've a reasonable degree of fluency and then pick up Python. I found Python a very easy language to pick up at a basic level but if you end up preferring it, it could put you off Java which you don't want at this point.

trafficlight

Hey, i have only manual testing experience but want to get into being able to automate Xamarin mobile apps. Has anyone any advice on where to start, any courses etc that i should look at. THanks

RedXIV

trafficlight wrote: »

Hey, i have only manual testing experience but want to get into being able to automate Xamarin mobile apps. Has anyone any advice on where to start, any courses etc that i should look at. THanks

In general on app testing, the industry standard (at least from what I've seen) is to use http://appium.io/.

I wouldn't pay for any courses/resources yet until you see if it's for you, so a good set of free tutorials is here:
https://coursesity.com/free-tutorials-learn/appium


I have seen people use Selenium Grid instead also for mobile which would enable you to get familiar with the webtesting tool of choice also but in my mind is going to be more difficult that appium to get up and running as it tries to handle everything and therefore will be much more generic and vague rather than Appium's niche.


But as with anything in IT, the best way to learn more about it is to do something with the tech, even if it's something basic, you'll learn way more than reading tutorial after tutorial

trafficlight

Thanks for your reply, appreciate it - ok i might just start with appium to begin with and see how i go. Thanks again

Talisman

You could also familiarise yourself with the UiPath products. See UiPath Academy for details.

trafficlight

Hello again,

Has anyone had any experience or any feedback in relation to Udemy courses - i have come across this course which i am contemplating signing up for and wondering if anyone has any thoughts:

https://www.udemy.com/course/mobile-automation-using-appiumselenium-3/
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