1. qualities of good software tester

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Qualities of a Good SW Tester

Software testers do not make software; they only make them better.

Following skills are indispensable to become a good software

tester.

Strong analytical skills

It is very important for any software tester to have strong analytical

skills. Analytical skills will help break up a complex software

system into smaller units to gain a better understanding and

created corresponding test cases.

Product knowledge an asset, but not mandatory

Although product knowledge is definitely an asset, it is not a

definitive, fixed requirement. Structured software testing is

based on processes and it is more important that the software

tester be familiar with structured testing principles than to have

product knowledge. Software testing techniques can be applied

to any software.

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Strong technical skills

This would include high level of proficiency in tools like MS Office,

OpenOffice etc, DB tools like PL/SQL developer, TOAD etc,

Testing tools like QTP, LoadRunner, Quality Center, Selenium

etc. Also it's an added advantage that you have some

programming skills but its NOT a must.

Good verbal and written communication skill

Another important skill is the ability to communicate with

management, developers, the other test team members, and

other stakeholders. The software tester should have strong

written and oral communication skills, in order to report the

results of the testing process effectively. The tester should be

able to differentiate the different levels of communication. For

example management may not be interested in the details of

every defect that has been located. They are interested in the Continued on next page…

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details of every defect that has been located. They are interested in

the overall quality of a release and when the release can go in

production. Another example is that your developers do not

appreciate it when you come up to them asserting that they

made a mistake. The mistake you are pointing out may actually

be an inconsistency in the specifications, or a change in the test

environment. Strong communication skills are particularly

important for the success of the testing project.

Knowledge of structured test methodology

A good software tester can use their knowledge of structured

testing, and apply it to any software product and software testing

project. A tester with a sound foundation of structured software

testing can work on your software applications.

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Great Attitude

An attitude to ‘test to break' , detail orientation , willingness to learn

and suggest process improvements. In software industry,

technologies evolved with an overwhelming speed and a good

software tester should upgrade his/her technical skills with the

changing technologies. Your attitude must reflect a certain

degree of independence where you take ownership of the task

allocated and complete it without much direct supervision.

Team player

Software testers must be team players. Software testing is only a

small division of a larger part of the organization and you want

your testers to be able to understand this and act accordingly.

Your testers will need to be able to work together with other

stakeholders in the best interest of the overall company.

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Productivity

Testing at times could be a demanding job especially during the

release of code. A software tester must efficiently manage

workload, have high productivity ,exhibit optimal time

management and organization skills

Patience and fortitude

Patience is an important requirement for software testers. If a new

version is to be released, the testers may need to work outside

of regular office hours to perform a sanity test. The testers may

have worked hard testing a new version, and it may turn out an

incorrect version was put on the system and all test results are

worthless. Patience is critical in situations like this.

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Persistent (but not stubborn!)

Software testers must be able to track down variances in the

testing results. If a variance happens, they must retest to

decipher exactly at which step the variance occurred.

Stress proof

The testing timeline often gets squeezed when development takes

longer than expected and the implementation date cannot shift.

This results in stressful times for the testing team. A good tester

will remain calm, prioritize the test cases, and do as good a job

as possible.

Think outside the box/Creative thinking

Thinking outside the box (meaning think outside of the 2 testing

techniques Black Box or White Box) is to think differently,

unconventionally or from a new perspective.

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Example #1

Cross Testing Ideas(Analogy): If you are testing a portal, use it like you use your E mail program or

any application which you worked on before and see how the application behaves.

Example #2

Reverse or Backward Testing Ideas: Requirement says you can upload a file which does not exceed

file size of 10 MB. The most testers will follow uploading a 1MB, 2MB, 3 MB and so on till 10 MB is

reached or error message is displayed. Why not start with 10MB and then try 11MB and then 9 MB.

This example is nothing but a BVA but how many of us have tried using BVA in scenarios other then

an input box.

Example #3:

Ideally every QA engineer should know the purpose of a requirement. Putting up questions will help a

QA Engineer to refine his purpose of testing. If a QA Engineer is good at questioning he/she will be

good at testing by default.

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Sense of humor

In stressful situations it is important to keep a sense of humor.

When the testing project is under pressure, the testers work

hard to get the test cases finished and then sometimes it turns

out an incorrect version was put on the testing environment! Of

course this is not an ideal situation, but it does happen quite

often, and really, all you can do is keep a keen sense of humor

and keep going.

Knowledge of automated test tools

If your company is currently using a test tool, you will want your

testers to be able to effectively use this tool. If you are presently

not using an automated tool, a tester with automated test tool

knowledge and / or experience may be able to indicate the

benefits of an automated test tool for your specific testing

processes. Therefore, it is definitely an asset if your testers have

basic or extensive knowledge of automated test tools.

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Balanced Curiosity

Balanced curiosity need for thoroughness in any one area with

need to cover many areas in a short time.

Sample Critical Skills List

Basic testing Evaluation of automated testresults Quality advocacy

Software life-cycle Record/playback Analytical skills

Basic technical aptitude and awareness Editing automated scripts UNIX user skills

Basic/Advanced Internet Web testing skills SQL user skills

Manual black box testing Cross-functional effectiveness Macintosh user skills

MS Windows user skills Test environment set-up Energetic

Communication written/oral Version control/change mgmt. Sense of humor

Test planning Industry knowledge Persuasive

Test documentation TQM/CMM/ISO9---/6 Good judgment

Defect reporting Sigma/IEEE Problem solver

Basic programming concepts Quality economics Detail-oriented/meticulous

Basic software engineering Statistics and probability Enthusiastic

Basic system architecture Professional Assertive

Basic database affiliation/certification Articulate

Quality control/quality assurance Efficiency implementation Inquisitive

Process improvement/methodology Metrics and measurement Organized

Software testing phases Risk analysis Thorough

Software testing concepts Root cause analysis Team Player

Automated test scripting Incremental test strategies Honesty

1. qualities of good software tester

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