10 Reasons Why You Are Not A Professional Tester

We all know that “testing” is quite an interesting and innovative concept in the world of IT. Earlier, the developer used to code and test. Gradually with an increasing number of software, there was a need for Professional Tester. Why? Because testing is not only about making sure that code works as expected, it is much more than that.  Requirements testing, Integration testing, Functional testing, Regression testing, Load testing, and the list goes on, there are so many aspects to keep in mind while testing particular software.

In this article I am going to list down 10 reasons why you are not a professional tester and what should be improved in order to become one.

1. Thinking that testing is all about creating and running test cases: this is the biggest myth that needs to be busted. We all have studied in theory that testing starts as early as requirement phase but very few testers do that. Let’s be honest here, once we know the requirement, we are more into converting it into test case and executing them. We never bother about improving the requirement to improve the quality of the product.
2. Not giving enough importance to understanding the code: I think the era in which there was a difference between “black box” and “white box” has ended long back. If you really want to know the product and its expected functionality, then it is crucial to understand the code behind it. Understanding the code not only gives you confidence about the product but also helps you in finding additional bugs which could be the side effects of a new fix.
3. Non-effective communication: we all have been there when a bug is found by the customer and we were blamed. Most of us take it on our ego and get defensive about it. The testing profession demands patience and effective communication. Shouting back or getting defensive won’t take you anywhere but communicating effectively about the bug and improving the test process will definitely help.
4. Limited client exposure: During the whole testing cycle, we do not really communicate with the users or the clients who are going to use the product. The only time we had done it is when the support team has asked us to contact them to reproduce a bug. If we try and communicate with them about their experiences and feedback on a regular basis, I am sure that we are going to test more effectively and this will also help us to think from a user’s perspective.
5. Waiting for the developer to give you heads up: As I have mentioned earlier, testing starts with the requirement phase but most of the testers wait for the first build to start testing. Ideally, the test team should participate with the other teams and give their feedback and suggestions so that most of the bugs in requirements could be avoided and also saving a lot of testing time in later stages.
6. Not prioritizing the areas to test: “enough testing” is not a term in this profession. Time management according to the priority of the test areas can help in effective testing practice. For example, the area which had the most bugs in past releases could be taken on priority. The point here is that most vulnerable and important parts should be tested first and the rest of the time should be divided accordingly.
7. Underestimating Automation: there are a number of automation tools available in the market, some of them require very less coding and are simple to use. We should stop making excuses for not using automation. If we can automate our regression test cases then every time a new fix is introduced to the product, running that suite will ensure that there are no new bugs introduced in the system. Automation saves a lot of time and effort; we should understand the importance of automation.
8. No plans to improve professionally: as the testing profession is gaining popularity, there are so many training programs and certifications available for us to improve our skills and keep ourselves updated to the latest technology. Some of the examples are:

• ISTQB certification
• Training on automation tools
• Scripting languages
• Training on Bug reporting tools

We can also conduct training sessions within the testing team to motivate other testers and improving our presentation skills at the same time.

9. Not considering testing as a profession: most of the testers look at this profession as a step to becoming a manager or programmer. I do agree that managing a testing team has its own benefits and perks but without proper knowledge of testing, latest technology, and processes, it would become really difficult to guide your team to make a high-quality product. With high position, comes high expectations. It is better to improve our skills as a Professional Tester so that we can become a good test manager tomorrow.
10. Not improving your test plan strategy: test planning is as important as testing itself. If our plan is good, then the results would automatically come out better. This also includes your skillset and learning new things which will benefit you and your organization as a whole. Some of them could be:

• What tools you should be using?
• What were the failures in the last release?
• How you can make more effective test cases?

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