You’re a software tester. How do you make sure you’re learning the right skills?

As a QA, I'm always learning to improve. I stay updated on what's happening in the field, chat with experienced folks for advice, join workshops to learn new things, and practice using the latest tools and methods. It's all about staying sharp and delivering great results for my projects!

Stay updated with industry trends by following relevant blogs, attending workshops, and participating in forums. Prioritize hands-on practice through personal projects or contributing to open source to apply what you've learned. Networking with professionals and seeking mentorship can provide guidance and insights into essential skills and career growth.

Assess your current skills: Importance: Identify your existing strengths and weaknesses in software testing. Conduct self-assessment or seek feedback from peers and mentors. Personal Experience: Share instances where self-assessment guided your skill development.

As a software tester, I ensure I'm learning the right skills by staying updated on industry trends, seeking feedback from peers and mentors, attending relevant training programs or conferences, participating in online forums and communities, and regularly assessing the skills demanded by my current or prospective projects. Additionally, I prioritize skills that enhance my ability to effectively communicate, analyze requirements, automate testing processes, and adapt to evolving technologies.

I've found that while frameworks like ISTQB, TMMi etc may be helpful for establishing a baseline, they might not pinpoint specific areas needing improvement to keep up the learning. Before diving into learning new skills, it's essential to evaluate the needs of your current role, your career aspirations, and how you fit into the broader scope of the industry. Conducting a gap assessment tailored to these factors can provide more actionable insights. Personally, I've found that interactions through workshops and conferences are invaluable for staying updated on industry trends.

Testers need to be a letter T, what do I mean? You need to have a broad but basic understanding of all elements of testing that is the top of the T. Then you need one or two elements you have deeper knowledge of, the vertical part of the T. For example I have a broad understanding of all elements of testing but my expertise is in accessibility, test maturity and strategy. The elements where you focus should be on elements you enjoy or gravitate to. I wouldn't recommend just picking something that's a hot topic for the industry. Your less likely to stick with it, pick your passion.

Often on LinkedIn, I notice professionals within the testing community expressing concerns about emerging trends. For instance, there are frequent posts suggesting that testing is becoming an obsolete career path. However, upon closer examination, it becomes evident that testing is not disappearing but rather evolving into a "shift-left" approach. This shift entails developers taking on testing responsibilities alongside Software Development Engineers in Test (SDETs). This transformation underscores the need for testers to adapt and focus on roles such as SDETs, Engineering Productivity, and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)/DevOps. Once individuals identify their career goals, they can develop a learning plan tailored to these objectives

Define your learning goals: Importance: Clearly outline what you aim to achieve. Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your skill development. Personal Experience: Discuss goals you've set and achieved, emphasizing their impact on your career.

For instance, considering the shift towards roles like SDETs, Engineering Productivity, and SRE/DevOps, it would be beneficial to explore resources that focus on these areas. This could include bootcamps, coding hackathons etc to prepare for these roles. Additionally, leveraging informal resources such as blogs can provide valuable insights and practical tips from industry experts and peers.

Choose your learning resources: Importance: Select reliable and diverse resources, such as online courses, workshops, books, or mentorship programs, aligned with your learning goals. Personal Experience: Share successful experiences with specific learning resources and how they contributed to your skill enhancement.

You learn quickly by doing the things with your hand. Instead of just going through the courses, try to build some tools by yourself and share with community. Taking on new challenges, experimenting with tools can provide hands-on experience and deepen understanding.

- Domain knowledge is very much important for testing any product or solutions. - Basic tools knowledge like soapui, postman, curl etc

Cria??o de Portfólio ou blog: Criar um portfólio online ou um blog para documentar seus projetos de teste, experiências e insights pode ajudar a demonstrar suas habilidades e experiências. Isso também pode servir como uma plataforma para compartilhar conhecimentos e construir uma reputa??o na comunidade de testes de software.

Apply and practice your skills: Importance: Put theory into practice. Engage in real-world testing projects, collaborate with teams, and actively apply the skills you're learning. Personal Experience: Narrate instances where hands-on application deepened your understanding and proficiency.

One of the best ways to ensure that you never forget a skill is by starting your own projects and gaining hands-on experience. Starting something from scratch will help you grasp the concept better and it will be easier for you to remember it. Moreover, this practice will also help you enhance your troubleshooting skills as there will be instances when your project might break and you will have to fix it.

As a tester, an individual should retrospect his/her work and try to understand the gaps in the learning. I think these days if you have knowledge on one skill to a good extent is not enough for companies, you should have knowledge about what is going on currently and try and learn new skills to a level that if given an opportunity you will be able to use and learn more about the skill. No one demands the candidates to be perfect in everything they do but companies look out for individuals who can self learn and implement things. Keep learning and try implementing them in your current projects.

The fast-paced nature of software testing means I'm always looking for ways to update my knowledge. Regular self-assessments (honing in on what works and what doesn't) and proactively requesting feedback from my team are essential tools. Staying aware of industry trends – new tools, methodologies, and evolving standards – helps me prioritize my learning. I also find that seeking out mentorship opportunities and exploring different testing domains pushes me beyond my comfort zone and keeps my skills sharp.

Most of the people brush up their skills but forget get more knowledge in it. They need to update their skills in their resume as well but unfortunately always forget. From my perspective, if you are doing single change in code through automation then add it in resume.

Review and update your skills: Importance: Regularly assess the relevance of your skills in the evolving landscape of software testing. Stay informed about industry trends and emerging technologies. Personal Experience: Highlight occasions where updating your skills positively impacted your effectiveness as a software tester.

Primeiro reflita sobre onde você quer chegar como testador de software e alinhe suas expectativas com a empresa que você atua. Assim conseguirá ser mais assertivo sobre como melhorar suas habilidades de acordo com sua pretens?o profissional e sobre o que a empresa espera de você.

Exposure to different testing environments, from web applications to mobile and desktop software, broadens your skill set & understanding of unique testing challenges. I make it a point to involve myself in projects across different platforms, which has equipped me with a versatile testing toolkit and an appreciation for the nuances of each testing context Industry-recognized certifications such as ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualifications Board) offer structured learning paths that cover fundamental to advanced testing principles. Early in my career, pursuing the ISTQB Foundation Level certification provided me with a solid grounding in software testing methodologies, which served as a foundation for further skills development

Here’s what else to consider: Networking: Connect with professionals in the field. Attend conferences, join online forums, and participate in discussions to gain insights into industry best practices. Certifications: Explore relevant certifications to validate your skills. Share experiences with certifications that significantly contributed to your career growth. Feedback Loop: Establish a feedback loop with peers, mentors, or team members. Regularly seek constructive feedback to identify areas for improvement.