Here's how you can gauge your own performance and progress as a software tester.

Tracking bugs is the way of initialising the productivity of a Software Tester - Test Creation - Test Execution - Test Review These 3 points are the 3 pillars of QA progress

I generally keep track of all my work so that I can come back later for self assessment. It really helps improve my testing strategy and sometimes I ask my peers for reviewing my work to know how well am I doing. It includes my automation testing part as well as identifying crucial bugs via manual testing. I believe few such self-improvement techniques are really essential for our growth and should be followed by everyone.

Measure your ability to detect defects or bugs in the software accurately and efficiently. Evaluate the quality and clarity of your bug reports. If possible, gather feedback from end-users or customers about the quality of the software. Use this feedback to understand areas for improvement. Set specific, measurable goals for your testing skills and track your progress toward achieving them. This could include obtaining certifications, learning new testing techniques, or improving collaboration skills. Seek feedback from peers, mentors, or managers on your testing approach and performance. Act on constructive criticism to continuously enhance your skills.

Gauging your performance and progress as a software tester involves both qualitative and quantitative measures. These quantitative and qualitative metrics can be combined to provide you with a more complete picture of your work as a software tester and its development. To succeed in this position, one must be able to continuously evaluate oneself and be open to changing and growing.

Monitor the number of defects that escape to production. Strive to reduce defect leakage by improving test coverage and test case quality.

Regularly reflect on your performance. I.e Are you meeting your goals? Are there any areas for improvement? You need to seek feedback from peers, team leads, or managers. You can also set personal development goals and track your progress towards achieving them.

FeedBack - Demand it - because it gives you perspective and reality about urself and helps to know you well and reflects your willingness to do things in a better way and positive attitude - Accept it - because see how you are doing and how its being taken, may be you are right may be you are wrong, but unless you take it, accept it and think abt it, you wont know - Improve it - feedback's main aim is to improve you not only to discuss and make points to fill in forms or reviews

Seek Feedback Peer Reviews: Participate in code and test case reviews with peers to get constructive feedback on your work. Manager Feedback: Regularly seek feedback from your manager or team lead during one-on-one meetings or performance reviews. 360-Degree Feedback: Consider a 360-degree feedback approach where you receive input from colleagues, managers, and other stakeholders.

Regularly seek feedback from peers, supervisors, and stakeholders involved in the software development lifecycle. Constructive criticism offers insights into how your testing impacts the project. Pay attention to comments on test case design, execution, and understanding the user's perspective. Remember, feedback is a two-way street; engage in discussions to clarify points and apply the advice given.

Benchmarks provide clear goals and targets, motivating you to strive for excellence and track your progress. They help you identify areas for improvement and focus your efforts on honing specific skills or achieving specific outcomes. By regularly reviewing your performance against benchmarks, you can identify trends, measure your growth, and make informed decisions about your development as a tester. Ultimately, setting benchmarks helps you stay focused, motivated, and continually improving in your role as test engineer.

Benchmarks are fundamental tools in evaluating a software tester's performance and progress. They offer a series of metrics and benchmarks that allow you to compare performance over time and between different projects or teams. Benchmarks provide clear, quantifiable details such as number of bugs found, test coverage, test execution time, and they can be used to evaluate whether a tester is meeting or exceeding expectations

Establishing benchmarks based on industry standards or personal bests is essential for measuring progress. These could include the number of test cases executed, the percentage of code covered by tests, or the ratio of bugs found versus those missed. By setting quantifiable goals, you can challenge yourself to improve and have concrete evidence of your advancements as a software tester.

The primary purpose of benchmark testing is to evaluate the performance of a product or system against established standards or benchmarks. It can allow you to determine the strengths and weaknesses of their products or systems and to identify areas for improvement.

Continuous learning is integral to enhancing your performance and progress as a engineer. For example, learning about new automation tools like Selenium or Appium can help you automate repetitive tasks, improving efficiency and allowing you to focus on more complex testing scenarios. Additionally, staying updated with the latest testing methodologies, such as Agile or DevOps, can enhance your ability to collaborate with developers and deliver high-quality software faster. Continuous learning also exposes you to different perspectives and approaches, enriching your problem-solving skills and making you a more versatile and valuable tester.

Testing professionals should get themselves equipped with the latest technology offerings. This is the only opportunity/option to tackle complexities which arise .

Continuous learning is crucial for evaluating your performance and progress as a software tester. You can learn new technologies through courses or self-study. Learning all the time helps you think about problems in different ways, making you better at finding solutions.

Software testing is ever-evolving, and staying current with the latest methodologies, tools, and technologies is vital. Set aside time for professional development through courses, webinars, or self-study. Reflect on how new knowledge influences your testing approach and effectiveness. The willingness to learn and adapt is a clear indicator of progress in any technical field.

One thing I found helpful so far is also being a curious person. That curiosity to know and learn the things happening around you allow you to absorb the knowledge from outside world. Another important thing is the attention to details. In testing there is nothing of low importance.

Following can be some good metrics to consider: 1) Number of “Effective” test scenarios/cases: One can write n number of Test Cases (TCs); but effectiveness matters the most. Running 100s of TCs and findings could of bugs may not be appreciated when you run effective 20 scenarios/cases which identify 5 quality bugs. 2) Plan and Execute on Time: Define some Testing Milestones like TestPlan, TestPrep, TestExecute, TestRetest and TestCompleted. 3) Effectiveness of Test: Out of 100 how many issues are raised, how many of those are valid, how many are bogus! 4) Fault Slip Through: Take into account how many issues are identified later in Production/Site and retrospect

In my view, Traceability Matrix should be created and regularly updated. This helps us to identify the gaps and subsequently improve testing effectiveness.

Reflecting regularly is crucial for gauging your performance and progress as a software tester. Set clear objectives and collect feedback from peers and supervisors to identify strengths and areas for improvement. Analyze your results to understand what works and what doesn't. Regularly reviewing your progress helps in recognizing patterns and adjusting your strategies accordingly. This continuous self-assessment ensures you stay aligned with your goals and improve your testing efficiency.

Self-Assessment and Reflection Regular Reviews: Conduct regular self-assessments to evaluate your performance against your goals. Reflect on what worked well and areas for improvement. Learn from Mistakes: Document and analyze mistakes or missed defects to understand their root causes and prevent recurrence.

Peer review is the most effective way which gives us a best opportunity to review the processes. Also improves testing effectiveness.

Reflect - Literally if anything which doesn't reflect light wont be seen , basic concept of optics . In the same way if your works and efforts aren't reflected you wont be seen and recognized.

Look back and reflect on what you have done, learn, achieved. It is important. Of course you can say something like “I can gauge my performance based on numbers of bug reports I’ve created, and test cases I’ve wrote” but your real performance is that how you grown up from the past to the present where you are now and what you did to reach that. That is real performance and you can reflect regularly on this. That will give you not only confidence about your performance but also confidence about your skills, professionalism and also awareness about your own strengths. All these factors help you to fight with imposter syndrome. Take it easy.

progress and performance are not only about yourself but also about the team working with and under you, try to make a learning environment around your surroundings with your team members also try to get motivation and motivate your team members if they are facing issues with their performance. Always try to add something useful to your portfolio that help you in the progress of your career.

The most important thing is being part of right community. If you are surround by people who have skill set similar to you or they don't upscale frequently. You might become a victim of Dunning–Kruger effect. So be part of good testing communities , gauge your level with top leaders in testing communities.

We can stay organized by using project management tools to track tasks and deadlines and by maintaining clear documentation for test cases, and prioritizing tasks based on project timelines. Effective collaboration involves regular communication with team members, sharing knowledge and best practices, and utilizing tools like Microsoft Teams for seamless interaction. Balancing manual and automated testing requires identifying repetitive tasks for automation, using manual testing for exploratory and usability tests, and continuously evaluating and updating the testing strategy to incorporate both approaches effectively.

Check success cases and failures (yours and others) and if you can avoid or reduce failures by improving your abilities and workflows its a good indicator. In same way, if you can implements solutions from one success to other challenges - its a good indicator as well.