Rex Black Inc.

In 2022, I had the pleasure of gaining my first ISTQB certification as a Foundational Tester. This was made comparatively straightforward by taking the ISTQB 3-day course from Rex Black Inc . The course was taught by Jamie Mitchell. He was an engaging instructor with a clear passion for the material. This was enormously helpful since the course was online.

At the time I took the course, I was pretty frustrated by a less-than-satisfying QA work experience. My most recent QA work was rewarding; however, there were still some unresolved challenges that rankled. In addition to educating me about the importance of static testing and other ISTQB Foundational staples, Jamie helped me understand that "managers care about green (a.k.a. money)" and "to them, QA is simply a cost center." He illustrated that we can help convince the 'folks upstairs' of the importance of testing by showing them the cost of not testing or testing inadequately. He shared some whitepapers titled "Investing in the Cost of Testing" and "What IT Managers Should Know About Testing" written by Rex Black, the founder of Rex Black Inc . These whitepapers helped me see the conflict I had experienced as a QA Lead in a different light. I was primarily concerned with representing the interests of my team and ensuring that their needs were met and their contributions were valued and respected. I realized that what mattered most to managers was the money. Although it was well past time to address this, I still appreciated gaining the insight so that I could use it in future leadership positions.

One of the aspects of Jamie's instruction that I found most valuable was his willingness to arrive an hour before class officially started, so that we could ask him questions about the class material and its application in the workplace. This was of great benefit in making the material come alive.

My second experience with Rex Black Inc came when I took the "Agile Testing" course with Dawn Haynes , a self-described "Testing Yogini", "Tester Advocate" and "Quality Aficionado". Her style was different from Jamie's but the method of course instruction was still very memorable. For starters, it was nice to get a female point of view. One of my former direct reports had described QA as "a more female-friendly profession" than Development. I was keen to get Dawn's input on how to generate amicable Development-QA relations, something that had proven challenging, even in respectful and professional work environments. Dawn was very generous in sharing relevant anecdotes from her professional experiences. She discussed how some teams had been extremely resistant to the Agile process but eventually came to embrace it after using the Retrospectives to resolve team conflict. It wasn't pretty when concerns were aired but as long as team members continued to persist in good faith, they were able to 'reach the other side'. I found that inspiring.

Dawn also shared her creative problem-solving methods in dealing with challenging colleagues, some of whom used to 'flame out' when approached with questions. I have also had this experience and it was hard not to take it personally. Hearing Dawn's anecdote which showcased her negotiation tactics in finding a way to extract the information she needed from these folks made me realize that others have undergone the same experience and emerged successful. I can do the same.

In addition to the above two instructors, I've always found the rest of the staff at Rex Black Inc to be approachable, responsive and helpful. When I wished to take the Agile course but was not sure whether it would run due to minimum participation restrictions, Dena Pauletti was instrumental in working through the logistics. I appreciated her commitment and consideration. She's also been very good at sending pre-course emails that ensure participants have all the information (such as Zoom links and reading material) before the class actually starts. Printed materials can also be mailed for those who prefer it.

I'm very keen to level up my QA automation game by obtaining the Selenium Tester Foundation certification. Selenium WebDriver is an essential automation tool that almost every employer seems to demand. However, it has not been as easy to self-learn since the YouTube videos are out of date with the current version. Different QA folks may have been focused on manual testing and leadership activities for various reasons but demonstrating that we can meet employer needs is the best way to regain entry to the job market. Developers are also increasingly being called on to perform testing tasks . Regardless of how we may feel about this, it is in every software engineer's best interest to automate repetitive, manual tasks and Selenium can help us do that with respect to front-end testing.

Please message me if you are interested in taking the Selenium Tester Foundation course with Rex Black Inc . Once we have at least four committed participants, I can reach out to Dena Pauletti with the details and she can get started with the logistical details of running the course.