Strategic Growth: Levente Balint's Approach to Gaining Testing Expertise

Embarking on a 3-course specialization can be a transformative journey, especially when it comes to honing specific software testing skills. Today, we are gaining insights from Levente Balint, a seasoned professional in the testing domain, as he shares his experiences with the first three courses from the Black Box Software Testing series.

To take or not to take on the challenge of a specialization

We began our conversation by understanding why should somebody choose to complete the BBST? Professional Software Testing Specialization, as opposed to stopping at the first individual course - Foundations.

“I enjoyed the three-course specialization precisely because each course offered a different way of improving my testing skills,” Levente says. Breaking down the components, he highlights how the Foundations course establishes a solid testing knowledge base, the Bug Advocacy course sharpens skills specific to handling bugs and collaborating with the people who decide to fix them, and the Test Design course broadens the focus by introducing various ways of designing tests.?

"What makes this specialization truly valuable is the complementary nature of the courses. Each one enhances the skills developed in the others, creating a holistic and well-rounded expertise in testing," Levente emphasizes.

How to know when the time is right

The BBST? Professional Software Testing Specialization includes the first three courses in the BBST? series created by Cem Kaner, each course being 1-month long. You have between 1 and 3 years to complete the whole program, with flexible enrolment - meaning that you can choose to complete them whenever is most suitable for you, be it all in one year, or taking one course per year - and asynchronous learning. Although this allows you to take any of the courses while you work, no doubt it is time-consuming and a real commitment.

With this in mind, we asked Levente how he decided when was a good time to embark on this journey.?

"I had heard of the Foundations course from colleagues and wanted to experience it for myself, especially as I was still at the beginning of my testing adventure," he starts explaining his decision-making process. “While the Foundations course was hard and each lesson demanded quite a few hours of my time, I ultimately enjoyed the journey so much I made it a goal to sign up for the Bug Advocacy course the next year.” Levente was impressed with the quality of the first course and so decided to continue his training journey. The second course met his high expectations and proved to be his favorite. Going forward to the Test Design course had to be the next logical step for him.?

As a conclusion, Levente adds “Yes, it's a big time commitment, but with proper planning and time management, it's more than doable.”

Our conversation ended on this optimistic note, leaving me feeling inspired to do more for my professional growth and take on bigger challenges. Levente Balint has over 12 years of experience in software testing, working on various projects. His approach is strategic, inquisitive, and always context-driven; like a true detective, he will solve any puzzle, be it in an app or a board game.

If you are interested in taking a similar path, you can choose either to enroll separately in each course, taking Foundations first, and then moving to Bug Advocacy and Test Design; or to register for the BBST? Professional Software Testing Specialization containing these three courses, thus getting a better price deal with full flexibility.

What are you doing to enhance your expertise? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!