The Evil Tester Show Alan Richardson

In episode 16 of The Eviltester Show we are looking at Test Automation Biases, what they are, how to avoid them, and how to evaluate your own biases.


00:00 What is an Automation Bias?


00:29 Treat all opinions as biased


01:50 Automating a GUI is Slow and Flaky


03:36 Automate through the API


05:23 Code Free Automating is Bad


06:17 Tool X is Better than Y


07:04 Postman is Better than Insomnia


08:54 Python is Better than Java


10:24 Seeing Through Biases


12:52 Try it, then decide


13:17 Page Objects vs Screenplay


14:52 Take Responsibility


16:11 External Experience


17:02 Start Small, Make Progress


17:50 Do not ignore issues


20:34 Be Real rather than Believe


21:18 Keep Options Open


22:48 Be Aware of your biases


23:19 It takes time

In this episode we have a discussion of a UK government guide to exploratory testing.


https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/technology/exploratory-testing

The aim is not to criticise the document, the aim is to use it as a base from which to see how far our thoughts diverge or overlap with the document. I want to know what I can learn.


Show notes are here:


https://www.eviltester.com/show/015-exploratory-testing-gov/


This podcast, was originally released to Patreon supporters in January of 2019,


https://patreon.com/posts/what-is-testing-23907385

I read through the document and try to understand the intent and meaning behind statements and offer my own thoughts.

Recruiting Testers is hard.






What we want to do is minimise the friction and barriers. In this podcast I'll share some tips on what has worked for me in the past.






- remove as much ambiguity from your job spec as possible


  - someone like me, will read 'the worst' into your ambiguity


- send clear messages, not mixed messages, in the job spec


- help the applicant filter out roles that are not suitable for them


- when writing a job spec, review existing job specs in the world, critique them and then build on what is best from those


- start with a phone interview, never start face to face


- some people bluff, some people offer general answers


  - your job as an interviewer is to help them answer specifically and ask for more information when you want it


- Interviews as auditions, held by someone who knows how to do the activity being auditioned


- audition hands on with the actual code, or the actual system


- use your best people for the interviews, not just anyone that is free






Show Notes:


https://eviltester.com/show






We have more posts in our recruitment category:






- https://www.eviltester.com/categories/recruitment/






And our Career category:






- https://www.eviltester.com/categories/career-advice/






This video was originally released as a Patreon exclusive video back in January 2019






- https://www.patreon.com/posts/recruitment-tips-23896867

Episode 013 of The Evil Tester Show covers "How To Get a Job in Software Testing".


- Getting a Job is different from Doing the Job


- Persistence is key to getting a job


- Build an online portfolio on LinkedIn


- Apply for jobs slightly out of reach


- Amend your CV for each job that you really want


- You do not need to code to Test Software


- You might need coding skills on your CV to pass the interview filter


- Demonstrate that you can test software, even if you are looking for your first job in software testing.


Shownotes are available from https://eviltester.com/show


This is an audio/video episode and the video version is available on youtube:


https://youtu.be/QB8n5RXTV10


Direct Show Notes Link:


https://www.eviltester.com/show/013-how-to-get-a-job-in-testing/

More and more conferences are going online. Speakers will have to adapt. In this post I outline some recommendations based on years of online video, webinar and course creation.






If you only want the summary then...






- Presenting online over video is different.


- Practice will help.


- Practice with the kit you are going to use, and perform complete practice run throughs.


- Use an external microphone.


- Record your practice sessions and listen back to them to make sure your audio is good enough. 


For show notes, visit https://eviltester.com/show

I receive a lot of emails asking which way should people focus their career - Testing? Programming? Automating?


And that's what I cover in this podcast.


Points:


- we should not have to think like this


- But - we need to get a job


- Getting a job is different from "What should I be..."


A full transcript of the show has been upload for Patreon supporters. https://www.patreon.com/posts/35209341


You can support this Podcast, and receive almost daily blog posts by signing up to https://Patreon.com/EvilTester for as little as $1 a month.


Show notes are available at https://eviltester.com/show