Testing Engineer’s Career Path

gaoliang@baidu.com

Typical Interview Question

• Do you know programming• Answer: Yes, a little• Which language do you know the best• Answer: I know C a little• How many lines of code have you written• Answer : Umm.., about 300 lines• Do you know Java or .NET, • Answer : No• Do you know Linux• Answer : No• Do you know networking• Answer : I installed Windows XP on my PC….• Ok, you can work for us as testing engineer

Tester’s Dilemma

• Testing is not cool• Tester is second class when compared with

developer• Developer using me as servant• I don’t see I can make difference in our

company• Testers are keep coming, they are young and

better than me. • 我在吃青春饭， I don’t know where my career

path is• OK ， I need to be a developer and write

code!

Top Management's Dilemma

你也知道， 现在招到好的测试工程师是有多难 - 华为北京研究所副所长 2008

It took Juniper 6 month plus to find a new QA director

Career Story of Ting

• Graduate at 1990, only job found is the tester at Sun

• Join Cisco as tester in 1993, then test automation engineer (design Cisco’s automation framework)

• Cisco grows from 2000 to 40000 from 1993 to 1998

• Join Netscreen as the 1st testing engineer at 1998• NetScreen went to Nasdaq on 2001• Grow with NetScreen as testing lead, testing

manager, testing senior manager and testing director

• Found Sigma at 2004, served as CEO as today

Lesson

• You may have to stay long enough to be competitive.

What Is a Career Path Anyway?

• Career path is not a career turn• Your past experience can help you in your

current position. • You current position need skills than can

only be acquired though time. • In your current position, your strength is

other candidate’s weakness.

Enemies on Your Career Path

• Process: What can be managed by process (standard test case library, all kinds of checklist), will not be something you can do for a very long time.

• Machine: Don’t stay very long in a job that can be done by Machine (functionality test cases execution)

• Outsourcing: non-core business will be outsourced

• Every cooperation will use “Process”, “Machine” and “Outsourcing” whenever possible

Bad Choices on Your Career Path

• Be a developer, start learn to code

Using your weakness to compete with other’s strength. If you are not doing well in testing, how do you know you will do well in coding, or anything?

• Don’t’ know what to do so staying in where you are for a long time

• Don’t know what to do so keep jumping places on different roles

• Change only because of Money• Be a business man, doing trade (you are

where you are for a reason)

Good Choices on Your Career Path

• Doing well in your current position, prove yourself, then climb the cooperation ladder.

• Doing well in your current position, build reputation in the community, then wait for the opportunity to come

Set up Your Career Goals

• You want to be stable, a job that can grow experience with time, the longer you do it, the more stable is the job.

• You want to grow, to be challenged. You want to have bigger achievement in your life

Be Happy As An Engineer: You Can Be

• System and Solution testing engineer• Build Master• Release Engineer• Scripter/QA Architect

Build Master/Release Engineer

• Build master takes the code, builds it into a set of files that can be utilized in a desktop or on web server

• Write scripts and tools in multiple languages (Perl, Python, Shell,VBScript, Javascript) fluently to automate very complex build/releaseprocesses - different tools for different jobs.

• Be the owner of source control management, build and release processDesign, develop, document and maintain scripts for build and release processesWork with Development team for any source code control activitiesInteract with QA on smoke and automation testingCollaborate with IT for environment, deployment and rollout activitiesMentor development, QA and IT teams; ensure they follow defined processes

System and Solution Testing Engineer

• Accumulate customer deployment scenarios overtime, design highly customer oriented system end to end level test cases.

• Understand customer’s daily operation needs

• Understand multiple protocols and their interactions.

• Familiar with multiple companies products, testing equipments.

• Able to build large scale simulators to simulate multiple protocols clients

Scripter/QA Architect

• Design automation scripts is as same level as design a product.

• Design patterns, object oriented all apply. • Able to design an automation framework

makes you a QA architect. Responsible for companies overall QA infrastructure.

• Mastering multiple script language (TCL/Perl/Python/Ruby) can make you to be very competitive over time

Climb Up the Ladder: You Can Be

• Testing Management– Test team manager/Senior manager/Director

• Product QA management• Release Manager• Consultant• Project Manager

Testing Management

• Manage people• Manage testing process• Manage testing projects

Product QA Management

• Be responsible for product line QA• ISO 9000 etc.

Release Manager

• Responsible for software release process• Work with planning and delivery teams to prepare and publish overall

release schedules, including high level timelines and milestones„« Proactively monitor progress throughout all stages from scope, analysis through to testing and sign-off, implementation and post-live support.

• Identify conflicts between projects and releases or variances to plan and work with individual project and/or delivery managers to ensure timely resolution of issues and action plans to recover slippage and/or prevent future re-occurrence

• Agree and manage changes to release contents/scope throughout release lifecycle

• Ensure release communications (e.g. Release Notes) are made available to internal parties and external clients (via Project/Client Managers) according to the published timetable

• Oversee internal sign-off and management company acceptance of release including confidence testing

• Chair release review, release readiness checkpoint and post live issue forums

• Conduct post-live release review to identify root cause of any issues, areas for improvement and ways to increase release quality

Consultant

• Testing house• Outsourcing company• Build your own testing house• Training and testing consulation

Project Manager

• Managing various projects. • On time with Quality.

Some People Say…..

Remember:

• Your past experience can help you in your current position.

• You current position need skills than can only be acquired though time.

• In your current position, your strength is other candidate’s weakness.

• Prove yourself before change

Thank you!