“It Doesn’t Matter Where You Came From. All That Matters Is Where You Are Going.”- Brian Tracy
Why I decided to choose Software Testing
I heard lots of stories about “accidental testers”, someone who had gotten into testing more by chance than as planned.. but I would proudly say that when I decided to revamp my career after almost a 10 year long break, I have chosen to make a career in Software Testing as a planned decision.
My first interaction with testing happened in my last job in 2012 when I participated in providing requirements for my organisation’s management system software & later performed the user acceptance testing. When I started learning more about software testing last year I realised that Software Testing is not just about finding errors or bugs. As a tester, we need to consider so many different aspects of various personas while looking at the software product. Software Testing also includes making the product superior, performant, easy to use, functionally rich & accessible for everyone.
Scholarship
Year 2020 was not definitely a great year for everyone but it ended on a great note for me. One of my friends introduced me to the Ministry of Testing & suggested that I should apply for the scholarship which is pro account for the whole year. I applied for it in the first week of October and completely forgot about it. On the 18th of December afternoon I got a scholarship email from MoT. In a couple of days I got admitted to Coders Guild’s Software Testing Bootcamp too. I was on cloud nine as it's the best thing that happened to me in Year 2020 (all best things were happening to me). The Ministry of Testing is a great ocean of knowledge and very helpful to people like me who want to start their journey as Software Testers. It helped me during my tasks in bootcamp too.
30 Days Challenge
I started my learning (before I got Scholarship) with 30 Days challenges. Doing a small task over 30 days is a great way to learn a new skill. I really enjoyed my first 30 Days Accessibility Challenge which I finished last year. Currently I am halfway through my E- commerce accessibility challenge (I got very encouraging feedback from community members & MOT) & looking forward to starting the new 30 days Agile challenge soon.
Online Courses and 99-Minute workshops
99-Minute workshops and courses from some industry experts provided as part of the Pro membership are helping me broaden my knowledge and skills. In the last 3 months I managed to attend some of the following workshops.
- Speed testing using mind maps - Lena Wiberg
- Interactive Accessibility Quiz - Ady Stock
- API Testing with Postman - Suman Bala
- An Introduction to SQL for testers - Lee Marshall
- Risk Storming online - Barren Van Daele
- Continuous testing through SDLC - Dan Ashby
In my year long journey of learning software testing, I can't thank the Ministry of Testing enough for their help.I am really looking forward to attending Exploratory Testing Week and TestBash Home too. Hopefully I will find my first opportunity to work as a Software Tester shortly so that I can apply the skills I’ve learned in a new role.
About the Author
Passionate about software testing, learning new skills & technologies. I am documenting my journey in software testing and new learning in my blog https://yogitalad.blogspot.com. I am a mom to a 6 year old boy and absolutely love cooking Indian curries.
