In front, this is an industry that will get rid of without progress!
Ask about the prospects of software testing, to be precise, what should be the career planning of software testing engineers. The 200+ test development has been introduced here into big factories, and they often communicate with them. For some career planning opinions and suggestions, I will sort out from the following aspects for your reference. (It turns out that the big brothers are in the comment area ...)
1. The current status of the software testing industry 2. The current status of the
industry personnel
3. The career planning
of the software testing engineer 4. The core competitiveness of the
software testing engineer 5. The software testing engineer how to continuously improve his ability
Big factories are more inclined to recruit test development, more primary tests are absorbed by outsourcing, and it will be more difficult for manual testers to survive.
After 18 years of layoffs, many big factories and startups are adjusting and optimizing their team structure. Especially for big factories, it is not simply to lay off people, but to cut off a single manual test, turn And pay higher salaries to recruit test developers with better technology. In this process, even due to the shortage of talents and the rise in salaries, some developers turned to behavioral test development or senior quality management talents.
After big factories outsource more testing services, outsourcing companies are also growing, which in turn will further push companies to cut unnecessary employment costs. In this process, after the company outsourced the test, it squeezed out the salary bubble of some positions to a large extent.
Another is that the entire testing industry is slowly shuffling. Some time ago, I often saw people asking when the testing industry would reshuffle, but it was always going on. The talent structure and technical ability requirements are also constantly changing. When looking for a job in many junior tests, you will find that the minimum requirements will be automated testing. The industry that was originally chosen because you did not want to write code is now blind. The recruitment needs of enterprises in this way indicate that many enterprises need automated testing and test development, but the internal growth and training is too slow, which can only be reflected in the recruitment needs. Although we are doing test development training, we can clearly feel that in 2019, the audience of automated test training will show a substantial increase.
The testing industry is changing rapidly, but many people are standing still and the quality of the personnel is uneven
Because the test entry is relatively simple, the threshold is relatively low, and manual testing can easily find good-paying jobs in the past few years, which has poured in a large number of manual testers. The basic knowledge is not solid, only some superficial testing techniques , Focus on using tools rather than building your own testing ideas and systems. It is even said that even if you learn automation, there are some situations where you want to use automation to automate.
The tester gap is still very large. Here we are talking about intermediate and senior test developers, which will only be tested manually. What we have reflected here is that big factories like Tencent and Ali are looking for internal promoters who we want to test and develop. matched. Therefore, as a test engineer, we still have to work hard to improve our abilities.
The salary gap of test practitioners is relatively large. At the end of 18 years, the survey found that the average person is in the 5-15k range, and only 20% is in the 20K-40k range, so it is the key to strive to become the first 20%.
So as a test engineer, how to plan your own development direction?
In the 1-2 year period, you should concentrate on basic skills, such as the entire test process and product domain knowledge, and the other is automated testing tools, which may not reach the level of script development. In addition, it is time to start learning the programming language at this time and prepare for the future. The operating system and database are the basic knowledge;
In 3-4 years, strengthen your skills in programming, operating system, network, database, and then you can develop and execute test scripts, and improve test automation programming technology on the basis of understanding the product. At this stage, it is already an "old fritters", and it is necessary to participate in the peer review of software work products;
In 4-5 years, you can bring a small team with you. Task estimation, management, and progress control are all in contact, focusing on developing your skills in software project management and support tools.
In 5-6 years, it is okay to bring 4-8 tests. At this time, in addition to providing technical guidance and support for your team, you also need to have the ability to deal with customers, such as demo and promotion.
Waiting for more than 6 years, this time you may have to manage a larger test team and be responsible for the testing of several projects. At this time, on the one hand, you must constantly provide your own test technology, but also improve your management and communication skills.
Of course, on the whole, the specific things done by different positions in different directions are different:
although the general direction is management and technology, even if it is to do management, the breadth and depth of technology must be expanded. Knowing technology is difficult to convince the crowd, and it is difficult to guide and support the team members. In short, we have pushed so many test developments into large factories, and we can see that the technical direction is still better.
For a test engineer, what are the core competencies?
Professional skills: There is no doubt that eating is based on the basics. With the continuous deepening of your testing technology, you will definitely feel that your previous testing ideas are very obvious. You must first go through management or even transfer to a post. Technical Deep digging is very important;
Management skills: able to lead the team to operate efficiently, complete tasks efficiently, test core kingliness, and of course also ensure the harmony of the team's internal atmosphere and promote the healthy development of the team. When your technology reaches a certain level, it will naturally assume certain management responsibilities.
Learning ability: Perhaps the most important part of soft power is heard a lot, but as a person who comes over, it is recommended that people have limited energy and focus your limited energy in the most important direction;
Communication skills: Does it sound a little bit higher, the ears can hear the cocoon, which has been popular since ancient times, but sincere and permanent spread;
Influence: The more you test the industry, the smaller the circle. If you have a certain influence in test development and architects in Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, it is very easy to communicate and learn from each other. . Often the more top, the more willing to share. For example, at the MTSC test conference in early 19th, test development in many places participated actively. Of course, interpolating between each other is also very simple. If you have internal needs, your resume can be sent to me.
What are the ways for test engineers to improve their abilities?
Online community forums, test books, internal training, course training, offline salons, these are all mainstream ways to improve their abilities. Of course, for me, my own research and one-to-one guidance are helpful to me Very large, if there is a big cow in the team, it is easy to set an example. When you become a big cow, you will encounter a lot of characters who are dissatisfied with a bottle of water and half a bottle of water, but it is just a smile.
In addition, the way to promote your rapid growth is to stay with excellent people.
(The article is from Hogwarts School of Testing)
