The company only has me as a tester... and there is no previous experience to learn from, what should I do?

I saw a post recently:

The company I work for is currently only me for testing. I develop and dock products by myself. The company has no process. I don't know what I should do, and I don't have previous experience to learn from. What should I do?

I have seen many test engineers who have just stepped into the testing industry questioning and asking for help:

If the company only has me as a tester, what should I do to do the company's work well?
As far as my personal development is concerned, can I have a good development prospect if I am the only tester?
After all, should I go or stay in this situation? Why is there such a phenomenon?

First, let's analyze, why do so many companies now only have one tester?

There are probably two reasons for this phenomenon:

First: Because the country now supports and encourages independent entrepreneurship, more and more start-up Internet software companies are emerging.

This type of company is in its infancy, and funds are generally very limited, so they can basically only afford the jobs they think must exist.

For example, development — people who create and produce software, sales or operations — people who can directly help the company make money and generate profit;

And for similar testing positions, it is the icing on the cake, not a role that must exist.

Therefore, you will find that many small and medium-sized enterprises in second- and third-tier cities have not set up test positions, and they basically develop their own development and do simple self-tests and release them directly.

If the company only sets up a tester position, it is not surprising, and it also shows that the company has passed the initial stage and began to slowly realize the importance of the test position, which is a manifestation of maturity and progress.

Second: It also stems from the lack of attention to testing in China.

Many companies think that what testers do has no technical content, and everyone can do a little bit of Dafa. Therefore, let the development be completed and test it by the way, or give it to the operation department to give it a try, and it will basically go online.

They have no knowledge of the skills of professional test engineers and cannot understand the importance of test work to product quality, so they think that test positions are dispensable.

Setting up a position as a tester is extremely satisfying for them. The awkward situation of a tester

Based on the current status quo of the Internet industry based on the above analysis, many testers who are new to the testing industry, who independently take charge of all the work of the testing department in the company, often encounter the embarrassing situation of weakness and difficulty.

Generally, in such a company, there will not be any standardized processes, and people in various departments carry out their work according to their own ideas and wishes.

such as:

After the development and programming are completed, directly send a package to the tester for testing. There is no requirement specification to describe the business process and user requirements of this project in detail;
Development does not have a process to standardize its own unit testing, so it is difficult to require each of them to do their job, let alone provide relevant unit test reports, just by relying on self-consciousness and personal sense of mission;

Therefore, the test does not have the basis and benchmark for writing test cases. You can only write test cases based on your own understanding while familiarizing yourself with the developed software. This is not only inefficient, but also easily leads to inadequate and inadequate test case design. The problem of incomplete testing.
In addition, the development does not have a sense of identification with the testing work, and often continuously modify or add new requirements, and then directly add the version to the test. The test is basically carried out according to the development rhythm, and the test work has no autonomy at all.

Often, testing takes a lot of time and effort to test the product, opens a lot of bugs, and development does not actively fix the bugs. Of course, there is no process to promote bug fixes. A basic tester is isolated and helpless, and he can’t be convinced. Development and communication efficiency is very low, and the results are very poor.
Even, sometimes, without waiting for the testing to complete all the testing work, the software product has been silently launched without being notified.

Then there is a serious problem with the online product, and a test will be found, and the test must be tested to bear the consequences and responsibility. Everything seems to have nothing to do with testing. I feel that my work is not valued or understood, and I feel very passive and helpless.

What should we do if we are in such a company, alone in the testing position and faced with so many difficulties?

Many people can't bear the pressure and feel that they are powerless to reverse the situation, so they think of giving up, leaving and hopping.

Besides choosing to escape, don't we have other ways to try?

Of course not. If you can handle such a working situation well, you can accelerate your personal growth, accumulate experience points that others cannot get, and even help you grow with the company and achieve a win-win situation.

So, to achieve this goal, we can start from the following aspects

1. Communicate more with leaders

First, communicate with the company's superiors to find out where you are as a tester in the company.

Since the leader has set up a testing position and recruited you to do the testing work, he must have his own original intention. I hope you can help solve what kind of problems and achieve what kind of results, this is what you need to clarify through communication.

Generally, a company has set up a test position and recruited a test engineer. It must have expectations for the output of this position. Any salary and manpower expenditure must be expected to be rewarded.

So by communicating with the leader, it is clear what kind of effect he wants you to achieve in this position, what work to accomplish, and to what extent.

On this basis, you combine your own ideas, implement some substantive work plans, and put forward some constructive comments and suggestions.

For example, the leader hopes that you will do your best to complete all test work, including test documents and various test outputs, and product quality does not allow any flaws.

Such a request, obviously, the current reality is not allowed.

So you can analyze the status quo and express your own difficulties. Of course, try not to show that your own ability is insufficient to take on important tasks, but that the reality cannot be surpassed; then you can make some substantive suggestions.

If it is the initial construction stage of the testing department, one person will definitely not be able to complete all the work.

So you can list the existing workload and priority, take the lead in ensuring the quality and efficiency of high-priority work,
For example, the function and quality of the main and important modules of the product, the output of necessary test documents, etc.;
If there is more power and time afterwards, then cover the sub-priority module functions and improve various details and document output.

At the stage of only one tester, it is not recommended to implement automated testing by yourself, unless the leader can help coordinate developers to build an automated testing framework and work together to complete the implementation of automated testing.

Otherwise, there is definitely no way for one to maintain an automation framework while ensuring the quality of project release.
Therefore, at this time, considering automated testing, not only can not save manpower and improve efficiency, but will waste time and energy, which is counterproductive.

It is recommended that the relevant personnel of the project assist in the testing work to ensure the quality of the product together.

For example, develop a good grasp of the quality of unit testing, and try to deliver products that can be directly tested to the testers to ensure that effective resources can be fully utilized to achieve the desired test results;
Let the personnel of the operation department participate in the test. You can write all the test cases and introduce some main test tricks and methods, and then assign tasks to specific personnel.
You can test your own main key modules, and other department staff can share some other functional modules or some regression tests.
In this way, on the one hand, people in relevant departments can know that testing is not just a little bit, but there are laws to follow, there are techniques to be found, and they can recognize the technical and professional nature of the test work;
On the other hand, all employees test, test products to the greatest extent, and work together to ensure product quality.

If there is still no way to meet the test requirements, you can also apply to the leader for recruitment, but regular employees can also be interns.

Don't be afraid to express the difficulties, and don't be afraid to ask for it. If it is a reasonable and well-reasoned request, the leader will not only refuse it, but will feel that you are an excellent employee who has great ideas and is thinking and working hard for the benefit of the company.
Of course, these requirements must be put forward on the basis that you have fully and correctly evaluated all the test workloads. It is best to have quantifiable data and some unavoidable but foreseeable risks. Lead and try to persuade him, and strive for his understanding and support.
In this way, in the future work, with a strong backing, whether it is communication between departments or division of work responsibilities, it can be carried out more smoothly.

2. Fully learn product business

Testing should also communicate more with the requirements and product departments, fully understand the company's business lines, and be familiar with the functional process of the product.

One of the necessary skills for testers is business ability. A test engineer with insufficient business ability is not a qualified tester!

What is business capability?

It is your understanding of the products and functional modules you are currently testing, as well as your knowledge of your industry, as well as the business and knowledge reserves of related products.

I believe that every one of us who is engaged in the testing industry can usually find some such situations in the company:

– There are always some people who can put forward some constructive suggestions that are different from others during the needs analysis meeting;

There are always some people who can put forward some test points that you did not arrive first but are really targeted to the user scenario during the test case review;
There are always some people who find that the number and quality of bugs when they get the product to perform tests are beyond the reach of others...

This is the difference in product understanding and cognition caused by the difference in business capabilities.

Although this requires a certain amount of precipitation and rich experience accumulation, it is not easy and simple to obtain, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and the cultivation of business capabilities starts with learning the requirements documents, and then by following the products and requirements. Continuous improvement in the communication and discussion process.

On this basis, you can make your own test cases more adequate.

In addition, if you need other department personnel to assist in the test, you can better distribute the work, and when reporting to the leader, you can also more accurately evaluate the test workload. During the testing process, the missed test can be avoided more effectively, and the needs of users can be met as much as possible.

Moreover, more communication and exchanges can also promote cooperation between departments. When user needs change, or when the needs of the test process are unclear, they can also confirm and get answers more efficiently. Good Communication can always greatly improve the efficiency of work.

3. Develop and optimize related processes

Observe and understand the problems of the entire team that you can see through all aspects, sort out and summarize and give your suggestions.

Generally, a start-up company with only one testing post must have the disadvantages of irregular processes or even no processes. Therefore, it is imperative to assist the company in formulating processes or optimizing existing processes.

Formulating a complete process can not only improve the efficiency of testing work, but also make the division of responsibilities of each department clear and make the company's business operations smoother.

To formulate the test process and standardize the work of testing, start with doing yourself well. +Standardize the output of each stage of the test.

The output content and format of documents such as test plans, test cases, and test reports.

Of course, because it is the initial stage, all test documents are not necessarily required, nor do they need to be particularly detailed and fully meet the requirements of the specification. You can develop a preliminary version with multiple visual small goals, allowing you to work in the future. Optimize and perfect step by step;

+Standardize bug writing template and tracking process. For example, the necessary information (steps, data and logs, and on-site screenshots, etc.) that need to be provided when testing bugs;

In the process of bug handling, when you modify the bug status during development or testing, you must add corresponding notes to facilitate follow-up tracking personnel to quickly understand the entire process.

Develop a cooperation process between departments to help each department collaborate more smoothly. +Standardize the process of product management requirements.

For example, in the requirements analysis stage, specifications must be provided as the basis for the development and testing to start work;

During the process of the project, especially during the first round of testing, it is not recommended to add new requirements; when the project is approaching the release stage, it is strictly forbidden to add new requirements;

The product needs to be online or released, and it must wait until the tester completes all the testing work and submits the report document of the test pass; + standardize the development and docking test process.

For example, when developing and delivering products, you need to provide a unit test report to ensure that the self-test is passed; when developing and fixing bugs, you also need to provide a unit test report, or at least provide self-test results and recommendations for testing to help the test perform regression testing;

When it is required that the development close bug is in a non-fixed state, it must be communicated with the test, and then closed after confirmation and permission, to avoid conflicts between development and testing;

It is stipulated that when the project is approaching the release stage, all important code changes should be carefully reviewed and reviewed by relevant personnel to avoid serious regression problems or online problems after release.

The only way to formulate the various processes is to explain in the process. If the process is not implemented in accordance with the process specifications, the problems and risks brought by the process should be fully borne by the process breaker. In this way, the execution of the process can be better promoted, and the established process can exert its maximum benefit.

The company's process formulation and management can greatly improve work efficiency. Testers can rely on them, and they will not be too passive, and the test rhythm will be disrupted by products or R&D; the division of responsibilities is clear, so that everyone knows what they should do and the risks they should bear, so that all departments can People work together to ensure the quality of our products.

04 Enriching own technology

For small companies, when there is only one tester in the testing department, it is a high challenge, but also accompanied by high opportunities.

Therefore, we should seize the opportunity and let ourselves grow with the company.

When the company is mature enough, if you can take the lead, you can take on the role of the head of the testing department and become the pioneer of the testing department.

However, before that, we need to strengthen our knowledge system and enrich our hard-core technology.

Rich test theory foundation

From the software testing process to various test case design methods, various types of testing techniques, bug handling processes and common management tools, etc.

These basic knowledge need to be perfected and solid. Only by mastering these test theory knowledge can you form your own test thinking and become a professional test engineer who can guide others;

Otherwise, without these test cornerstones, all high-rise buildings can only be fantasy.

Practice the test methods and skills learned in company projects.

Theory always requires practice in order to produce true knowledge, so being able to apply what you have learned is truly learning and mastering.

Therefore, practice more and sum up experience at work, and continue to enrich knowledge and theory after work. You can also participate in some training courses for test engineers. Practice and theory complement each other, so that your knowledge reserve is becoming more abundant.

Finally, you can also learn some advanced related technologies, such as the company's common development language, some knowledge of the database, and some commonly used testing tools, such as packet capture tools, log analysis and positioning tools, automated testing tools, and performance testing tools.

Thinking of reaching a certain height, the mastery of these skills is also necessary.

Let’s share some technical learning video materials

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Finally, to summarize

If the company only has you as a tester, please don't panic and don't get lost.

We must know that the teams of all mature large companies are from scratch, from start-up to maturity.

Therefore, first observe the company and its leaders, and judge whether they have the ability and courage to achieve a company's transformation from youthful to mature ;

If the answer is yes, please judge whether you have enough ability and knowledge reserves to grow with the company. At the same time, please check whether you have enough patience and determination to support this hard and long growth;

If the answer is still yes, then don't retreat, let alone give up. Persevere in this trough period, and you will see the dawn of victory!

Of course, if anyone answers the first two questions in the negative, then there is no need to hesitate. We can resolutely leave, choose a platform that is more suitable for us, and realize our maximum value .