foreword
There is a fact that I have never wanted to admit: that is, our testing industry will indeed be underestimated, or seriously turned into discrimination. I don’t know if it’s out of jealousy, or out of the bottom of my heart that only by belittling others can I exalt my inferiority. Anyway, this high probability is an established fact. Of course, those who look down on the test don’t understand it at all and don’t even think about it.
Countless times I wished that this was just an exception and not the rule. Therefore, I have been working hard in various places over the years, and I want to change other people's views on us through my own efforts, including winning prizes in algorithm competitions, doing 800 algorithm questions, getting leetcode T-shirts, and second place in front-end development competitions. , Various development communities take the title of expert and so on.
I don't know how much of the above things are effective, whether they are useful, or whether they have counterproductive effects, and I am too lazy to continue. After all, I have retreated to the second line to engage in training and teaching. So now I suddenly want to talk about my experience in testing status over the years from the beginning, and it can be regarded as a lesson for my partners who are taking the same route as me.
Chapter 1: Pride and Prejudice
"Software testing is an industry with no barriers to entry. Wearing the skin of a high-tech IT technician, you go up like a monkey and just click on the app. You dare to call yourself an engineer if you pull anyone on the street who can do the job."
This is what a college classmate of mine said a few years ago. I can’t remember the original words, anyway, that’s what it means, and I said it in front of my face. I also said it on the premise that I am the only one of my college classmates who is engaged in software testing. ...that's the tip of the iceberg of the taunts I've faced in my ten-year testing career.
My university is a full-time undergraduate program, majoring in software engineering (there was no software testing major at that time), and I studied C++ and Java, which can be said to be a professional background in the IT industry. There were dozens of classmates in the class, but I was the only one who became a software test engineer after graduation. Others are all in the development field, such as Android development, java, php, algorithm, architecture, etc.
Of course, not only my class, but also our students in the department, online class, bookkeeping, etc., are also engaged in professional development, and no one does testing. Not because testing is bad prospects, but because testing is looked down upon , for that simple reason and nothing else. At that time, the classmates were all pretentious. At worst, they thought that they would be an elite in the field in the future. Doing tests? dot dot dot? Did you miss this university? It’s not a shame to be ashamed. At that time, the tone was the same in the department. Even my supervisor shook his head and expressed regret when he found out that I had taken the test. He said that such a good seedling was blind in vain. His expression seemed to be the same as seeing me committing suicide.
Of course, later I really went to Beijing to work as a test engineer, sparks and lightning all the way, and the salary crushed almost all the classmates in my whole department from beginning to end. When my salary reached 15k at the end of the first year of work, the highest among my classmates was 14k, the lowest was 3k, and a considerable number of them were unemployed (at that time, we all liked to compare income with each other, and our minds were not as complicated as they are now. Considering so much).
Even so, those students who have not found a job since graduation still do not choose to take the test with me, the reason is still the same: it is embarrassing to take the test . Therefore, based on the principle of starving to death rather than taking the test, many students really lost their jobs and returned to their hometowns to work in agriculture. They quit Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and bid farewell to the IT industry. I sent them off the Beijing train time and time again, watching their backs leaving with their bags on their backs, my heart was full of discomfort, I didn't understand: why do people with such a dead mind, besides those stubborn elders, get along with me day and night My roommates.... I didn't realize that all of them were so strong when I was in college...
I have always maintained the first high salary and have not been recognized by my classmates, nor have they changed their views on the test. The point of view of the students is: I went to the testing industry to kill indiscriminately because of my development foundation and academic qualifications. I can do it, but software testing is not enough.
At that time, I watched a movie called "Pride and Prejudice". After watching it, my mood was very complicated, and I was not redeemed. Then I watched another movie called "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies".
I remember that when I was studying software testing in a training class in Beijing, I was on my way out of school one night. Several buddies discussed which company to work for after learning software testing. I happened to be passing by Wudaokou, some friends wanted to go to Sohu, some said to go to bat, and some said to go to state-owned enterprises. My answer was different. I proudly raised my head at 45°, looked at the night sky and said: The company is not important, as long as it allows me to learn and develop freely. I just want to be the first in the industry and completely change the entire industry. After hearing this, the squad leader patted me on the shoulder and said: Don't brag so much, we don't have as big ambitions as you, let's solve food and clothing first and find a job.
I looked down and saw the dilapidated Erlizhuang apartment we lived in (the rent was 500 per month), and I nodded and said: Yes, the skyscrapers are rising from the ground, so let’s find a job to fill our stomachs first.
-----This episode is over, welcome to follow up