Best Advice You Have Received as a Tester?

What was your one of the best career advice you have received as a Tester that shaped your testing journey?

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I wasn’t responsible for quality, the team were.

So I should focus as much on sharing my knowledge and skills as testing the product as both have value to short and long term improvements over time.

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Don’t be afraid to question things especially if the answer is “we’ve always done it like this”.

I used to be a little shy and also worried that if I raised something I would upset somebody. Instead, it’s about learning the time and place for such questions but don’t let it put you off raising concerns in the first place. :slightly_smiling_face:

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My first Test Manager said “A tester should always be open-minded enough to add tests to their test plan. They should never be so open-minded as to remove a test from their test plan.”

“Testers are in the information providing business.”

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Testers are people managers

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Yes yes yes yes yes.

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Thank you all for your valuable response! I appreciate a lot :slight_smile:

My manager told me never to blame myself for a bug being released in the wild as it’s the responsibility of the whole team (after I got myself very stressed for not spotting a bug).

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To report the testing I didn’t do alongside the testing I did do.
That my testing notes and evidence are more valuable than ticking a box

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I used to run ideas past consultants before going ahead. I seen this as respect for their experience. In an appraisal I was told I came across as scared and that I should go ahead with ideas and if necessary ask for forgiveness later. It sounds cliche writing it down but I havent looked back since. It was painful to hear at the time but had significant positive impact.

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We want automation reporting that includes passes and failures.

Simple enough, but it changed the way I looked at reporting and our test naming convention became more about the user story.

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Don’t Assume Anything Period

— Unknown QA Manager.

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“Always write test case.”

I wad apprentice tester in start up company. My menthor was always defending himself that he does not have time to write test cases. But than project owner (ex software tester) aproached me and convinced me that i should write them and ignore my menthor. 2 years after that talk, i completely understand the need of writing test cases.

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Thanks for shearing, awesome.

It is what it is

From a former manager. He’s the one who taught me that it’s better to deal with the situation at hand no matter how sub-optimal it might be than it is to gripe about it not being what the team would like. Not that the griping stops, it just usually happens while dealing with it rather than instead of dealing with it.

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In my experience, so, so true!!

Testing is not only about raising issues. Testing is all about bringing about a better product. My husband gave this advice to me recently.

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“If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
I was too afraid to ask earlier in my career but I realized over these years that either you get nothing or you get everything. Choice is yours!

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That’s similar to what I was told when I became head of the QA department. For a while, I’d go to the directors and ask if I could, or should, change something. After a while, I was told “Just do it. If it doesn’t work, try something else.” I like my team to feel empowered in the same way. Within reason, just do it.

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