Order of MoT Dojo Courses for Junior Testers

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I was looking at the MoT courses page and it got me thinking about what would be the best order in which should a junior tester take these courses. I came up with an order which made sense to me (especially the begging of the list seemed pretty clear), but, I’m wondering if there is room to optimize the order and maybe add some other learning resources to the list.

Suggested order in which to take courses

  1. Essentials - Introduction to Software Development and Testing - a broad overview of software development, roles, and place of testing in SDLC

  2. Optimising Manual Test Scripts For An Agile Environment - Matt Archer

  3. Be Wise, Do Pairwise - Use the pairwise technique for your tests

  4. Bug Reporting 101 - Neil Studd - improve your bug reports

  5. The Building Blocks of the Internet - Mark Winteringham - how the internet works in a nutshell

  6. Introduction To HTTP - Mark Winteringham - HTTP protocol explained, very important for API testing

  7. Automating API Checks With RestSharp - Hilary Weaver-Robb - learn about API automated testing after covering how the internet works, most notably the HTTP protocol, take this course if you’re using C# language

  8. For Java route of API automated testing take:

  1. A Software Tester’s Guide To Chrome Devtools - how to use DevTools, extremely good to know for testing web application

  2. Coding For Non-Coders - Jim Holmes - learn extremely important general concepts that will make your life as a tester easier

  3. Linux Commands for Beginners - Lim Sim - essential terminal commands

  4. Introduction to JavaScript - Mark Winteringham - understanding JavaScript is really useful to be better at testing web applications

  5. Introduction to Cypress - take this one after going over JS basics

  6. Introduction To Accessibility Testing - basics of accessibility testing, which has been increasingly important in the past few years

  7. Cognitive Biases In Software Testing -

  8. Beginner’s Guide To Mobile Testing - Daniel Knott - introduction to testing mobile apps, where mobile testing specifics are very well explained

  9. Web Application Security Testing 101 - Dan Billing - useful overview of security testing, even though this testing is usually done by highly experienced specialists, knowing the basics is very useful for any tester.

  10. Performance Testing 101 - Simon Knight - why is it important and how does knowing the basics of performance with JMeter testing helps make use a better all-around tester.

  11. The Complete Guide To CSS Selectors - important for UI automation

  12. The Complete Guide To XPath - also important for UI automation

  13. Introduction to Python for Software Testers - Dave Westerveld - Only take this one if you’ll be using Python for test automation

Bonus:

  • Improving Your Testing Through Operability - not required for juniors per se, as it involves “shift-right” testing in production and not many companies are doing this.
  • Introduction To Modern Testing - Alan Page - alternative to traditional testing, not mandatory to be aware of it in the earliest stages of your career. It will make sense as you take note of issues with the old-school approach to testing. Modern testing is rare to see in outsourcing/staffing companies and highly regulated industries where
  • 30 Days Of Agile Testing - a 30 challenge where you get to learn a different thing about Agile testing (pairing, visualizing, analyzing risks, etc.) every day and share it with the community, good as a source of motivation for learning. There are plenty of other 30-day challenges you can check out here.
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Reading through these lessons I see two rough groups - those about testing (theory and techniques that aren’t specific to testing a certain kind of application, like how to report a bug or accessibility testing) and those about ‘computer stuff’ (how the application under test works, eg Javascript, HTTP, which is useful for testing but not specifically related to it). Then there is some overlap with software that is used in testing, eg dev tools, Cypress.
When I first started testing, I was much more enthusiastic for learning about testing as a practice than the specifics of how applications work. It might just be me, but I am more engaged by learning the ‘computer’ knowledge when it’s relevant to the project/testing I am doing. I won’t deny that knowing how things work behind the scenes is incredibly useful though. I lacked motivation to learn how to manipulate network requests until it was useful for my testing, but I was glad for the (very basic) knowledge of them I had picked up before then.
Probably the best path depends a lot on you and what you are testing, but this list looks pretty good :slight_smile: I’ll be taking a look at some of these even as a non-junior

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Thanks @phoebeyoung I appreciate the input and good luck with your learning!

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@mirza thanks for sharing the list. I find it very useful for everyone who is about to start their career as a software tester and even for me as 1-year-old tester who still accumulate skills and knowledge in this domain. I’m glad that I have touched a few of these topics while self-studied to become a front-end developer but in the end chose to become a software tester :slight_smile: I guess this career has chosen me. After a year in my current junior role, I still see there are so many topics that I can choose to put on my tester’s roadmap.

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