Testing is Rocket Science Not Brain Surgery

I can’t underscore the need to have experienced and knowledgeable interviewers when it comes time to hire people in positions that require not only technological prowseness but also critical thinking skills.  When it comes to software test automation and performance testing, resources need to have a mix of the art and science mindset, creative and critical thinking with logical and deductive reasoning skills.  These two test methods appear simple at first glance until you start to look at all of the areas you have to cover from planning to development to the actual execution and analysis.  So when I see sites like these,

 LoadRunner Interview Questions 

I begin to become worried about how people go about hiring for these positions.  I have on occassion suggested that clients have more experienced people interview me for a position.  While seemingly foolish or arrogant, this actualy serves a very beneficial purpose.  One, it helps increase the confidence in the hiring, and secondly it gives me a chance to see what the experience level is in the organization.  I’m of the opinion that every chance you have to sit in front of someone and discuss your craft is an opportunity to educate and engage in some intelligent conversation.  So its important that all parties involved are confident in their ability to hire for the duties and perform the duties.  When this doesn’t happen I can guarantee there will be issues.  Ignorance is not bliss when it come to investing in automation and performance testing efforts, things can get expensive quickly, not only in tool costs, but effort and time.  Compounding this is the perception of a lack of ROI when testing software as most companies fail to recognize the cost over time problem when bug discovery happens later in the SDLC beforehand.

So, what this means is everyone should be going into the acquisition of resources with eyes wide open, and not depending on some arbitrary list of tool specific questions that are easily answered by the help documentation in the tool.  Having been the recipient of certifications from two significant players in the software industry I know first hand that the path to certification is both expensive and time consuming.  Few of my colleagues are able to pursue certifications that require multiple weeks of missed work along with the reduced productivity around studying for the exam.  Both a lack of understanding by the interviewer and a dependence on certifications to validate hiring decisions can and often does lead to bringing people in that are so specialized that they fail to contribute in a meaningful way to the overall effort.  Even when all you need is a tools driver you’ll find that more often than not knowledge of the tool alone will not suffice, better to hire for an understanding of the technologies in play with some testing tool experience than the specific tools at the expense of not having real software domain knowledge.