Getting Started: Software Testing

CareersGetting Started
Written By Victoria MacLennan

An IT Professionals student member asked me how they could get started learning about Testing over the holidays so I took the question to our members on their slack channel and this is the advice that came back. 

Career wise software testing isn’t a bad choice, it’s stimulating mahi, means you learn about a wide range of software and different aspects of the industry and it pays pretty well. Careers NZ have an overview of the role and pay scales, what’s involved and commentary on what kind of roles are in demand right now.

#1 Learn the Language / Terminology first

“Ensure a solid understanding of basic testing terminology, as it can sometimes be confusing”

Digital technology has it’s own language which is one of the reason’s it’s so hard to understand our industry if you’re not in it. Software testing has another subset of language again, terms like defect, functional and acronyms like QA (quality assurance) are one thing but then we get to penetration, regression and smoke testing that take on whole new meanings of these words. 

Places to get started learning the testing language / terminology include (many of these cover the same terms):

#2 Learn SQL and Excel

“Modern applications often require a comprehension of data, including test data generation. Learn how to apply these concepts using common tools such as SQL and Excel.”

Excel is one of the key tools every tester needs in their toolkit. SQL - structured query language - is necessary for interrogating databases. The combo can be used for dataset generation so progressive tests can use the same data each time for instance. 

Getting started with Excel 
Licensing Excel is another matter altogether. Here is info on how to get access to Excel and other Microsoft tools for free as a student.

Getting started with SQL

  • W3Schools - One recommendation was W3Schools so I signed up and ran their SQL tutorial, it steps you through nicely, seemed to be free (I didn’t go right to the end to see if there were paid extensions) and was really easy to navigate.

  • Khan Academy - free learning resources for digital technology

#3 Use International Testing Qualification as a guideline

ISTQB is the accepted global certification provider and their website gives a great guide on what is needed to be learned to achieve certification as a tester. At a later date taking this certification will be good for the CV to demonstrate a great knowledge base. 

Their foundational Certified Tester knowledge area page gives you the building blocks to go look when learning to test.

#4 Learn about Software Development and Agile

I know you are desperate to get started learning about testing. The advice of our members is to learn more about the environment you’ll be working in first - so the context of testing is easier to understand.

  • Software Development Process - there is a Free Udemy course on the software development process which would be a great place to start

  • Agile - “While Agile is a buzzword, establishing a strong foundation is important. Familiarize yourself with Agile methodologies, values, and principles.” I know this is a whole new set of language to learn about but most software development projects now use this methodology so it’s worth learning something about - perhaps after you’ve learned more about testing itself. List of learn agile for free courses.

#5 Software Testing

OK time to get started. From what I can see there are loads of free courses out there, our members focused more on #1-#4 above so didn’t give specific advice on which ones of these are best to try. Many of these courses have a paid certification at the end, my recommendation is learn as much as you can then if you want to complete a paid certification go and investigate the ISTQB industry standard one.

Articles with recommendations on how to start with Software Testing learning:

LinkedIN Learning - there are loads of videos on here that explain concepts and it looks like you can get 1 month free trial which should enable you to use this set of resources to get started

Coursera - Foundations of Software Testing and Validation from Leeds University. Looks like it is free and start anytime.

Udemy - Introduction to Software Testing or Software QA. Free for the video based course but cost for their certification.

Guru99 - I found out about this on a Reddit thread. There are a bunch of webpages with videos and links that appear to be free here. Good place to start for the basics.

Art of Testing - Indian site with tutorials in written and video form (I know nothing about but found on a few Quora threads)

#6 Further reading

Blogs with insights and resources

Finally

Once you learn the basics of testing there are plenty of ways you can further specialise - Cyber Security Testing, Automation Testing, AI Testing etc etc. 
There are also lots of software testing tools and software products utilised in the software testing space. My recommendation is focus on the concepts first before you dive into vendor specific, or specialisations, this is a massive field with so may great opportunities so get the basics under your belt first. 

Victoria MacLennan
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