Is Software Testing still a good career choice? RAJI BHAMIDIPATI TMF SUMMIT 2014

About me BA in Economics and Sociology Testing for nearly 6 years ISTQB, RTI &

Session format Aim Introduction Discussion Conclusion

Aim Share experiences Discuss Learn Improve

Introduction ‘Test is dead’ keynote by Alberto Savoia at GTAC 2011 Changing job specs Testers moving into IT - develop more tools, TDD, BDD, become tester/developer Testers moving into business - business cases, writing user guides, provisioning, user training, looking at the feasibility of new developments etc. Career progression

Typical career paths

Factors for change in the job scene Emerging technologies – e.g. Internet of Things, Cloud Agile and Post-Agile processes Advanced test craft – new schools and philosophies of testing Continuous Delivery and Continuous Integration Employers less willing to work with less skilled testers or recent graduates Location, Location, Location! Pay scales

Average tester’s pay

Average developer’s pay

Tester jobs demand trend

Developer jobs demand trend

Discussion  Is software testing really dead?  Are testers happy in their jobs?  Do all testers have to up skill or become more “technical”? Will there be a continued need for manual testers?  Testers to move into IT or into Business  Tester’s experience – how and what is important?  Should Test Managers be able to test?  Certifications – are these still important?  Job market varies depending upon various factors – primarily on location  Emerging technologies – IoT, Cloud, Saas, Mobile

Discussion …..continued  Different schools of Testing – Factory, Control, Test driven, Context driven  Increase awareness in the community. University courses and job specific training  Obamacare!

Conclusion Thank you for your patience References: Testers aspirations from John Stevenson’s blog: Cartoons by Andy Glover Pay scales and jobs demand graphs from IT Jobs Watch