If You Could Turn Back Time: Coaching New Testers

If you could turn back time, what do you wish you had known when you started working as a tester? When you are new to testing, you are faced with daunting challenges. Recent college graduates may find it difficult to apply academic knowledge in practice. It is easy to get discouraged and start questioning whether testing is really for you. Richard Lu and Christin Wiedemann relate their experiences of starting careers as software testers—with no prior testing experience. They share ideas for how senior testers can keep junior testers engaged, and encourage them to learn and step up in their roles. Easy-to-implement suggestions include explaining the company culture, encouraging relationship building, emphasizing communication, discussing the objective and value of testing, and talking about the different meanings of quality. Instead of leaving your team’s new hires to struggle, join this session and learn how to coach new testers to become their best.