Testing Garage: Software Testing Practice: The Top 5 Challenges I See Today -- Part 4A

The practice is one of the areas where I dwell, fall, and rise again. I'm part of the practice. I'm, what I practice. It redefines me every day. This blog post is a sub-part of the blog post "The Common Challenges as a Software Tester and How I Overcome -- Part 4".

Here are the first few challenges that I witness in the Practice context

Awareness
Being Contemporary
Upskilling
Being "the match and approachable"
Being Focused

Awareness

Why it is a challenge?

If I'm not aware

I cannot be contemporary
I will not know why it is the way it is
Without the awareness of what's happening,

I cannot help myself with what to unlearn, learn and upskill

Multiple sources exist that "appear" as an awareness source

How I'm trying to be aware?

I find the sources that help me to be aware
I get involved with the sources
I learn and understand what these sources have to say and offer
I keep asking myself

What I'm aware of here?
What should I be aware of here?
What I'm not aware of here?

Being aware of the different ideologies, thoughts, and schools in

Software Testing & Engineering
Software Engineering
and, its businesses ...

Being Contemporary

Why it is a challenge?

If I'm not contemporary

I may not fit well for the needs of today's industry and business
I will have content, experience, and skills

But, I may not be able to offer them in a way it is expected

My practice, thoughts, and mindset will appear as not matching or not aligning with the organization or/and stakeholders

To an engineer,

This is an everyday challenge!

The landscape of technology changes so fast, that upskilling is a necessity
Being adaptive and upskilling is a necessity for remaining contemporary

How to be a specialist? How to remain a specialist while being a generalist?

How to be the contemporary and T-shaped full-stack engineer that the industry looks for?

How I'm trying to be contemporary?

I don't see the programming languages, tools, platforms, libraries, architecture patterns, and business as contemporary

But these are byproducts of what defines -- being contemporary
And these changes with time and problems to be solved

There are no defined and particular ways to be contemporary

Hence it is a challenge!

For today, in my opinion, there is no solution to be contemporary in Software Engineering

And, being contemporary is not a problem to solve

It cannot be solved

Being contemporary means evolving, adapting, and growing in the environment -- to the need or to the need created and manifested

It is a context
Who is fit to the context with the value expected to add, will have a better opportunity

Growing and adapting with time by learning the day's engineering problem and drawing a solution, is a headlight in the journey which shows what is contemporary

I focus here
I will try to be aware and upskill consistently here

Being aware and evaluating how the business and money are getting tabulated in the balance sheet at the workplace

It is a critical detail and skill needed after certain years in the industry for one
If not known, one may not pivot to a better position and opportunities for being contemporary and see [and get] its benefits

Being contemporary in what area?

One has to figure out what are her/his areas to be aware of to be contemporary
This is another set of problems to identify

Is the T-shaped full-stack engineer a contemporary term today?

I do not think so!
What fills in the T-Shape and the Stack changes consistently for the need and to the need created

Meet people in your areas; network with them

Also meet people who are not part of your area
Talk! Network

See what you can catch here and learn

Upskilling

Why it is a challenge?

I do not want to remain in the same learning, role, and earning

Status Quo is not possible here
All who are on the payroll need consistent and pragmatic upskilling, today

Upskilling in Software Testing & Engineering has always been under debate in my last 17 years

The practice is different within teams in an organization
The understanding and practice between two testers in a team are not close, forget being the same
What to practice in Software Testing?

Testing?
Automation?
The blend of every role in Software Development?
This confusion is being fostered here
This confuses and gives the space for arguments and not a healthy discussion
Eventually who are getting better identity and benefit, her/his thoughts get promoted in that place

And, more likely these thoughts and practices get followed
Does this influences the people who are practicing Software Testing?

Information is abundant today on the web for Software Testing

As said whose content gets better likes, reposts, and shared, that information gets more visibility

How I consume this, influences my upskilling

Few of my friends moved from Software Testing to different roles

Maybe your friends too in your org and team
Does this challenge your aspiration to continue in Software Testing & upskilling here?

I get calls from the training startups asking to switch to other roles saying Software Testing has hit the roof

Further, they try to influence me by saying

No career progression in Software Testing
I cannot make money
I can make money if I move to different roles where I do full-time coding

I can grow in my career and move to different positions
And more ...

We have the people who say to not choose software testing
This influences those who are fresh, experienced, and finding rough times in the practice of Software Testing

For example, how many times do I speak and hear about the Test Design?

It is one of the most ignored, unaware, and unspoken areas of Software Testing
This is one example of where to upskill

How I'm trying to upskill?

One of the strengths of a Software Test Engineer is to not get easily influenced

I get lots of factors and people who influence me to their interests and intents
As a Software Test Engineer, I have to pick anything upon questioning and scrutiny
This is one skill that I try to upskill everyday

To upskill, I see a determined self as a need for the first

The key area of upskilling is the unlearning part
Knowing what to unlearn is not evident most of the time
In the journey, I discover what I should unlearn

The faster I discover, I help myself to save time

I evaluate where I stand on the path of -- where I want to continue my journey

I do it consistently

While I do this, I classify the areas of my upskilling
I observe,

For every 18 months the list in this area gets outdated and updated as well

This is like the tests getting retired or taken off the execution list, while the new ones are added

I collaborate with the community and people who can help me to upskill
This is not a straight and simple task

I unlearn a lot
I fail a lot
But, importantly I learn in this journey and it builds me with an experience
I share the learning I make here with the software testing communities

I have a map, territory, and details of where should I be upskilling for the next 6 months

I refer to Open Source works which is consumed by the tech organizations
I refer to how tech organizations are building their services
I identify the layer of testabilities in the technologies
I refer to tech blogs and books, and I relate them with the help of programming
I do more here
My map, territory, and what to explore keep refining and get updated every 6 months

Being "the match and approachable"

Why is it a challenge?

For first I should be visible and identifiable that I'm a match

How to be so?

How do I build myself to be approachable?

After a certain point in the career,

One can navigate further only if she or he is seen as approachable
My words, thoughts, what I speak and write, and how I respond, all of these can set a different tone and personality for the stakeholders

This can give an image of me that I'm actually not
In fact, those who are with me at work and in communities for years can frame a different image of me

This is a tough ask

Perceptions of stakeholders and what stakeholders need, influences in what and how they perceive me for -- Am I approachable?

We will have a gap here no matter what
How do I bridge the approachability with the people with whom I want to associate and work? This matters!

Whether it is a job or association or organization, what primarily differs are

The people, culture, and how I associate with them and their expectations

This changes the dimensions of how approachable and visible I'm in their perceptions

How I'm trying to be "the match and approachable"?

I try to understand the expectations and needs of the stakeholders

The needs and expectations are two different sets in my experience

I consistently work on my communication and how I share my thoughts

Also, I keep watch on the words I use in a given context knowing who all are in the discussion
Communication is not just spoken and written words and language
Being practical, pragmatic, and empathetic helps to an extent

By upskilling, I try to balance the equation of "the match"
By being approachable and contemporary

I learn to know the people, organizations, and communities with whom I want to associate, work and grow

I learn to be aware and have awareness so that I'm focused

This is not a cycle; all these happen in parallel and drive each other

Awareness
Being Contemporary
Upskilling
Being "the match and approachable"
Being focused

Being Focused

Why it is a challenge?

There are distractions outside and inside

We want to fulfill and meet someone's perception and expectation

The changes that we see every day in the space where we work and at the family end

It will have an impact on the focus and awareness I want to be with

Every day I work to keep my focus and awareness to be fit and healthy
So that I can identify and mitigate the distractions

Having mental and physical health balanced is crucial

How I'm trying to be focused?

I'm learning to prioritize and decide what I have to work upon
By improvising and developing the skills of having and using:

The clarity, decision-making, and accomplishing the milestones that I set

Goals with the timelines and milestones
Not skipping or postponing my priorities and losing sight of what I should be focusing

I have a daily check on my focus on what I have gotten into
I evaluate and align with it
I use multiple and ideate with the strategies to be focused and evaluate the same

And, I tell myself it is okay when I fail

But, I look for the lessons when I fail and why I failed
I do not give up unless it is a necessity

Click here for returning to the blog post:

The Common Challenges as a Software Tester and How I Overcome -- Part 4
Business and Software Testing: The Top 5 Challenges I See Today -- Part 4B
Project and Software Test Engineering: The Top 5 Challenges I See Today -- Part 4C