"Some birds aren't meant to be caged, their feathers are just too bright"- Morgan Freeman, Shawshank Redemption. This blog is from one such bird who couldn't be caged by organizations who mandate scripted software testing. Pradeep Soundararajan welcomes you to this blog and wishes you a good time here and even otherwise.

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Gold mines opening up for Indian Testers

Hi Reader,

Yes, this post does matter a lot to you, if you are a tester from India.
For people who already know
Tester Tested! , You know testing is creative, since Tester Tested! is one such example to prove that. I would want you to know; who made testing creative?

Drum roll !!!!!!
James Bach , Cem Kaner , Gerald M Weinberg , Bret Pettichord .....[lots more] And also the people whom the above mentioned people have referred to, are the ones who showed to the world that Testing is a craft and not everyone can become good testers.

Now, if you are a developer, and lets say Dennis Ritchie or Brain W Kerningham is offering a training on C, wouldn't you be excited to take it? , despite, you having worked on C for sometime?. It sure adds a lot of value and its once in a life time opportunity. You feel, you are a good developer, after you learn C from Dennis Ritchie.


Similarly, is there someone, who could, help us in becoming a good tester?

To answer the above question, lets take up an exercise -

Do you see a picture above or rather, something written in bold or caps?
If you are asked to think as a tester, and test the above, right now, how will you test?

First of all, if I ask you to read out what is written in the picture, most of you would read "A" , "S" , "M" , "C" , "X" and "I", right. I too was looking at that picture from that angle but something improved my thinking as a tester and now I look at a lot of combinations and possibilities.

Are you interested as to what else can it be other than the above letters?

Yes, can it be a "A" , "S" , Roman numeral M, Roman numeral C, Roman Numeral X , Roman numeral "I"?.

Also, could it be "ASMC" multiplied (X) by "I"?


Also, could it be some Code/password?

Also, could it be a name of a processor?

There are 300 such combinations, I can think, on the spot, looking at the picture above, and this helps me in creating wonderful test cases, test scenarios, determine the quality of a product and above all, gives me the confidence to test anything in this world, and a faith in myself of producing good quality output.

It is more important for you all to note, what is that *something* that made me think better as a tester and be confident of becoming a good tester?

I have been undergoing a training on Rapid Software Testing, by
James Bach!

"Ah, Pradeep, you are lucky, you had money to travel to US for this training", If you ask me such a question, I would love to reply "I swear, I am in bangalore now, I have not yet applied for a passport".

Still, I could get trained by him online, and I was able to learn a lot or to surprise James, even better than the class room training, I have had.

Now is that a privilege for me alone?

No! James Bach, is showing a lot of interest to create wonderful testers in India and hence would want to coach those passionate testers, online.

Do you have it in you?

What do you mean by online Pradeep?

I mean, you will be put into a virtual class room, you get coached by James Bach, you can see him (through a cam), you can hear him ( with a speaker) and you can ask your doubts to him ( over a mic ). He would talk to each one of you personally, calling your names before he asks questions to you, that makes you think a lot better than, what you have been doing as a tester.

I see a great lot of difference, in me, as a tester, after I started interacting with James Bach and the resultant or the proof you have is my blog
Tester Tested ! It now caters, 250 testers world wide as a reference material and something that motivates them. Dont believe me, read it for yourself.

Also, if I was successful in creating an interest in you to take up such a course, for a reasonable price, I need to give you the details to mail your interest, to James Bach, and it is....
Click here to mail James Bach or if you wish to know his mail id without clicking on that, it is : james@satisfice.com


Why am I recommending this to all Indian testers?
  1. I have taken it, and know, the value of it.
  2. Its a great chance for Indian testers, to get trained by a Test Expert.
  3. Its a wonderful learning opportunity.
  4. Its a chance, to improve our stand on the international scale.
  5. Its first time any expert, has wanted to coach a tester, in India, online.
  6. Its because, I want people in the world, to look at India, as a highly competent testing hub of the world.
  7. Its because, I am so passionate about testing.
  8. I dream to see an Indian name on the expert list, it could be you, too.

What do you need to do with this post?

You just need to think on it. Am not sure, whether I have set a good example but for sure, HE has more to offer.

Forward this link, to all the testers you know, to your management, to your company heads, so that, they have an opportunity to think on making their testers, the highly competent ones, in the market.

For corporate heads looking into this post, you can ping him for an offer to coach many testers online.

When opportunity is knocking right at your door, if you ignore it, aren't you a tester, who would repent for it later?

Given a chance to improve yourself, and your country's technical competence, would you drop it?

Regards,

Pradeep Soundararajan

pradeep.srajan@gmail.com

Disclaimer: If you think, I am trying to market something for my guru, you are right,if Guru Dakshin is marketing, to you. I am selfish about making all other testers, as fortunate and as better I have been. If you think, testers are not treated well, in companies, it is time to challenge the best developers with the best testing skills.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I think you did a very good job by making this possible for Indian
testers.
Keep the same spirit up :).
I can't wait to make this happen for Romania too (or at least for me - yes I
am selfish here:)).
About the letters in caps and bold: I see "ASM CX I" which I can
think of
Assembler, CX register and I, a variable which is held in the CX
register :).

Good luck,
Victor

Pradeep Soundararajan said...

Thanks for your views Stuiber,

It is interesting to note one more dimension of ASMCXI. This shows the need for having more testers to test the same product, to yield, different tests for the product.

Pradeep Soundararajan said...

Shrini Kulkarni ( http://shrinik.blogspot.com ) had left a comment << I did not quite understand the idea of "James online" virtual room, see James - what is this?

can you explain further ...

Do you mean asking James questions and getting answers? or James and you have some tieup so that he has some designated time to spend for indian testers in a web cam kind of course?>>

@Shrini,

Thanks for coming up with this doubt which might clear others view looking at this post.

When I say virtual class rooms, its all about something like "HP Virtual Room", where the instructor (James here) would give a code for his students to enter the room and we as students are able to see a board, training material and would be able to talk with him over voice chat.A webcam could also pitch in based on the need. HP Virtual room could be one such option, James is exploring.

Sorry that I could not approve the comment directly as I felt you had given a personal message to me, thanks for that and I might seek your further help on that.

Anonymous said...

great work pradeep. good to see such a passionate tester doing good for other testers too. I will pray for you to become the best in future.

CoolSha said...

Thanks Pradeep.. This info is very helpful.. My next task is to email James Bach..hmm.. maybe I will check out www.satisfice.com first!

CoolSha said...

Thanks for this information Pradeep!.. I was looking for some directions to broaden my views on testing concepts and interact with some experts. Since travelling to the US is not a feasible option for me right now, I think I will go your route.

Thanks again pal!

Shameem (Yup from orkut)

Anonymous said...

Hi Pradeep,

have you ever seen http://www.developsense.com/ ? I guess yes, but if not, go ahead. I feel blessed because I was able to attend Rapid Software Testing in Brazil (by Michael Bolton). Imagine the effect of this in 25 testers/managers minds...