“Does getting a test certification make you a better tester?”  This is the question asked by Ramanath Shanbhag in the most recent edition of ‘Test’ Magazine.  “I remember reading a blog from James Whittaker (currently working as Test Director at Google) which said “I have yet to meet a single tester at Microsoft who is certified.  Most don’t even know there is such a thing.  They’ve all learnt testing the old fashioned way: by reading all the books and papers they can get their hands on, apprenticing themselves to people at the company that are better at it than they are and critiquing the gurus and would-be gurus who spout off in person and in print.”  This is what he said when he was at Microsoft (more than three years ago) and I don’t think his thoughts would have changed even at Google” -- Ramanath Shanbhag for Test Magazine.

Ok so don’t get me wrong; I’m certainly not saying an ISEB/ISTQB Certification is unnecessary - I think for graduates or people looking into getting into Testing, it’s a great place to start.  It gives a really good grounding and is pretty reasonably priced (*shameless plug* check out the Training Sales tab on our website for great prices!)  More and more often on job specs, we are seeing this certification popping up as a pre-requisite for an application and although I agree in principal - what have people been doing for the last few decades without this piece of paper?  I’m all for saying that in a graduates position or even a junior position, that an ISEB/ISTQB is needed - but for a Test Manager or Test Director - is it really necessary to check that they have a piece of paper to prove that they can do what they’ve been doing for 10, 15, 20 years?

Testing Circle offer four levels of courses for Software Testers - Foundation, Intermediate, Advanced and Advanced Test Manager.  As I said above, it’s a great idea for graduates or junior level testers to get their ISEB, it’s just a good back up for their knowledge and proves they are willing to learn outside of their core working hours.  The Testing Circle IT Academy offers this course as part of our training scheme - hands on experience alongside ISEB/ISTQB Foundation Certification studying - we have had very positive feedback about the ‘multi-pronged attack’ and we know that in this instance, the certification definitely does well on their CV when we are discussing their profiles with Clients.

Do you have another opinion?  I’d love to hear it - maybe someone would even like to write a guest blog counter argument?  Email me!

My time with Testing Circle has flown by; from the assessment day to starting work, I have found the process incredibly rewarding.  I haven't found coming from a humanities background a hindrance in any way; a far greater emphasis has been placed on problem solving skills and willingness to learn rather than on raw technical knowledge.  Since joining Testing Circle, I have gained my foundation level ISTQB-ISEB certification; and studying for this has provided a strong theoretical underpinning to the practical skills already gained.

My first role involved working on the launch of a high profile website, as part of a UAT managed service team.  It was a busy project, and from the very beginning I was involved in on-site meetings with the client and other third parties.  This close liaison continued throughout, which was excellent experience and was well supported by the test lead and other staff.  After a couple of months on the job, my advice for anyone starting a career in testing is as follows:

1] Don't let having a background in something other than computer science put you off – technical knowledge will come with time.

2] Be inquisitive, and don't be afraid to ask questions if you're unsure of something; better to ask a small question in the morning than to have a big problem to fix after hours.

3] Become familiar any project documentation as early as possible, because the last thing you want to be doing with a deadline looming is searching through countless files for that vital piece of info. (I make ‘cheat sheets’, but that's just what happens after three years of colour-coded lecture notes...)

4] Look for ways to improve your work, and for ways to help others working with you – testing is a team activity, not a solo fight to the death.

5] We can't all be test ninjas from the beginning, but courtesy and willingness to learn is almost as good!

Testing Circle would like to thank Ros for her contribution as a guest blogger!