Natalie Halloran

If you are deciding on PW vs CY for test runner, or thinking about transition, Take a look at: - https://lnkd.in/ehy5iCJk - and if you want to see Pw vs Cy on the same tasks: https://lnkd.in/eGhubPH3

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I feel like the bar for software testing has gotten so low that simply _not_ putting some variation on the following two bullet points at the top of your resume can put you ahead of at least 90% of applicants, at least if a company actually understands testing: ❌ "Experience in all phases of the SDLC" ❌ "Participated in Agile ceremonies" Seriously, these are useless. Thinking critically, the first item just means "I've worked in a software team", and the second just means "I've worked in a software team that says it's doing Agile". Focus on telling the *how* and *why* of your experience, and focus on your actual skills. Don't just fill your resume with nothing but _what_ you did, what tools you used, or what environment you did it in.

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Testers - get outside of your testing cubicles (both real and virtual cubicles) and find other ways of discovering bugs, away from your scripted tests, your checks and your assumptions. A fantastic source of issues is your friendly Customer Support team - not them specifically but the issues that customers are reporting. Join the support slack channel and take part in discussing tickets as they come in - it’s a great way of discovering real problems that actual users are having with the product. Make friends with the customer support team and help them figure out those customer issues. As a tester you have huge product knowledge to share to help out customer support team members, investigate the problems, identify any workarounds to get the customer moving again, pass on confusing features to the product team and raise any relevant bugs for the development team to fix. By taking a small amount of time out of your day you can help your customer support team (they will be grateful!), you can share your knowledge about the product to reduce issues of a similar nature and you are helping customers directly (more gratitude!). What do you get in return? You learn the real problem areas of the product and how it is used by actual customers, which informs your future testing. Seems like a pretty good deal. #customersupport #productsupport

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Interviewing for your next role in software development doesn’t have to be stressful–not when we’ve got the inside scoop on what to expect and how to prepare.⚡ While having the technical skills is great, expressing how you’re a culture fit for the company is what can truly set you apart. Let’s break down the interview process. Step 1 💼 Initial screening Step 2 💼 Technical assessment Step 3 💼 Behavioural interview Step 4 💼 Additional interviews Curious to learn more? Check out our latest blog where we dig into the Top Interview Questions for Software Developers in 2024: https://lnkd.in/gNCPDHAZ

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Testing software is quite a bit more than seeing if it can do something right. Testing is about trying "everything". Most importantly values that are on the edges and especially values outside valid ranges. https://xkcd.com/2928/

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During my time at LoopQA, I've found that an effective model for leveraging automation involves a clear division of responsibilities between development and QA teams. I'll caveat this by saying, I generally advocate for developers to refactor the automation they break, but the reality is that most organizations aren't willing to invest their time into it. Hence, having a dedicated QA team for E2E tests often proves more practical. Here's a typical and highly functional workflow: Local Development: -Developers work on their local environments. -They run unit tests and integration tests to ensure their code is functioning as expected. Dev/Test Environment: -Code is merged into a shared Dev/Test environment. -Unit/Integration Tests: These tests must pass before any merge can occur. If they fail, the merge fails. -E2E Sanity Tests: These are also run, but they can fail for both valid and invalid reasons. Developers need to be adept at identifying actual bugs versus new legitimate failures. -Automation teams step in to refactor failing E2E tests to ensure stability. A common problem here is when dev teams opt not to refactor failing tests, leading to false negatives and potential issues down the line. Stage/Pre-Prod Environment: -After passing all tests, the code moves to the Stage/Pre-Prod environment. -Any merge to this environment is contingent on passing E2E tests along with unit and integration tests. Production Environment -Finally, the tested and validated code is merged into the Production environment. Key Insights: -This model ensures that unit/integration tests act as crucial gatekeepers, providing immediate feedback to developers. -E2E tests, maintained by the QA team, ensure overall system validation and highlight integration issues early. -Collaboration and clear division of responsibilities between dev and QA teams maximize the value of automation, leading to robust and reliable code delivery. #SoftwareDevelopment #QA #Testing #DevOps #SoftwareQuality #Automation #ContinuousIntegration #ContinuousDeployment

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🌟 Navigating Doubt: Finding Your Path 🌟 Hey fellow QA and SDET pros, let's have a real talk today. Ever found yourself questioning your choices? Wondering if your paycheck matches your worth? Or perhaps pondering a switch for more stability? I've been there. Sometimes I ask myself, "Was my degree the right call?" or "Should I explore government gigs instead?" But you know what? I've realized success isn't just about money or titles. It's about the journey. Every hurdle, every setback, every moment of doubt? They're all part of the ride, pushing us to grow stronger. So, to all of us facing these doubts, remember: Embrace the journey. It's in overcoming challenges that we find our strength. Success isn't fitting into someone else's mold. It's staying true to yourself and pushing forward, no matter what. And hey, speaking of moving forward, let me share something that's been a game-changer for me: YouTube channels like Naveen Khunteta, Pramod Dutta, and more. Instead of mindless scrolling, invest your time in something fruitful. These channels offer invaluable insights, tutorials, and tips that can help you level up in your career. So, next time you're online, skip the scroll and tune into something meaningful. Let's keep our heads up, keep pushing forward, and remember: "Don't give up until you break through." 🚀✨ #QA #SDET #SoftwareTesting #CareerGrowth #TechCommunity #SoftwareEngineering #TechTips #TechCareer #LearningAndDevelopment #QualityAssurance #TechTalks #AgileTesting #SoftwareDevelopment

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Over the last few weeks I've been checking out Playwright, and I have to say, I love it. As a tester, who is not an SDET and really doesn't want to be, Playwright seems to remove much of the mystique and pain of traditional, programming heavy automation solutions. I'm sure there are tons of great reasons for using Selenium, including support for the recently deceased IE, but for a tester who just wants to automate a few simple tests, integrate with Git and perhaps a straightforward CI/CD pipeline Playwright is at least 8 million times easier. I needed to put together a proof of concept for testing a sports administration customer site, and I looked at Cypress first, but didn't really like it and I'm not 100% certain why, it just felt cumbersome. With Playwright it took very little time to have a simple test up and running using Codegen, and yes, I know, we used to scoff at people who used recorders for automation but this is different. Codegen captures the locators and gives you boiler plate in a couple of lines of code. No Xpath, no messing with page elements that may or may not be visible when you run the tests. Just makes life a little easier and even gives you the imports you need. Building that generated code into a simple page object model is also dead easy. I have my URLs, locators and actions in a nice clean page file, and the tests in spec files. This ease of use makes adding a new page much easier than doing the same task using Selenium and Java, and loads less code, which makes me happy. Persisting login is also easy using a global setup file to capture login state, and store it in an auth.json file, with Playwright using that logged in state for each test by default. To run tests for logged out use cases you just point that test at an empty noauth.json file. Could not be easier. Assertions using expect are simple and logical, and in general I feel much more comfortable with Playwright, and far, far more productive. And that's also true for API tests, although it won't be prising me off Postman just yet, I'll definitely be further exploring API tests in Playwright. Playwright also introduced me to VS Code and I'm liking it greatly. Simple integration with GitHub, nice and easy to step through when debugging and simple clean layout. So what does the professional tester world think about Playwright? Good, bad indifferent? I'd be interested to garner opinions from more experienced automation engineers.

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If anyone needs an engineering manager / front end JS and PHP skill set, DM me. Fwiw, and more abstractly: It feels odd to put out a feel for a “traditional” dev skillset when code is coding code on its own, and so many companies (including LinkedIn) are marketing “job retraining,” which is just code for the process of figuring out how to replace more humans with code.

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How can we get people to use evidence more in health programming? D4I recently tried something a little different—using ‘commitment devices’ or tools to lock people into accomplishing a goal. Check out this blog post to see what we learned and how these strategies can help boost #EvidenceUse! 📊 https://ow.ly/XVof50S1uuF

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Great article by Ray Carnes. In my 20+ years in the software industry I've seen companies learn and relearn the basics again and again because each generation of leaders think things are "different this time" because of such and such technology. The frameworks, platforms, underlying technology changes but the principles and foundations are still the same. #softwareengineering

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I'm going to post a few challenges I have had as a software QA. I should be relaxing today but those that know me, know my brain is always in thirty places at once. To developers: Trust your QA. Y'all don't know how many times I've heard, "Well, it works on my local". I don't care. In the test environment, it breaks. I do my due diligence to investigate why, present evidence in logs and from the database, present recordings, and meticulously document steps of reproduction and results. And even after, I still get, "It works on my local". Get off the dang local. NO ONE knows this software, app, platform, etc. better than the QA because we live it more than anyone else does. To business analysts: I know you all are overwhelmed. But please stop copying and pasting Acceptance Criteria for similar features. It makes a mess for developers and QA because the AC doesn't match or conflicts with not only the developed feature but integration as well. Which brings me to my next point... What QA is: Everyone thinks of us as just testers. I am sick of that. I spend half my time working with the product owner, BAs, and Devs, just making sure the AC reflects the solution needing to be resolved. I can't tell you how many times I have had to address with the BAs conflicts in a story over AC, nonsensical AC, WTF verbiage, etc. So then the developers get confused and we are in long meetings addressing what is messed up. We are here to help you ask the questions you didn't think to ask. We don't just test..... we look at future issues too. We like process improvements. Automation: Stop asking me to automate a one-off feature test that hasn't even gone through UAT yet. It's time wasted. Too many companies do this. Might as well give me the day off for the time it takes to do that because the automation is useless after UAT. Learn the purpose of automation. Product Owner: When I tell you before a demo not to demo certain things because there are still issues, don't shred me after the demo because you decided to demo them anyway and they break. I TOLD YOU not to do that, and why. Data: QA worst nightmare. My last position I would get two test records to test against 20 AC when I first started. I said "Helz no". I built up a catalog of test records I could use, positive and negative, as I progressed because I want multiple records against every AC. Which I often shared with the developers for their unit tests who loved it. QA needs data, all. You give me two records, don't yell at me that coverage isn't thorough. Probably sounded more a rant. But I'm opinionated. Where many QA are not. And these are common issues. Want to improve QA, improve the above.

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Shout out to all the other Software QA folks. Here's to your excellence in using what you've learned to help push development teams forward through projects! You are awesome. Let us connect and see what opportunities are out there. What conferences are coming up that you are participating in? What companies do you work for that might be looking for QA? Are there meetups coming up that you want to connect us with?

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Talking with someone about ways to get code review type feedback someone raised the concern that a flaw with relying exclusively on Pair Programming for reviews is that pairing when done right is really co-creation and you both are the authors and in some cases, having some perspective (ie, not being the author) is helpful? Thoughts? Notes: - There is still a need for project/product context if you want relevant feedback - Why you want a review is part of this too

Engineering Managers are drowning in testing candidates—Who’s really failing here? Strangling your engineering team? That’s a death wish. Smart execs don’t play that game. Your product’s begging for attention, and you have customers you need to deliver to. But here you are, jamming the gears with testing candidates instead of focusing on delivering to your customers. Engineers spread thin? They hate the hiring circus. Watching hopefuls bomb tests? That’s just burning daylight. Time, resources, money—you’re torching it all. That’s where we step in. At Savant Recruitment we’re not just pushing resumes. We’re building business'. Our partnerships include: •ScaleHR •Flow, a Deloitte business •Communitech •CoderPad •Wages Corp •Viewpoint.AI + we are working on adding more to be your one stop shop for all your needs to GROW AND THRIVE. We will test your engineers in over 99+ Languages and Frameworks and take this all on my end, so you never have to see a candidate until they pass a technical. This has saved so much time, money, and headaches for execs who are serious about their business and their customers. Although we've been open for 2.5 years, this has been a decade in the making. Test, refine, iterate—again and again. Our gospel? Test till you can’t no more. The old motto is ‘Always Be Selling.’ I say ‘Always Be Testing.’ You can pitch till you’re blue—real power’s in the pivot and drive to do things majorly different and throw away all the old playbooks. We solve real issues that your business' are facing. Why? Because there's no 1 size fits all approach. So for every business problem, we aim to have a solution for it. Your leadership sucks? You come to me Your dev team isn't performing how they should? You come to me Need more incentives in your business? You come to me Can't make decisions? You come to me Want to hire a contractor without the headache of worrying about Payroll? You Come To Me Want to shake up your process and refine it reducing time to fill? You come to me Want to save money, time and headache? You come to me I'm the person you come to, who knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, and so forth. If you’re not shaking the status quo, you’re just another face in the crowd. I’m not here to blend in. My take might ruffle feathers. I’m not chasing a popularity contest; I’m chasing deliverables. We’re the ace up your sleeve, building teams that break barriers and doing all the heavy lifting so your Engineering Managers can set it and forget it. I’m after victories with companies that want to get out of this "go for bronze" culture, not validation. So, who's ready to leave "good enough" behind?

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Wow it’s really hard to figure out how to download Google Chrome Driver, for automating Selenium screen-grabbing. Here’s a guide to how to do it: 1. Go to the download page that has no downloads! https://lnkd.in/e-F92GNm 2. Then navigate to Chrome for Testing: https://lnkd.in/etUDQmRP 3. Search on the page for “chromedriver” 4. Copy (!) the associated link/url for the right OS e.g. https :// storage.googleapis.com / chrome-for-testing-public / 128.0.6591.0 / mac-x64 / chromedriver-mac-x64.zip 5. Paste into the address bar, and download the driver Why why why is this so complicated! Lol Neither Google, nor Gen-AI can currently work out the solution for this. #automation #selenium #chromedriver #tips #tutorial #guide