Page - 24 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

24 G.Bath 7.2 CompetencyLevels Eachcompetencyintheskills frameworkisassignedoneof thefollowingsuggested levels: • Initial level: At this level a personcan demonstratea particular competency in a project if supportedbyotherswithhighercompetencylevels. • Full level: At this level a person can fully demonstrate the competency in a projectwithoutsupport • Consulting level: At this level, a person is sufficiently competent to provide consultation services to people, projects and organizations on the particular subject. The person can take the initiative in identifying ways of improving the competenciesofothers. 7.3 AssessingCompetencies A skills framework must describe the conditions for achieving individual compe- tencies at different levels. Given the three levels described above, the following conditionsmaybedefined for their assessment. Initial level • Proof of understanding is required: Evidence for this may be provided by a certification providedby internationally recognizedauthorities such as iSQI and ISTQB. Full level • Proofofpracticalexperienceoveraminimumperiod(e.g.18months)isrequired. A project portfolio is submitted and a reasonably complex predetermined prac- tical task completed as evidence of achieving the competency. An independent evaluationof theportfolioand thepractical task isperformed. Consulting level • Thecriteria tobeachievedaresimilar to thosedescribedfor the full level,except that the lengthof theexperienceis longer, theportfolio ismoreextensiveandthe predeterminedpractical task morecomplex. Note that the individual levels mentioned above should not be formally bound to each other by pre-conditions. For example, if a person can show evidence of achievingcompetenciesatconsultinglevel, theyshouldnotfirstneedtobeassessed at initial and full levels.