Page - 233 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

Next-Generation Software Testers: Broaden or Specialize! 233 independence most often makes the tester more effective at finding defects due to differencesbetween theauthor’sand the tester’scognitivebiases (criticaldistance). Having multiple specialties by being a π-shaped or even M-shaped tester, would typically make it much harder to keep the independent perspective. In these cases, you would as an expert be involved in tasks that you at the same time as a tester should evaluate. In Agile, preserving independence is already often more difficult whenatester isembeddedinateam.Atthesametime,alsobeingaπ-shapedperson possessing(andperforming)anotherspecialtybeyondtestingwouldprobablymake the required levelof independencealmost disappearaltogether. T-shaped people and the teams they work in can achieve results far better than teams that consist of only I-shaped people. But the development of T-shaped people is a serious, long-term undertaking and most often largely underestimated. It requires people with the right attitude and self-determination to start, but then it requireseffort tocontinuetoprovidethemwith the trainingandresourcestheyneed and the type of safe collaborativeenvironment that allows for T-shaped person and teams to performat theirbest. 3 TheT-ShapedTester To drive a career in software testing, what are the most valuable knowledge and skills to acquire. As already stated, one way to develop a testing career is to specializebygoingdeeper in asingle specific non-functionalor niche.These kinds ofspecialistsare regardedin theoryasbeingI-shaped,whichmeans that their skills are seen as being very narrow but extremely deep. However, in a fast-paced world, thisstrategyhasevidentrisks,suchasif theareaofspecializationbecomesoutdated, unpopular or, as we will see later, when a specialized area changes to one that becomescommonto all. While inpreviousdecadestherewasademandforI-shapedtesters, thereisnowa growingopportunityforT-shapedpersonsbecause thosewhohavedeepskill inone disciplineand in additiongeneralknowledgeacrossdisciplineswill mucheasierbe able to work in a changing environment. In the Agile world, the T-shaped tester is a team member whose key expertise is testing but who can also provide support in otheractivities, for example, those that lie in the fieldsof programmingor business analysis (requirementsengineering).So, in relation toT-shaped,weshould lookfor the skills that can potentially boost the testers’ profile. For a professional software tester, goodoptionswouldbe: • Testing: haveadeepandbroadknowledgeacross the testingdomain • Other development specialties: business analysis, programming, technical writ- ing, etc. • Domainknowledge:Medicine, Insurance,Banking, IoT,etc. • Soft skills: they have a positive impact on personal effectiveness, leadership and collaborationwith others