Page - 240 - in The Future of Software Quality Assurance

240 E. van Veenendaal date, you will end up meeting the end dates more easily and encounter less work pressure. Analyticaland DetailOriented This is one of the skills which can help you find more and the most important defects. When you understand and are able to analyse requirements not only gaps in the requirements can be found and fixed but also you get to know the whole functionality, flow and the expected outcome of the product. Sometimes details could be missed that later result in a major issue which are much more difficult to rework. To mitigate such situations it is also very important to have a ‘detail- orientedattitude’. Eager toLearn If you’reeager to learn, and willing to take on activities outside your comfort zone needed to help the team delivera goodproduct,youhavea bright futureasa tester. It is crucial for the software tester to be aware of the latest tools and technologies and to keep learning without fail. When you have knowledgeabout the latest tools and technologies,youmakebetterdecisions. CriticalThinking Critical thinking is the kind of thinking that specifically looks for problems and mistakes. It is the ability to reason by carefully analysing something in order to determine its validity or accuracy.Critical thinking is about being an active learner rather thanapassive recipientof information. It ispossibly themost important type of thinkingin thecontextof testing.Astesters,weshouldalwaysquestionideasand assumptionsrather thanaccept themat face value. KnowledgeSharing A tester should have an attitude of helping and coaching his Agile team members by sharinghis knowledge.Not onlywill this avoid gapsand confusion,allow them to assist in and do better testing themselves but also motivate other team members to share their expertiseandknowledge. Team Player BeingpartofanAgile team,youalwaysneeda teameffort toachievesomething.A tester motivates the team towards better testing and good levels of product quality. To achieve quality software, it is important for a software tester to be a good team player. 4 TheTestSpecialist As already stated in the introductionparagraph, there is an alternative to the career pathofbecominga T-shaped tester: becomea test specialist. A specialist isdefined as a person who concentratesprimarily on a particular subject or activity; a person that is highly skilled in a specific and restricted field. Following the concept of