A Guide to Identifying and Recruiting/Hiring Top Software Testing Talent

Software bugs are an inevitable part of the software development lifecycle. However, their impact can be significant, leading to downtime, performance issues, security vulnerabilities, and ultimately lost revenue and customer trust.

Here’s a look at the latest data on the cost of fixing bugs in production in 2023:

Estimated Costs:

  • Globally: The total cost of software bugs is estimated to be $2.08 trillion annually, according to a study by the Consortium for Information and Software Quality (CISQ). This represents a significant increase from previous estimates.
  • United States: In the US alone, the cost of bugs is estimated to be $607 billion annually, according to Herb Krasner’s report, “The Cost of Poor Software Quality in the US.”
  • Per Bug: The average cost to fix a bug in production can range from $1,500 to $10,000, depending on the severity and complexity of the issue.

The Crucial Role of Software Testers

Preventing Bugs:

  • Identify & fix issues early: Skilled testers find bugs before release, saving time & money.
  • Extensive testing: Thorough testing across various platforms & scenarios minimizes issues.
  • Proactive approach: Early identification prevents major product failures & data breaches.

Cost Savings:

  • Reduced bug fixing costs: Finding problems early avoids expensive fixes later in development.
  • Downtime minimization: Fewer bugs mean less downtime and lost revenue.
  • Enhanced product quality: Improved software leads to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Brand Protection:

  • Minimized security risks: Effective testing detects and mitigates security vulnerabilities.
  • Reputation management: Quality software protects your brand image and builds trust with customers.
  • Increased customer satisfaction: Bug-free software leads to a positive user experience and brand reputation.

Additional Benefits:

  • Improved software functionality: Testing ensures features work as intended and meets user needs.
  • Enhanced development efficiency: Early bug detection reduces rework and streamlines development.
  • Competitive advantage: High-quality software provides a competitive edge in the market.

The Global Hiring Dilemma: Finding Top Software Testers

Employers around the world are finding it extremely difficult to locate and hire qualified software testers. This hiring conundrum affects companies of all sizes and sectors; it’s not just a minor inconvenience.

For instance, the growth of fintech. Just take a look at the fintech industry. The need for qualified testers to verify the stability and security of cutting-edge financial apps and platforms is growing. However, the small pool of competent testers is finding it difficult to keep up, which could result in security risks, delays, and compromises.

Real-World Difficulties:

  • Skill Gap: There is a discrepancy between testers’ current skill set and what the industry needs because of how quickly technology is developing.
  • Competitive Environment: Renowned tech firms and upstarts are fiercely competing for the same talent, driving up wages and making it harder for smaller businesses to survive.
  • Geographic Restrictions: In emerging markets or remote areas, traditional hiring practices frequently restrict access to a wide range of talent pools.

Beyond Boundaries: Investigating Remedies:

Businesses are currently looking into a number of options to get past the hiring conundrum, such as:

  • Outsourcing: You can get access to qualified workers at reasonable prices by collaborating with specialized testing companies in nations with robust labor pools.
  • Upskilling and Reskilling: You can close the skill gap and build a pool of future testers by funding internal training initiatives or partnering with academic institutions.
  • Hiring remotely: By adopting remote work policies, businesses can access a worldwide talent pool without regard to location.
  • Emphasizing Soft Skills: Although technical proficiency is essential, employers are increasingly seeking testers with strong interpersonal, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities.

A Collaborative Approach:

The global software testing landscape faces a crucial challenge: a limited talent pool against a rising demand for skilled testers. To address this, a collaborative approach is necessary, involving different stakeholders within the SDLC. This includes fostering cross-team communication for joint test planning and execution, promoting shift-left testing, and sharing knowledge and skills between developers and testers.

Additionally, collaboration with academic institutions can ensure industry-aligned curricula, internship opportunities, and research partnerships. Furthermore, government bodies can incentivize training programs and promote international cooperation. By embracing this collaborative approach, we can build a future with readily available skilled testers, contributing to higher quality software, enhanced customer satisfaction, and a thriving global market

Introducing Testbytes: Your Strategic Ally in Talent Acquisition and Staffing Solution

At Testbytes, we redefine the landscape of software testing talent acquisition. As a distinguished leader in the industry, our mission is to empower businesses with the right testing professionals seamlessly and efficiently.

Why Testbytes? We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of providing innovative staffing and hiring services for software testers. Our commitment to excellence is reflected in our flexible staffing options tailored to meet the unique needs of your organization. Whether you require testers on an hourly, weekly, or monthly basis, Testbytes is your go-to partner for customized solutions.

QA Stafing and hiring process

Flexible Staffing Solutions:

  1. Contract Basis: Opt for short-term commitments to meet project-specific needs without the burden of long-term commitments.
  2. Hourly Basis: Gain the flexibility of paying for testing services on an hourly basis, ensuring cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
  3. Weekly Basis: For projects that demand a slightly extended timeframe, our weekly staffing option provides a balanced solution.
  4. Monthly Basis: Enjoy a dedicated testing team on a monthly basis, ideal for ongoing projects and comprehensive testing requirements.

Finding and hiring skilled QA testers can be a daunting task. At Testbytes we understand your challenges and offer a comprehensive solution tailored to your specific needs.

Our Process:

  1. Talent Pool Formation: We leverage diverse sources to create a pool of qualified testers based on your job description. This includes job portals, social media, referrals, and our own database.
  2. Screening and Selection: Our team conducts interviews and assessments and checks references to ensure you receive the best talent. We work with you to define the selection process, ensuring you have the final say.
  3. Hiring and Onboarding: Once suitable candidates are selected, we handle the salary negotiations, offer letters, and onboarding process. You can rest assured knowing everything is taken care of.
  4. Skill Training: We provide continuous training to keep our employees’ skills up-to-date and ensure they meet your evolving requirements. This includes task-specific training, soft skills development, and industry knowledge updates.
  5. Rebadging: Our dedicated team ensures a smooth transition for rebadged employees with proper training, cultural integration, and ongoing support.

Our Services:

  • Onsite Staffing: Testers or teams work directly in your organization, enabling close collaboration and deep integration.
  • Offsite Staffing: Testers work remotely in our environment, utilizing our resources and infrastructure.
  • Hybrid Staffing: A blend of onsite and offsite arrangements, offering flexibility and customized solutions.

Additional Benefits:

  • Fast Recruitment Process: We source, screen, and onboard candidates within 29 days.
  • State-of-the-Art Resources: We offer access to our advanced testing tools and automation frameworks.
  • Multiple Devices: We test your software on a variety of real devices for comprehensive compatibility.
  • Cost-Effective Solutions: Our flexible staffing options help you optimize your budget.

Experience the Difference:

Testbytes is your trusted partner in QA staffing and hiring. We take pride in our commitment to quality, transparency, and customer satisfaction. With our comprehensive services and experienced team, you can focus on your core business while we ensure the success of your software development projects.

What is Software Quality? and How to achieve it?

Software quality is an important part of development because it shows how good and reliable a product is. It checks how well requirements are met, which affects how happy users are, how well the system works, and how successful the project is. To get high quality, you have to follow standards that cover more than just functionality carefully.

These standards cover things like reliability, security, and usability as well. This dedication not only meets but also goes above and beyond what users expect, which builds loyalty. Higher quality cuts down on bugs, which makes the system more stable and boosts user confidence.

Besides the immediate benefits, it makes maintenance easier, which lowers the Total Cost of Ownership. Software Quality Engineering (SQE) is very important. It uses methods and tools throughout the whole development process to make sure that standards are followed. On this journey, we promise to deliver value, build trust, and help the project succeed.

What is software quality?

Software quality is not just about ticking off technical requirements; it’s about creating software that empathizes with its users, anticipates their needs, and delivers value beyond expectations. It’s about crafting software that feels like a trusted companion, making life easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable.

When software prioritizes the user experience, it becomes more than just a tool; it becomes an enabler of progress, creativity, and connection. It eliminates frustration and empowers users to achieve their goals with ease.

Key aspects that conclude software quality include:

  • Good Design: Aesthetic and user-friendly design is imperative to captivate users.
  • Reliability: Software should flawlessly execute functionalities without glitches.
  • Durability: In this context, durability refers to the software’s ability to function seamlessly over an extended period.
  • Consistency: The software must perform consistently across platforms and devices.
  • Maintainability: swift identification and resolution of software bugs, coupled with trouble-free addition of new tasks and enhancements.
  • Value for money: Both customers and companies investing in the app should perceive the expenditure as worthwhile, ensuring it doesn’t go to waste.

ISO/IEC 25010:2011 Software Quality Model

ISO/IEC 25010:2011 Software Quality Model
ISO/IEC 25010:2011 Software Quality Model

What is The Software Quality Model?

A Software Quality Model serves as a framework designed to assess the quality of a software product. It acts as a structured approach for evaluating various dimensions of software performance. Among the notable models, three widely accepted ones are:

  1. McCall’s Quality Model: A comprehensive model emphasizes eleven quality factors, including correctness, reliability, efficiency, integrity, and maintainability. McCall’s model provides a holistic view of software quality.
  2. Boehm Quality Model: Barry Boehm’s model focuses on qualities like effectiveness, dependability, integrity, usability, and maintainability. It provides a systematic methodology for assessing and improving the quality of software.
  3. Dromey’s Quality Model: Dromey’s model centers around six quality attributes, including functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency, maintainability, and portability. It offers a balanced perspective on software quality, considering various critical aspects.


Mc call’s Model

Mc Call’s model was first introduced in the US Airforce in the year 1977.  The main intention of this model was to maintain harmony between users and developers.

McCall Model
McCall Model

Boehm Quality Model

The Boehm model debuted in 1978. It was a kind of hierarchical model that was structured around high-level characteristics.  Boehm’s model measures software quality on the basis of certain characteristics.

Boehm Model
Boehm Model

Dromey’s quality model

Dromey’s model is mainly focused on the attributes and sub-attributes that connect the properties of the software to the quality attributes
There are three principal elements to this model

  • Product properties that affect the quality
  • High-level quality attributes
  • Linking the properties with quality attributes
Dromeys software quality model
Dromeys software quality model

How can software engineers acquire software quality?

Making sure the quality of software is high is a complex task that requires software engineers to think strategically.

Here is a new list of things that can be done to improve the quality of software:

Strong Plan for Management:

Make a detailed plan for quality assurance that covers the whole process. Define quality engineering tasks at the start of the project, making sure they fit with the skills of the team and the needs of the project.

Evaluation of the strategic team’s skills:

At the start of the project, do a thorough evaluation of the team’s skills. Find out where the team might need more training or knowledge to make sure they are ready to take on quality engineering challenges.

Channels of communication that work:

Set up clear ways for everyone on the team to talk to each other. Clear communication makes it easier for people to work together and makes sure that everyone is on the same page with quality goals and procedures.

Identifying problems ahead of time:

Set up ways to find problems before they happen throughout the whole development process. This includes finding bugs early on, integrating changes all the time, and using automated testing to find problems quickly and fix them.

Learning and adapting all the time:

Promote a culture of always learning. Keep up with the latest best practices, new technologies, and changing methods in your field so you can adapt and improve your quality engineering processes.

Integration of Automated Testing:

Automated testing should be built into the development process. Automated tests not only make testing faster, but they also make sure that evaluations are consistent and can be done again and again, which raises the quality of software as a whole.

Full-Service Checkpoints:

Set up checkpoints at important points in the development process. At these checkpoints, there should be thorough code reviews, testing, and quality checks to find and fix problems before they get worse.

Adding customer feedback:

Ask clients for feedback and use it as part of the development process. Client feedback helps improve the quality of software by giving developers useful information about what users want and how the software will be used in real life.

Keep an eye on and improve performance:

Set up tools and routines for monitoring performance all the time. Find possible bottlenecks or places where the software could be better, and then improve it so that it meets or exceeds user expectations.

Excellence in Documentation:

Stress the importance of carefully writing down the steps used to make and test software. Well-documented code, test cases, and procedures make things clearer, make it easier to work together, and make maintenance easier in the future, which improves the quality of software in the long run.

Best Practices for Security:

Best practices for security should be used from the start of the project. Deal with security issues before they happen by doing things like reviewing the code, checking for vulnerabilities, and following security standards.

Focus on the end-user experience:

In the quality engineering process, put the end-user experience first. Find out what the users want, test the software’s usability, and make sure it fits their needs and preferences perfectly.

Software engineers can strengthen their dedication to software quality by using these strategies. This will lay the groundwork for software solutions that are reliable, efficient, and focused on the user.

How do we achieve Software quality?

Achieving quality will ensure maximum profit for your software business. But the biggest hurdle is to achieve quality and here are some of the ways.

  • Define characteristics that define quality for a product
  • Decide how to measure each of that quality characteristic
  • Set standards for each quality characteristic
  • Do quality control with respect to the standards
  • Find out the reasons that are hindering quality
  • Make necessary improvements

Read also: Why Quality assurance is shifting to quality engineering?

What Are Software Quality Metrics?

In every software project, amidst coding endeavors, it’s crucial to pause and assess the correctness of the work and the effectiveness of the processes. Metrics, in the form of pointers or numerical data, play a pivotal role in understanding various aspects of a product, the development process, and the overarching project—often referred to as the three P’s (product, process, and project).

Why Are Software Quality Metrics Important?

Software quality metrics serve as vital indicators for product, process, and project health. Accurate metrics offer the following benefits:

  1. Strategic Development: Develop strategies and provide the right direction for the overall process or project.
  2. Focus Area Identification: Recognize specific areas that require attention and improvement.
  3. Informed Decision-Making: Make strategic decisions based on reliable and comprehensive data.
  4. Performance Enhancement: Drive performance improvements by identifying bottlenecks and areas for optimization.

Let us now look at some very important and most commonly used Software Quality Metrics and how they are helpful in driving better code

Defect Density

The initial gauge of product quality involves quantifying defects found and fixed. A higher density signals potential development issues, prompting proactive improvement efforts.

Defect Removal Efficiency (DRE)

Critical for assessing testing team effectiveness. DRE quantifies defects removed before production, aiming for 100% efficiency to ensure robust software.

Meantime Between Failures (MTBF)

The average time between system failures varies based on the application under test. Enhancing MTBF reduces disruptions, fostering software stability.

Meantime to Recover (MTTR)

The average time to identify, fix, and deploy a fix post-failure A lower MTTR ensures swift issue resolution, which is vital for maintaining system reliability.

Application Crash Rate

Crucial for mobile apps and websites, measuring crash frequency is an indicator of code quality. Lower rates signify resilient, stable software.

Agile-Specific Metrics

In the dynamic landscape, agile methodologies introduce metrics aligned with rapid delivery:

  • Lead Time: Measures project or sprint kick-off to user story completion, reflecting overall development efficiency.
  • Cycle Time: Focuses on task completion per user story, aiding in identifying development process bottlenecks.
  • Team Velocity: Crucial in Agile/Scrum, gauging tasks or user stories completed per sprint Guides project planning based on team capacity.
  • First Time Pass Rate (FTPR): Reflects agile principles of dynamic, fast, quality delivery. Indicates the percentage of test cases passing in the first run.
  • Defect Count Per Sprint: Simple yet useful, it counts defects found in each sprint, providing insight into user story quality.

Conclusion

Attaining software quality is indeed a journey, not a destination. It’s a continuous process of refinement and improvement, demanding perseverance and a commitment to excellence. But the rewards of this endeavor are immense. High-quality software is like a loyal companion, providing unwavering support and stability for your business endeavors. It’s the foundation upon which you can build a thriving organization, one that delights customers, fosters innovation, and achieves enduring success.

Remember, achieving software quality isn’t just about technical prowess; it’s about empathy, understanding, and a deep appreciation for the needs of your users. It’s about crafting software that not only functions flawlessly but also resonates with people, making their lives easier and more fulfilling.

Embrace the journey of software quality, and you’ll unlock a world of possibilities for your business. Let your software be a testament to your dedication to excellence, a beacon of trust and reliability for your customers. Together, we can create software that truly matters, software that makes a difference in the world.

How Many Roles Can a Software Tester Play

Software testing involves inspecting a programme or application to ensure that it performs as intended. It is an essential part of the software development life cycle since it prevents spending a lot of money and time on addressing software bugs. A business may avoid several significant mistakes in the software development life cycle by having a solid grasp of when and how to execute software tests. Although each organisation has its unique team structure, there are several roles that are essential to the testing process’ success.

A software tester will take part in quality assurance as well as deployment of the software. You will also be in charge of running both automated and human tests to ensure that the code written by developers meet the requirements of the task and that any bugs or errors are fixed before the final product hits the market.

Read Also: What is the Optimum Software Developer to Software Tester Ratio?

The role of a software tester is of great importance to the development of technology-based products, including software systems and cars, electronics, defence as well as healthcare. You could work on specialised, one-of-a-kind projects or globally distributed, multibillion-dollar enterprises.

Software Tester Role Play

Software tester as Scrum Master

After doing some in-depth research, I’ve come to the conclusion that some of the qualities needed to be a Scrum Master are already present in the position of a software tester.

  • There are more similarities between the two jobs than differences, like:

1. They are in charge of overseeing the procedure and are committed to enhancing quality by assisting the development team in producing high-quality items.

2. They assist in establishing the user acceptability criteria and are knowledgeable about corporate needs.

3. They are confident that every need for admission has been satisfied.

4. Regarding the notion of done, the tester and the Scrum Master ensure that all the user stories are finished at the conclusion of each sprint.

5. They support the software development lifecycle’s overall goal of continual improvement.

6. They promote the development team’s productivity and cooperation.

7. They must plan ahead proactively to reduce pressure during the testing phase and later stages of the software development lifecycle.

8. They can find issues and flaws with the system.

9. They are able to evaluate the danger of any change.

10. They possess social and soft skills

Read Also: What’s The Role of a Computer Game Tester?

  • Aside from the traits that these two jobs have in common, each of these roles requires a different set of skills, which help each project progress smoothly.
  • As a Scrum Master, the tester develops the ability to observe team activities on a daily basis and get insight into the project’s progress as well as expertise of the product. They also learn how to listen carefully and pay attention to the difficulties the development team faces every day. They proactively stop issues and flaws as a result.
  • Having the tester and Scrum Master positions under the same person is advantageous for a team as well as for an organisation operating in Scrum or wishing to change its development process to Scrum. Participating in the development process and gaining knowledge from various stages of the process aid in locating the key difficulties. Due to this, someone who performs the dual roles of tester and scrum master will offer a unique viewpoint, enhancing the entire development process and assisting the team in producing deliverables of higher quality. Additionally, they will benefit the process and be better equipped to influence the development team.
  • A tester may also make the ideal Scrum Master, given the correct conditions!
Software tester as Release Manager
  • Within the field of software development, the procedures of quality control and release management are intertwined. They are two branches that work closely together and frequently merge to form one team or individual. You could say that QA and RM are inseparable, that they must always be in touch, and that they cannot afford to take a break. In this article, I’ll go over the fundamental rules that every quality tester should adhere to and comprehend regarding the procedure of software release management, bringing both areas together in the pursuit of creating high-quality software.
  • A tester’s primary responsibility is to run tests to ensure software quality and verify that earlier work is free of mistakes. The success of the implementation greatly influences how well the testing process goes. The QA team will be able to spot numerous flaws that may be connected to the implementation phase if the tester thoroughly followed the development process and is aware that the back-end and front-end teams ran into specific issues when implementing the code. Consequently, it will also be simpler to suggest the appropriate solution to the appropriate teams.
  • Testers will comprehend and value the significance of completing their jobs within the scheduled timeframe if they are aware of how the implementation process has evolved. If testers were properly informed about the software deployment process, many problems may be prevented.
  • If the tester and the release manager are the same person, the organization’s working efficiency suffers slightly because they have similar thinking styles and problem-solving perspectives.
  • The dependency also decreases, and proficiency increases, which is good for the organization.
Software tester as Project Manager
  • The project manager is accountable for the final product’s quality and on-time development. In order to balance the costs of the job, workflow productivity, product dependability, capabilities, and development time, he must use new resources or, if necessary, reallocate those that are already accessible. The issue tracking system’s database becomes a crucial source of knowledge about the present status of the product and its adherence to the requirement specification during this activity.
  • An expert in quality assurance (QA) is aware of exactly how software products need to behave instead of how a product manager imagined they ought to. A creative software quality tester shouldn’t have any trouble trying to succeed as a software product manager.
  • Who, in essence, is a software tester? A software tester is a remarkable person who serves as the final stage of the web development lifecycle. He stands as the final person between the client and the web developer.

Similar traits of a project manager and a software tester

1. Honesty

  • One of the most important talents that software project managers must consistently keep in mind is that it takes their actions, not just their words, to establish a certain business as usual for a group. This skill is comparable to the abilities necessary for software testers. reasonable managerial demands and demonstration of moral behaviour.
  • The honesty that underpins project management or leadership refers to a set of principles, a commitment to sincerity, and consistency in teamwork. Sincere software project managers accept responsibility for creating high standards for moral behaviour for themselves and for rewarding those who uphold these standards.

2. They make wise decisions.

  • A software tester’s ability to make sound decisions is one of the key duties and obligations of project managers on software projects.
  • The excellent project manager position in software project management is crucial for both personal and professional success. The best project management software is used to decide on a number of options that will assist define the project’s course.
  • We all know that even a small mistake in a choice may quickly put the entire enterprise in jeopardy. A software tester should be capable of thinking quickly and responding decisively in this way.

3. They Encourage a Common Vision

  • In software development, the productive tasks of the project manager are typically characterised as having a vision of the future and the ability to articulate it. A software project manager is a person who empowers you, gives you a sense of purpose, and provides you with the vision and spirit to transform.
  • People are empowered by the creative project managers to feel like they truly matter to the work.
  • The software tester also gives their co-workers the opportunity to experience their own vision and gives others the option to create their own vision, explore what the vision will mean for their jobs and personal life, or even see their future as a key component of the association’s vision.

4. They are excellent at solving issues!

  • The finest project management position in software development is to collaborate with a team of professionals and use their expertise to solve problems in the most effective manner.
  • Only the roles and responsibilities of software testers will foresee that the software project managers will have a prepared response in due time regarding every issue; software project managers are required to be able to use the knowledge of their partners and even colleagues to create an aggregate reaction to any issues they encounter on their approach to delivering a project.
  • The only person who truly understands how and when it will be best for the end user to interact with the programme is a software tester. This isn’t, exactly, the question of online usability. The only person who can judge if something is done effectively or not is the tester, who uses the software product themselves several times while testing it. A tester then specifies how it must be.

Read Also: 50 Automation Testing Questions for Interview Preparation

Conclusion:-

This article shows how software testers are versatile and able to play various roles along with performing testing tasks. In this article, we will attempt to cover the actual role that the tester can play and how to be helpful in making things easier. After conducting research and consulting with various sources, we concluded that the qualities required of a scrum master are already present in a QA tester.

The software tester is successfully able to do the responsibilities of the release manager; if one person plays both roles, it will help them complete their jobs within the scheduled timeframe. If a software tester takes on the project manager role, the organisation benefits because they share qualities such as honesty, decision-making ability, vision, and problem-solving skills. As per research and literature, it is proved that testers play various roles and are helpful for achieving milestones in the software profession.

Being a tester for a long time affects your behavior? Answer is here!

Do you think that testing is an easy job? It has never been. The conflict is intense and the it’s stressful
testing is over meme
But what makes us continue what we are doing is the love towards QA. However, many have to pay a price for that sweet love! Without even realizing it.

I talked to one of my friends lately who was going through an introspection phase of his life and said that being a tester has made him a bit too attentive towards things, rather too much he said.

He added that perfection has gotten hold of his life and has become a roadblock for many things that could have been easily one.

I took it lightly at first, owing to the nature of the conversation. But unknowingly the words got stuck inside and came out in my lone time.

Is it true that there is only a thin line between work life and personal life? Do testers tend to be doubtful or suspicious more than a normal person would?

Does our line of work affect us on a personality level?

I think it does, life situations that an individual is in for a prolonged time period will have a serious impact on his behavior.

What happens in the life of a tester as time pass by

Let’s admit it as testers; we all get pleasure out of poking things to see how things work.

And it is indeed true we all have that evil mastermind laugh when we find faults. It’s human nature.
Evil Laugh meme
But is it bad?

Absolutely no!

If you know how to harness such a mindset for the greater good it’s absolutely fine. I know that many of you have! Bravo! Kudos to that.
You are all indeed awesome.

But some might not be able to draw that line between personal life and work-life after-effects of their work nature will breach their personal life.  Not just that,

In fact, many of my friends with whom I had conversations for the research purpose for this blog have admitted that they have become too attentive and interrogative than they used to be.

To elaborate, They started watching things around them more closely as time passed by. Their eyes got hold of the negatives and demanded perfectness in whatever they do.

To an extent, it’s good, indeed! However, perfection is a colloquial term! Near perfection is achievable and it’s a realistic goal. Making things perfect is beyond humane intervention.

Research that showed us personality has a great effect on testing skills and vice versa

Your personality trait has a great effect on your testing skills. Da Cunha and Greathead have done the research and found out that Logical and ingenious people tend to be great and code review.

Another research by Hana Almodaimeegh revealed that Locus of control (the extent to which one believes that an event is the result of external factors than his/her own effort) has no effect on debugging skill of a tester. On the other hand, social learning style coupled with experience has a high influence on debugging skills.

There is one more piece of research that can cement my claim. Beer and Ramler concluded that testers with experience using their domain knowledge are much better at carrying out the testing process than others.

What do these studies converge to?

The effect is not just unidirectional. The way your personality and skills are related, and your daily bread and butter have an effect on your behavior too.

Trait Activation theory is a legit theory to prove that our job does affect our personality

What should be done to keep that barrier strong?

Take a break, not for a kit-kat, your mind and body deserves it

Testers usually work for 8+ hours, But, at present many are working at home owing to the Corona pandemic situation and the work hours are turning out to be indefinite.

So this can take a toll on your mental health as prolonged stress is a killer.  Importantly major shares of your active time are spent on scrutinizing software to find faults. So breaks are necessary to do things that have nothing to do with your work.

  1. Yes, it’s a pandemonium! But planning can be so effective

Stress is an after-effect of improper planning most of the time.

If you set goals and time frame for it you will get a lot of personal time than usual. Thus, you can spend a lot of time with your friends and family.

  1. Accept the reality! There is no way to separate both lives

Dedicated time for both work and personal life will not work positively according to many research papers.

So the right thing to do here is to create a perfect balance between work and personal life.

It’s obvious that many personal matters will come in between your work time. Deal with it! It need not be discarded if it’s that important.

  1. Unplug yourself! It helps!

Be it work life or personal life, sometimes indulging is something that can calm you always help. For instance, you can read a book while your daily commute to the office.

By doing so you will be planted in an imaginary world where you can interact with unrealistic characters in the book.

The process will decompress you from the stress. Too much work will consume your natural behavior and replace it with its.

  1. Personality conflicts are not mythical like a unicorn. It’s real! Address it

You might the coolest person. However; your work has put you under so much stress that you started changing.

Stress will soon engulf you and will make you this arrogant person that even you are not even used to.

To get out of such a situation you need to address that there is this issue. Once you address it many possible ways out will be there.

Conclusion

Acceptance of the issue, and understanding and handling it in a professional way is the only to keep that barrier strong between work life and personal life.

Third-party intervention is good, however, making sure that the person who is trying to help has the ability to help you.

We know very well that many of you testers have or have been handling the issue.

Be proud that you have managed to suppress such conflicts and have emerged as exceptional testers and good social beings.

Those who are not able to cop up, no problem, it’s absolutely ok. Personality traits do not define your skills or even how good you are at what you do.

But to be happier, all you need is a better understanding of the change and how it is affecting you.