Resume tips

These are very common and most talked about interview tips but people fail to give importance to it. It is like everybody knows that doing physical exercises is good for health and a very few follow it.


Lot has been written, discussed about topic. Time and again, when this question is raised, people typically answer in one or other variant of following ....
First - controversial or unreasonable (IMHO) ones -
1. To find bugs or to demonstrate that program does not work
2. To validate requirements, design and code
3. To stop the release if quality requirements are not met.
4. To ensure the quality
Rather acceptable ones ...
1. To help project team to access the risk and plan test to access the risk.
2. To check compliance to statutory and regulatory requirements ( like SOX)
3. . To help project manager to make GO-NOGO decisions.
Here comes mine (may be most of other's)
TO HELP DEVELOPMENT TEAM TO SHIP A QUALITY PRODUCT
Whatever test does should be aligned towards this goal. Developers having a job in hand of constructing our of stated (and implicit requirements) - tend to loose sight on or get busy in development. Test will help dev to in those "overlooked" things - like all possible uses and abuses, Non functional requirements like - usability, security, Performance etc. This is collaborative work. Let us not fight - collaborate.

What Is Software Testing?
Software testing is a process used to help identify the correctness, completeness and quality of developed computer software. With that in mind, testing can never completely establish the correctness of computer software. Only the process of formal verification can prove that there are no defects. Since the software testing proofs or proof engines themselves are typically complex systems constructed by fallible humans, we aren't entitled to be entirely confident with formal methods of software testing.
There are many approaches to software testing, but effective testing of complex products is essentially a process of investigation, not merely a matter of creating and following rote procedure. One definition of software testing is "the process of questioning a product in order to evaluate it," where the "questions" are things the software tester tries to do with the product, and the product answers with its behavior in reaction to the probing of the software tester. Hopefully this will help your search into software testing.
Q: What is verification?

A: Verification ensures the product is designed to deliver all functionality to the customer; it typically involves reviews and meetings to evaluate documents, plans, code, requirements and specifications; this can be done with checklists, issues lists, walk-throughs and inspection meetings. You CAN learn to do verification, with little or no outside help. Get CAN get free information. Click on a link!


Q: What is validation?

A: Validation ensures that functionality, as defined in requirements, is the intended behavior of the product; validation typically involves actual testing and takes place after verifications are completed.


Q: What is a walk-through?

A: A walk-through is an informal meeting for evaluation or informational purposes. A walk-through is also a process at an abstract level. It's the process of inspecting software code by following paths through the code (as determined by input conditions and choices made along the way). The purpose of code walk-throughs is to ensure the code fits the purpose.

Walk-throughs also offer opportunities to assess an individual's or team's competency.
Q: What is an inspection?

A: An inspection is a formal meeting, more formalized than a walk-through and typically consists of 3-10 people including a moderator, reader (the author of whatever is being reviewed) and a recorder (to make notes in the document). The subject of the inspection is typically a document, such as a requirements document or a test plan. The purpose of an inspection is to find problems and see what is missing, not to fix anything. The result of the meeting should be documented in a written report. Attendees should prepare for this type of meeting by reading through the document, before the meeting starts; most problems are found during this preparation. Preparation for inspections is difficult, but is one of the most cost-effective methods of ensuring quality, since bug prevention is more cost effective than bug detection.


Q: What is quality?

A: Quality software is software that is reasonably bug-free, delivered on time and within budget, meets requirements and expectations and is maintainable. However, quality is a subjective term. Quality depends on who the customer is and their overall influence in the scheme of things. Customers of a software development project include end-users, customer acceptance test engineers, testers, customer contract officers, customer management, the development organization's management, test engineers, testers, salespeople, software engineers, stockholders and accountants. Each type of customer will have his or her own slant on quality. The accounting department might define quality in terms of profits, while an end-user might define quality as user friendly and bug free.

: What is good code?

A: A good code is code that works, is free of bugs and is readable and maintainable. Organizations usually have coding standards all developers should adhere to, but every programmer and software engineer has different ideas about what is best and what are too many or too few rules. We need to keep in mind that excessive use of rules can stifle both productivity and creativity. Peer reviews and code analysis tools can be used to check for problems and enforce standards.


Q: What is good design?

A: Design could mean to many things, but often refers to functional design or internal design. Good functional design is indicated by software functionality can be traced back to customer and end-user requirements. Good internal design is indicated by software code whose overall structure is clear, understandable, easily modifiable and maintainable; is robust with sufficient error handling and status logging capability; and works correctly when implemented.


Q: What is software life cycle?

A: Software life cycle begins when a software product is first conceived and ends when it is no longer in use. It includes phases like initial concept, requirements analysis, functional design, internal design, documentation planning, test planning, coding, document preparation, integration, testing, maintenance, updates, re-testing and phase-out.
Q: How do you introduce a new software QA process?

A: It depends on the size of the organization and the risks involved. For large organizations with high-risk projects, a serious management buy-in is required and a formalized QA process is necessary. For medium size organizations with lower risk projects, management and organizational buy-in and a slower, step-by-step process is required. Generally speaking, QA processes should be balanced with productivity, in order to keep any bureaucracy from getting out of hand. For smaller groups or projects, an ad-hoc process is more appropriate. A lot depends on team leads and managers, feedback to developers and good communication is essential among customers, managers, developers, test engineers and testers. Regardless the size of the company, the greatest value for effort is in managing requirement processes, where the goal is requirements that are clear, complete and
testable.


Q: What is the role of documentation in QA?

A: Documentation plays a critical role in QA. QA practices should be documented, so that they are repeatable. Specifications, designs, business rules, inspection reports, configurations, code changes, test plans, test cases, bug reports, user manuals should all be documented. Ideally, there should be a system for easily finding and obtaining of documents and determining what document will have a particular piece of information. Use documentation change management, if possible.
Q: Why are there so many software bugs?

A: Generally speaking, there are bugs in software because of unclear requirements, software complexity, programming errors, changes in requirements, errors made in bug tracking, time pressure, poorly documented code and/or bugs in tools used in software development.
 There are unclear software requirements because there is miscommunication as to what the software should or shouldn't do.
 Software complexity. All of the followings contribute to the exponential growth in software and system complexity: Windows interfaces, client-server and distributed applications, data communications, enormous relational databases and the sheer size of applications.
 Programming errors occur because programmers and software engineers, like everyone else, can make mistakes.
 As to changing requirements, in some fast-changing business environments, continuously modified requirements are a fact of life. Sometimes customers do not understand the effects of changes, or understand them but request them anyway. And the changes require redesign of the software, rescheduling of resources and some of the work already completed have to be redone or discarded and hardware requirements can be effected, too.
Q: Give me five common problems that occur during software development.

A: Poorly written requirements, unrealistic schedules, inadequate testing, adding new features after development is underway and poor communication.
1. Requirements are poorly written when requirements are unclear, incomplete, too general, or not testable; therefore there will be problems.
2. The schedule is unrealistic if too much work is crammed in too little time.
3. Software testing is inadequate if none knows whether or not the software is any good until customers complain or the system crashes.
4. It's extremely common that new features are added after development is underway.
5. Miscommunication either means the developers don't know what is needed, or customers have unrealistic expectations and therefore problems are guaranteed.
Q: Do automated testing tools make testing easier?

A: Yes and no.

For larger projects, or ongoing long-term projects, they can be valuable. But for small projects, the time needed to learn and implement them is usually not worthwhile.

A common type of automated tool is the record/playback type. For example, a test engineer clicks through all combinations of menu choices, dialog box choices, buttons, etc. in a GUI and has an automated testing tool record and log the results. The recording is typically in the form of text, based on a scripting language that the testing tool can interpret.

If a change is made (e.g. new buttons are added, or some underlying code in the application is changed), the application is then re-tested by just playing back the recorded actions and compared to the logged results in order to check effects of the change.

One problem with such tools is that if there are continual changes to the product being tested, the recordings have to be changed so often that it becomes a very time-consuming task to continuously update the scripts.

Another problem with such tools is the interpretation of the results (screens, data, logs, etc.) that can be a time-consuming task.

You CAN learn to use automated testing tools, with little or no outside help. Get CAN get free information. Click on a link!
Q: Give me five solutions to problems that occur during software development.

A: Solid requirements, realistic schedules, adequate testing, firm requirements and good communication.

1. Ensure the requirements are solid, clear, complete, detailed, cohesive, attainable and testable. All players should agree to requirements. Use prototypes to help nail down requirements.

2. Have schedules that are realistic. Allow adequate time for planning, design, testing, bug fixing, re-testing, changes and documentation. Personnel should be able to complete the project without burning out.

3. Do testing that is adequate. Start testing early on, re-test after fixes or changes, and plan for sufficient time for both testing and bug fixing.

4. Avoid new features. Stick to initial requirements as much as possible. Be prepared to defend design against changes and additions, once development has begun and be prepared to explain consequences. If changes are necessary, ensure they're adequately reflected in related schedule changes. Use prototypes early on so customers' expectations are clarified and customers can see what to expect; this will minimize changes later on.
: Give me five solutions to problems that occur during software development. (Cont'd...)

5. Communicate. Require walkthroughs and inspections when appropriate; make extensive use of e-mail, networked bug-tracking tools, tools of change management. Ensure documentation is available and up-to-date. Do use documentation that is electronic, not paper. Promote teamwork and cooperation.


Q: What makes a good test engineer?

A: Good test engineers have a "test to break" attitude. We, good test engineers, take the point of view of the customer, have a strong desire for quality and an attention to detail. Tact and diplomacy are useful in maintaining a cooperative relationship with developers and an ability to communicate with both technical and non-technical people. Previous software development experience is also helpful as it provides a deeper understanding of the software development process, gives the test engineer an appreciation for the developers' point of view and reduces the learning curve in automated test tool programming.

Rob Davis is a good test engineer because he has a "test to break" attitude, takes the point of view of the customer, has a strong desire for quality, has an attention to detail, He's also tactful and diplomatic and has good a communication skill, both oral and written. And he has previous software development experience, too.
Q: What makes a good resume?

A: On the subject of resumes, there seems to be an unending discussion of whether you should or shouldn't have a one-page resume. The followings are some of the comments I have personally heard:

"Well, Joe Blow (car salesman) said I should have a one-page resume."

"Well, I read a book and it said you should have a one page resume."

"I can't really go into what I really did because if I did, it'd take more than one page on my resume."

"Gosh, I wish I could put my job at IBM on my resume but if I did it'd make my resume more than one page, and I was told to never make the resume more than one page long."

"I'm confused, should my resume be more than one page? I feel like it should, but I don't want to break the rules."

Or, here's another comment, "People just don't read resumes that are longer than one page." I have heard some more, but we can start with these.

So what's the answer? There is no scientific answer about whether a one-page resume is right or wrong. It all depends on who you are and how much experience you have.

The first thing to look at here is the purpose of a resume. The purpose of a resume is to get you an interview. If the resume is getting you interviews, then it is considered to be a good resume. If the resume isn't getting you interviews, then you should change it.
Q: What makes a good resume? (Cont'd...)

The biggest mistake you can make on your resume is to make it hard to read. Why? Because, for...

One, scanners don't like odd resumes. Small fonts can make your resume harder to read. Some candidates use a 7-point font so they can get the resume onto one page. Big mistake.

Two, resume readers do not like eye strain either. If the resume is mechanically challenging, they just throw it aside for one that is easier on the eyes.

Three, there are lots of resumes out there these days, and that is also part of the problem.

Four, in light of the current scanning scenario, more than one page is not a deterrent because many will scan your resume into their database. Once the resume is in there and searchable, you have accomplished one of the goals of resume distribution.

Five, resume readers don't like to guess and most won't call you to clarify what is on your resume.

Generally speaking, your resume should tell your story. If you're a college graduate looking for your first job, a one-page resume is just fine. If you have a longer story, the resume needs to be longer. Please put your experience on the resume so resume readers can tell when and for whom you did what.

Short resumes -- for people long on experience -- are not appropriate. The real audience for these short resumes is people with short attention spans and low IQs. I assure you that when your resume gets into the right hands, it will be read thoroughly.
Q: What makes a good QA engineer?

A: The same qualities a good test engineer has are useful for a QA engineer. Additionally, Rob Davis understands the entire software development process and how it fits into the business approach and the goals of the organization. Rob Davis' communication skills and the ability to understand various sides of issues are important. Good QA engineers understand the entire software development process and how it fits into the business approach and the goals of the organization. Communication skills and the ability to understand various sides of issues are important.


Q: What makes a good QA/Test Manager?

A: QA/Test Managers are familiar with the software development process; able to maintain enthusiasm of their team and promote a positive atmosphere; able to promote teamwork to increase productivity; able to promote cooperation between Software and Test/QA Engineers, have the people skills needed to promote improvements in QA processes, have the ability to withstand pressures and say *no* to other managers when quality is insufficient or QA processes are not being adhered to; able to communicate with technical and non-technical people; as well as able to run meetings and keep them focused.
Q: What about requirements?

A: Requirement specifications are important and one of the most reliable methods of insuring problems in a complex software project is to have poorly documented requirement specifications. Requirements are the details describing an application's externally perceived functionality and properties. Requirements should be clear, complete, reasonably detailed, cohesive, attainable and testable. A non-testable requirement would be, for example, "user-friendly", which is too subjective. A testable requirement would be something such as, "the product shall allow the user to enter their previously-assigned password to access the application". Care should be taken to involve all of a project's significant customers in the requirements process. Customers could be in-house or external and could include end-users, customer acceptance test engineers, testers, customer contract officers, customer management, future software maintenance engineers, salespeople and anyone who could later derail the project. If his/her expectations aren't met, they should be included as a customer, if possible. In some organizations, requirements may end up in high-level project plans, functional specification documents, design documents, or other documents at various levels of detail. No matter what they are called, some type of documentation with detailed requirements will be needed by test engineers in order to properly plan and execute tests. Without such documentation there will be no clear-cut way to determine if a software application is performing correctly. You CAN learn to capture requirements, with little or no outside help. Get CAN get free information. Click on a link!
Q: What is a test plan?

A: A software project test plan is a document that describes the objectives, scope, approach and focus of a software testing effort. The process of preparing a test plan is a useful way to think through the efforts needed to validate the acceptability of a software product. The completed document will help people outside the test group understand the why and how of product validation. It should be thorough enough to be useful, but not so thorough that none outside the test group will be able to read it.


Q: What is a test case?

A: A test case is a document that describes an input, action, or event and its expected result, in order to determine if a feature of an application is working correctly. A test case should contain particulars such as a...
 Test case identifier;
 Test case name;
 Objective;
 Test conditions/setup;
 Input data requirements/steps, and
 Expected results.
Please note, the process of developing test cases can help find problems in the requirements or design of an application, since it requires you to completely think through the operation of the application. For this reason, it is useful to prepare test cases early in the development cycle, if possible.
Q: What should be done after a bug is found?

A: When a bug is found, it needs to be communicated and assigned to developers that can fix it. After the problem is resolved, fixes should be re-tested. Additionally, determinations should be made regarding requirements, software, hardware, safety impact, etc., for regression testing to check the fixes didn't create other problems elsewhere. If a problem-tracking system is in place, it should encapsulate these determinations. A variety of commercial, problem-tracking/management software tools are available. These tools, with the detailed input of software test engineers, will give the team complete information so developers can understand the bug, get an idea of its severity, reproduce it and fix it.


Q: What is configuration management?

A: Configuration management (CM) covers the tools and processes used to control, coordinate and track code, requirements, documentation, problems, change requests, designs, tools, compilers, libraries, patches, changes made to them and who makes the changes. Rob Davis has had experience with a full range of CM tools and concepts, and can easily adapt to your software tool and process needs.
Q: What if the software is so buggy it can't be tested at all?

A: In this situation the best bet is to have test engineers go through the process of reporting whatever bugs or problems initially show up, with the focus being on critical bugs.

Since this type of problem can severely affect schedules and indicates deeper problems in the software development process, such as insufficient unit testing, insufficient integration testing, poor design, improper build or release procedures, managers should be notified and provided with some documentation as evidence of the problem.


Q: What if there isn't enough time for thorough testing?

A: Since it's rarely possible to test every possible aspect of an application, every possible combination of events, every dependency, or everything that could go wrong, risk analysis is appropriate to most software development projects.

Use risk analysis to determine where testing should be focused. This requires judgment skills, common sense and experience. The checklist should include answers to the following questions:
 Which functionality is most important to the project's intended purpose?
 Which functionality is most visible to the user?
Q: What if there isn't enough time for thorough testing?
 Which functionality has the largest safety impact?
 Which functionality has the largest financial impact on users?
 Which aspects of the application are most important to the customer?
 Which aspects of the application can be tested early in the development cycle?
 Which parts of the code are most complex and thus most subject to errors?
 Which parts of the application were developed in rush or panic mode?
 Which aspects of similar/related previous projects caused problems?
 Which aspects of similar/related previous projects had large maintenance expenses?
 Which parts of the requirements and design are unclear or poorly thought out?
 What do the developers think are the highest-risk aspects of the application?
 What kinds of problems would cause the worst publicity?
 What kinds of problems would cause the most customer service complaints?
 What kinds of tests could easily cover multiple functionalities?
 Which tests will have the best high-risk-coverage to time-required ratio?
Q: What if the project isn't big enough to justify extensive testing?

A: Consider the impact of project errors, not the size of the project. However, if extensive testing is still not justified, risk analysis is again needed and the considerations listed under "What if there isn't enough time for thorough testing?" do apply. The test engineer then should do "ad hoc" testing, or write up a limited test plan based on the risk analysis.


Q: What can be done if requirements are changing continuously?

A: Work with management early on to understand how requirements might change, so that alternate test plans and strategies can be worked out in advance. It is helpful if the application's initial design allows for some adaptability, so that later changes do not require redoing the application from scratch. Additionally, try to...
 Ensure the code is well commented and well documented; this makes changes easier for the developers.
 Use rapid prototyping whenever possible; this will help customers feel sure of their requirements and minimize changes.
 In the project's initial schedule, allow for some extra time to commensurate with probable changes.