8 Ways To Level-up Your Testing Skills And Become A Leading QA Tester
As per a study by IBM, the normal cost of a corporate data breach in the year 2020 was $3.86 million. These costs could be much higher under certain circumstances.
For example, Target lost about $150 million in the 2013 data breach, and there was a significant decrease in its stock price. Cyber-attacks happening recently has been even more costly and the methods used by cybercriminals have become even more advanced.
Anytime a company is losing money for their brand it takes a hit in the news and they should be very concerned about it. Even from a self-preservation perspective, these things could often lead to layoffs due to lost revenue.
Thus, for every company with a digital presence, it becomes imperative to level up your testing skills, to avoid any loophole that can prove to be disastrous for the company and the end-users alike.
Boost Your Testing Career with Security Testing Techniques
Before getting into the event are you informed that if you level-up your testing skills it will make you more employable? It is extraordinarily significant in this time of covid-19 and a downturn economy.
Having any ambition over other testers to level up your testing game and advance your career could be the make-or-break decision of whether you are getting hired or fired nowadays.
For example, you can look at the US Bureau of labor statistics job Outlook for information security analysts.
You will see that it is forecasted to grow about 32 % from 2020 to 2028 which is much faster than the standard for all occupations. The expected requirement for information security analysts is very high.
Basic skills that every tester needs will be demanded, creating innovative solutions for preventing hackers from stealing essential information that can cause problems for computer networks. It means that learning more about security testing techniques as a software tester will make you more employable and you will be able to advance your career.
Why is Software Testing so Tricky?
Software testing for test companies is difficult since it requires you to stay updated on new information while also providing more qualitative feedback to improve your manual testing skills. So, how will you be able to cope with such pressure? It isn't just a one-time learning experience. Software testing is a process, and by following a few easy techniques daily, you can achieve your goals.
Eight Practical Tips to Level-Up Your Testing Skills
Below are 8 most effective tips for you to level-up your testing skills:
1. Think About Testing Everything Around You
While traveling, cooking, playing with kids, taking a walk in the garden, or reading a book you should observe everything around you and make your mind ready for repairing test ideas to level up your software testing game and advance your career.
Try thinking of at least 5 best ideas from everything around you every time you get a chance to think about it. After you follow this practice for 15 days you will be noticing a significant amount of difference in yourself. You will be full of ideas and be able to understand things properly and correlate with the items.
2. Learning Something New Every Day
Every day, you must have at least one item to tick off as "Learned," whether it be a simple testing approach or an automated tool. When collected, a small amount of knowledge can create an ocean of the same. This practice can surely create wonders in your career if followed.
3. Maintain a Diverse Range of Interests
Nowadays, a quality person is expected to be familiar with the development lifecycle, documentation and advance their career processes, programming, analysis, automation, and domain expertise.
It's difficult to learn anything new while you're busy trying to level-up your testing skills. You cannot, however, take the danger of tugging your career chords downward. Open your eyes and take notice of what is going on around you.
You won't be able to learn everything, but you will be able to generate some ideas for key products or domains that aren't the same as the ones you've been working on.
4. Play Games
There are a plethora of free strategy games, pattern detecting games, and missing letter games to choose from. Take advantage of the situation and learn from it. Games sharpen and alert your mind and a sharp intellect may easily locate something hidden.
5. Read
Read everything you can. To become a good tester, you don't have to read solely software testing books. Books on any subject will be a treasure to you if you can appropriately co-relate things.
6. Take Breaks
Humans tend to get used to things. By looking at a broken piece of furniture for a very long time at one point your mind will start thinking about how accurate that piece was. Try not to focus your eyes on the same thing constantly. Take breaks, observe your surroundings, discuss your knowledge and then resume your work.
7. Keep a Note
Every day list at least five points about things you have learned, what you did to make things happen, what you found on what ideas you implemented on a notepad. It will act as a treasure when you take the time to revisit it.
8. Learn Management
You’ll be able to level-up your testing skills only by improving your management skills. Learn from your supervisors about the way they handle resources, projects, timelines, and other obstacles. You don't need to become a manager to manage something.
Start with your work and schedule and try to assist others and accept assistance when required. You’ll be able to improve your manual testing skills with regular practice and will allow you to achieve your full potential.
Conclusion
These were some of the basic skills that every tester should know. Being a security tester will open new options and level-up your testing skills. Mastering security testing techniques allows you to contribute to the creation of high-quality software while also increasing user and product owner satisfaction.
In the coming years, you should invest more in security testing. Your data should be protected at all costs and we should all contribute to building quality software and master to level up your testing game and advance your career.