I wish I knew more about…
Updated: Aug 21, 2020
Computers! I don't know about the rest of you but my path into testing was somewhat accidental. In college I studied to be a music teacher and after graduation I was interviewing with aid organizations in Africa. Unfortunately, I was not getting the gigs I wanted and I needed to make a decision quickly.
I took the first job that was offered to me. Fortuitously, it was a job at a great software company that was still in its late start-up phase. When asked if I would be comfortable working with software all day my response was "well, I like video games, so I think I'd be good at this"....verbatim... Luckily for me they needed people skills and I was able to provide them.
Starting was difficult because I was missing a lot of basic computer knowledge. How do websites work? How does the cloud work? What are drivers? Where is the command prompt? What does it do? Conversations with IT and devs left me feeling very much like Jen from the IT Crowd (honestly may have believed her "this is the internet" presentation). Hard work and determination led me ultimately to becoming a tester at the same company but I was in way over my head (3 weeks into the job I still didn't know what language our system used).
The majority of my mental gaps have been filled thanks to a supportive team and some excellent leadership but there are still some technical areas where I fall flat and my imposter syndrome flares up. I've realized that the only way to kick this feeling is to go back to basics and learn more about....computers. How hardware interacts with software, how network settings affect security, how APIs really work, how to create a database from scratch, etc. Which means.....bum da da daaaa I'm going back to school this fall!
It's time for me to learn how to computer! And how to Internet! And I'm excited! Yes, there are going to be things that I already know or things that are irrelevant for a tester but my goal is that I will ultimately build confidence that will allow me to be a better and more confident tester. Here's to the class of 2021.
The class I'm going to be taking:
Introduction to Computer Science
Here are some books I'm going to dive into:
What are some insecurities you have as a tester? Do you have a plan to address them?
Did you take any computer courses or are you as green as I am?
What is something you want to know more about? Let me know!