State of the Market

[Lance]

Some companies still don't even use spreadsheets for test planning and issue management.

FTFY

[MrMarkyMark]

Some companies still use spreadsheets for test planning and issue management.

I can assure you they still use them for a hell of a lot more than that

[Cirrus]

And So On Ad Infinitum

I don't need to remind all you people who have studied automated testing: if you have lots of automated tests, you need to test them.

As things get bigger and bigger you might elect to automate the tests that test the automated tests.

Then you'll need to test the tests that test the tests.

Plenty of work there as far as I can see...

[nomadd]

The tools are, the cost of writing the script the robot follows isn't....

Yet that's still cheaper than employing people to manually run the same tests over and over. Hence the popularity of Automated testing.

Besides, I've just flicked through 3 pages (59 roles) on jobserve with "tester" in the title, contract-only, last 7 days. I'd say 80+% of those roles are for "Automation" testers. They are also the roles - again, in general - with the highest daily rates, and sometimes by quite a margin. If I was a contract tester, I know which bit of the market I'd be chasing...

[SussexSeagull]

Yet that's still cheaper than employing people to manually run the same tests over and over. Hence the popularity of Automated testing.

Besides, I've just flicked through 3 pages (59 roles) on jobserve with "tester" in the title, contract-only, last 7 days. I'd say 80+% of those roles are for "Automation" testers. They are also the roles - again, in general - with the highest daily rates, and sometimes by quite a margin. If I was a contract tester, I know which bit of the market I'd be chasing...

It always has been the case that there are a lot of adverts for automated testers. They are probably more in demand so they have to go looking for them.

Now most people with any hint of technical ability could cope with record and replay and some limited editing of scripts but taken to a high level it is a development discipline. It makes more sense for a developer to move into automated testing than a manual tester.

[SueEllen]

It always has been the case that there are a lot of adverts for automated testers. They are probably more in demand so they have to go looking for them.

Now most people with any hint of technical ability could cope with record and replay and some limited editing of scripts but taken to a high level it is a development discipline. It makes more sense for a developer to move into automated testing than a manual tester.

And if they are anything like the couple who I've met who have done so they find themselves not just testing but hacking for the fun of it.

[rocktronAMP]

The state of the market is rubbish. It is getting more and more ruthless. As NLUK has said many times, a contract is only worth it's notice period.

[nomadd]

As NLUK has said many times, a contract is only worth it's notice period.

When your business strategy is based on NLUK's posts, you're already finished.

[northernladuk]

When your business strategy is based on NLUK's posts, you're already finished.

Oi!!!!!

[Bee]

When your business strategy is based on NLUK's posts, you're already finished.