Oh Coffee Bean, Oh Coffee Bean

[The Spartan]

I hope I get the chance to put that into practice in the near future

[Mich the Tester]

I think a good start to selecting testers is to sit them down in front of a screen with an application, give them a list of things they are absolutely NOT allowed to do and see how many of those things they do in half an hour. The ones that do everything on the list probably have the right character to be proper testers, unless of course there's a rule saying ' you're not allowed to murder someone'.

[bless 'em all]

I despise the whole certificate issue to it really grips my tulipe, big deal if someone has an intermediate that trumps my foundation

WSS. +1

It's putting the theory into practice which can prove difficult for some. I imagine it's the same for dev/dba/PM.

Sadly these days the ones with the 'certs' are chasing the same jobs as those of us with the experience.

(I wonder if Usain Bolt has a GCSE in 'Sports Science'?)

[Mich the Tester]

I couldn't agree more, I work for 20+ devs here and the guy before me lasted only a few weeks and I was told he wasn't very contentious which is definitely a no-no if you're a tester. I despise the whole certificate issue to it really grips my tulipe, big deal if someone has an intermediate that trumps my foundation I have balls of steel lol

I remember working on a banking application where I could bypass many of the business rules by using an 'unsupported' browser. IE, Chrome and FF were specified so naturally I did some tests with Safari and found I could do lots of naughty things that could bankrupt the place. PM's standard ****wit response was ' not a valid test as Safari isn't specified'. My response; 'tell that to a fraudster', which didn't make much difference anyway as he was hired by a banker. Why they were implementing business rules at GUI level remains a mystery to me, but the Bob developers probably had their reasons.

[The Spartan]

Actually I'm convinced that one of the biggest sources of software disasters is HR; their screening processes and insistence on certificates and immaculate school records and references ensures that only grey, conventional conformists are hired, which is a recipe for disaster when hiring testers or anyone else whose job is to think 'what could go wrong here' and then take action.

I couldn't agree more, I work for 20+ devs here and the guy before me lasted only a few weeks and I was told he wasn't very contentious which is definitely a no-no if you're a tester. I despise the whole certificate issue to it really grips my tulipe, big deal if someone has an intermediate that trumps my foundation I have balls of steel lol

[Mich the Tester]

A really good tester can give others a mental illness ... there's been quite a few instances of developers getting Tourettes Syndrome shortly after receiving one of my defect reports.

Actually I'm convinced that one of the biggest sources of software disasters is HR; their screening processes and insistence on certificates and immaculate school records and references ensures that only grey, conventional conformists are hired, which is a recipe for disaster when hiring testers or anyone else whose job is to think 'what could go wrong here' and then take action.

[Bunk]

A really good tester can give others a mental illness ... there's been quite a few instances of developers getting Tourettes Syndrome shortly after receiving one of my defect reports.

[bless 'em all]

Testers are not supposed to be sane. You can't find really good bugs without a slightly twisted mind.

A really good tester can give others a mental illness ... there's been quite a few instances of developers getting Tourettes Syndrome shortly after receiving one of my defect reports.

[The Spartan]

Testers are not supposed to be sane. You can't find really good bugs without a slightly twisted mind.

Spot on there Mich, guess I'll have another Coke Zero "All the taste, with none of the calories" pmsl

[Mich the Tester]

I'm a product of fizzy drinks it's probably why I'm a tester as I'm insane

Testers are not supposed to be sane. You can't find really good bugs without a slightly twisted mind.

[The Spartan]

Your what?

I'm a product of fizzy drinks it's probably why I'm a tester as I'm insane

[Mich the Tester]

I think it's too late to save my sanity now lol

Your what?

[The Spartan]

I think it's too late to save my sanity now lol

[vetran]

Drop that can of sweet pop and grab a coffee - for your sanity's sake ? The Register

Boffins in the States have confirmed that sweetened and "diet" drinks are associated with a significantly heightened risk of mental illness, whereas coffee tends to preserve the sanity of the drinker.