Just like there are coding or software development good practices there are also good practices related to the QA Engineer, these good practices aren’t limited to writing code techniques, there also good practices that will help you on you day to day activities in your organization.
These are some of the good practices you could follow:
- Communication is Crucial: Please don’t think that the QA Engineer is just an spectator that only reports bugs or defects, your work is more than that, think on it like being an investigative reporter that besides getting to the bottom of the barrel needs to communicate the findings to the audience. Please note that communication must be in a professional adequate manner and that you should only notify the right people.
- Atención al Detalle: La atención al detalle es una de las principales características que debe tener un Ingeniero de Calidad, usted es el encargado de revisar que el producto que se le va a entregar al cliente se encuentre en perfectas condiciones antes de que él lo reciba. Si bien es cierto hay características del producto que pueden no ser perfectas para que su cliente lo utilice es muy importante que usted sepa priorizar en qué enfocar su atención. Por ejemplo:Usted se encuentra a cargo de validar que un carro cuenta con todo lo necesario antes de que el cliente se lo maneje por primera vez, no es lo mismo que el carro tenga un color de tapicería distinto a que le haga falta una llanta o una parte esencial del motor. Siempre es importante priorizar y categorizar los defectos para así tener una visión clara del estado actual del sistema.
- Attention to Detail: Attention to detail is one of the main characteristics for a QA Engineer, it’s your job to make sure the product that is being delivered to your client is in perfect condition before you hand it to them. Even though there might be some functionalities that aren’t perfect yet but that don’t interfere usage by your client it’s really important that you prioritise what you should focus on. For example: You’re in charge of the
- Always be One Step Ahead: Time limits usually are tight for a QA Engineer, even when the projects planning was spot on if there has been delays with any other team members on the requirements definition, clarification or software development impact on the time the QA Engineer has to complete testing, for that reason, it’s really important to have great organization skills on all the activities to make sure everything is ready to start working as soon as you get the application to start testing it.
- Be Objective: The job of the QA Engineer isn’t finding chasing or condemning the person that created the defect or issue, you should focus on documenting the defect properly so that the person in charge (no matter who it is) can fix it as fast and as good as possible, the QA Engineer role is complementary to what the Developers job together they are a team that will deliver a high quality product to their client. Don’t be a vigilante trying to catch villains.
- Always try to Make your Work Simpler and Efficient: Frequently there are some activities that are recurring, always find ways to simplify or optimise these tasks, the sooner you can finish these repetitive tasks you’ll have more time to focus on what really matters executing your tests with excellence.
