Is Testing in India considered like Softwares’ in 70’s and 80’s?
During my last debate with a group of Enthusiastic Testers, I was hearing the same complaint. “Tester’s profile is considered as Scum job”. In a group of Software Engineers, there is always a vast comparison felt between Developers and Testers. Also when speaking to Potential New Comers into the field, it is very difficult to get a buy in into the Testing Domain. The reason given would be, there are inadequate challenges, the growth is very limited, the opportunities don’t exist or even worse “Testing Profile does not match my brilliance”
All I can do is laugh at the ignorance of words. I still remember my Uncle who always used to tell me how much he regrets of not entering the software field during his college days, but instead opted for Civil Engineering, a field only for the elite group in those days. I strongly believe this is the same scenario, currently in the Indian Markets. The Vision of Testers are still not fully known or the effects of Quality Tester is unrecognized. Yet this felling is curtailed only in the lower layer, as the Top management have already realized the worth of smart Testers.
When I look at Testing, I am always amazed at the vastness of this field. Right from Unit Testing, Module Testing, Integration Testing, Functional Testing, System Testing, Regression Testing, Performance Testing, Security Testing or Usability Testing, the field is vast. What is more interesting as Testers is, we have had a taste of each cup unlike in development where your knowledge is curtailed to certain domains.
If testing was so vast, challenging and interesting why has the market not realized yet. The Answer is simple. The Flood gates have just opened. People have just seen the trickling of water. This was the same Scenario as “Software in 70’s and 80’s”. The moment Testers start specializing in domains, the flood gates would wide open. With importance being realized in countries like US, UK and Germany the scene of India getting into race is not too far in the future. With abundant potential we are not far away from Seeing the next Boom. “The Testing Boom”