The constant escalation of technological change is incredible. Getting lost in the sea of changes is not an option if you want your business to stay current. For anyone working in QC, it’s even more crucial to ride the wave of change so your company stays vital.

As the QC Specialist at Making Sense, I deal with devices, technologies, OS, frameworks, communication and prioritization. Here are 6 tips in those areas to help you improve your skills as a QC.

Tip #1. Know Your Devices and OS Compatibility

There are a ton of devices in the market, and you need to make sure that you know exactly which is your scope. After that stay tuned with the latest news about devices and their compatibility with different operative systems and possible updates that will be launched to the market.

Staying ahead of changes is an essential quality for a QC guy. It is often possible to get OS beta versions and their release notes before they are launched to the market. It is a good exercise to get them before the final user in order to make sure that your app works correctly. If it doesn’t, address all the issues and fix them before the OS release.

It’s definitely something that your customer will thank you for!

Tip #2: Stay Current With Frameworks

Being up to date with frameworks is something that’s always welcome, too. We can talk about testing of development frameworks, both are equally important for the project and your job.

Make sure you are following the github repository, if it is open source, to stay up to date with the fixes and new features which are being developed.

Tip #3: Hone Your Communication Skills

Great communications skills are elemental for succeeding as a QC guy. You need to keep practicing and improving them. This is a critical activity, especially since the QC is the one who delivers the bad news!

It is extremely important to choose the correct word to communicate problems. I like to think of it this way: as QC you are basically the one in charge of telling developers and product owners that their baby is ugly.

Learning from our errors, and from the errors of others, is valuable, too. Try to review your co workers’ jobs occasionally. This is a good exercise to learn, to help others to learn, and in consequence, make your team a better one.

Tip #4: Become a Master at Prioritization

This is an important quality that every QC should have. Prioritization is always important since you are the one who knows what is wrong with the app. Making a good and clear QC report with the correct prioritization of the issues on it, is the prime ingredient for the success.

Here, I’ll recommend again that you read about this, review different QC reports, different bug-tracking tools, and analyze if there is something that you could apply to your current project to improve it and make it even better.

Tip #5: Don’t Be Isolated

There are many communities of testers, bloggers, and forums where you can participate in discussions on QC matters. This helps you to learn from other testers and become aware of possible problems that you could have and how to fix them.

Software testing is an important phase of software development, and managers and product owners are increasingly understanding this and giving it the importance that it deserves.

Did you know that there is a software testing world cup? No joke- it exists! It is an international competition which takes place every year in where testers around the world participate (Making Sense was proud to be part of the tournament this year)..

If you want to read more about this, here is a related blogpost.

Tip #6: Always Be Passionate

Make software testing part of your life. Play around with different apps, test sites for fun… this is about loving what you do, so it shouldn’t be a challenge. There are also hackathons, contests and challenges where you can participate and stay up to date while having fun.

This works like a gym for me. I do this on weekends and it allows me to stay in touch with different technologies, different projects, different people (testers, managers and product owners), and to make mistakes and learn about them. I also learn from other people about what and how to do things. All this knowledge is applicable to almost every project you are involved in, so it is always productive.

Conclusion

Finally, the key to staying up-to-date is constant self-education, an openness to sharing of ideas with your colleagues, a willingness to learn from them, and an open, creative mind that stays fresh with regular doses of passionate energy. Incorporate all those things into your QC job, and you’ll be riding that wave of change rather than letting it wash over you and pass you by.