That question was asked by someone at Yahoo!Answers and I realized that my participation is really needed. So, down below is my answer:
I have been in Software QA profession since 1992. And I have been in the QA career change business since 1994. From my experience there are many venues to explore and which venue will really work for you (if any) depends on you education, professional background, user experience, and commitment to the change.
1. Read the book on Software QA ("Testing Computer Software" is my favorite), get beta-testing experience, put it to your resume and go to the job market (how to look for a job is another discussion). It costs you nothing, but not many people can implement that approach.
2. Hire a Mentor who will meet you 1-2 times a week for couple of hours and who will do a nice project with you. Again, put in your resume and go to the job market. It is cheap, customized, and might work just fine if you are OK doing most of the study on your own under Mentor's guidance.
3. Go for a QA Program offered by either City Colleges or private schools (search Google for "software QA Training" to find them). In the ideal world the program includes QA internship with a software development company, which might actually become you first employment in the field.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
We are getting the feedback
Last week we asked over 60 students to answer 4 questions about how they came to the school and what they would change to make it better. We are still processing the responses but the list of things to be done on our side is growing and the School Administration is very grateful for the level of consideration given to our questions by the Portnov Computer School students.
The most common complain is about slow Internet connection. It will be resolved within 4-6 weeks time frame according to the promise given to us by Comcast representative. So far we are using 4 AT&T lines, but they are still not fast enough to satisfy our needs. SQA Express students suggest they would like to have more time dedicated to HTML, JavaScript and SQL. We are redesigning the curriculum to do that. Several more sessions will be added to the program without increase of tuition.
We are considering complete prohibition of smoking at breaks since we cannot control the smell brought to the classroom by smokers. I will share in that blog other common suggestions and how we are planning to implement them.
The most common complain is about slow Internet connection. It will be resolved within 4-6 weeks time frame according to the promise given to us by Comcast representative. So far we are using 4 AT&T lines, but they are still not fast enough to satisfy our needs. SQA Express students suggest they would like to have more time dedicated to HTML, JavaScript and SQL. We are redesigning the curriculum to do that. Several more sessions will be added to the program without increase of tuition.
We are considering complete prohibition of smoking at breaks since we cannot control the smell brought to the classroom by smokers. I will share in that blog other common suggestions and how we are planning to implement them.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Job Search Videos from Portnov Computer School
We have a few job search related videos posted at Youtube and more videos are coming soon. There is a need of making that information easily available. That is why I am creating that post with all the relevant links in one place.
We have a dedicated Youtube channel on Job Interview Tips. As of today it contains three videos with answers to the common interview questions such as:
Watch all three videos at once before each and very interview. It sets your mind properly, so, you look like an ideal candidate.
There are also videos you might use on the Portnov Computer School channel:
Enjoy!!!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Online classes at Portnov Computer School - update
We now have the following online classes:
- HTML
- SQL
- Mobile Applications Testing
- UNIX commands
- UNIX Shell Scripting
- Perl
So far, all the classes are available to the current and past students at no charge. Please, contact the school via email to get the enrollment key.
The pilot online QA Program is scheduled for May 9, 2011. The investment (tuition) is $500. The program will include QA Training & QA Project facilitated by our instructors, resume preparation, job placement assistance, self-paced technical classes mentioned above and a few more to come soon.
One more update - we have protected the DATA folder on the Portnov Computer School web site with a password. Again, please send us an email to get access.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Strong demand for QA
Here is an email forwarded to my attention by one of the graduates working in Sacramento area. It is coming from a recruiter sending a bulk mail to the people he worked with before. Just one more evidence of the QA job market doing really well:
Hello out there in BA/QA Land!
If you are receiving this (ideally not more than once), it is because you and I have corresponded in the past regarding Agile software environments in the Sacramento area. Although I am normally loathe to do anything in a mass email format, the market locally has just absolutely exploded with openings and time is a factor in filling them. So I am reaching out to my contacts on mass in the hopes that someone either is available for a position in an Agile environment, or that (more likely) some of you know others that have experience in Agile environments who are either Under-Paid, Under-Appreciated, and/or Under-Employed who may want to hear more about what is immediately open locally as well as coming available soon.
As of right now we have 2 Quality Assurance positions available also with Agile environments. Generally speaking, they are hoping for individuals with QTP Automated experience, but they are also willing to look at candidates with just strong overall Quality Assurance background in manual and automated testing overall, ideally for Agile organizations. Again, if you know anyone who might benefit from hearing about an open position like this locally, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
Several more QA and BA positions are in the pipes and should be arriving the next several months, so if you /someone you know is not ready to make a move just yet, this looks like it is going to be an extraordinarily strong year for hiring locally in Sacramento, so please feel free to touch base with me in advance, I will maintain an understanding that you are not looking for work presently if that is the case, so no pressure.
Other than that, I genuinely appreciate your time and I sincerely hope I am not troubling anyone with this email format, as it is not generally how I do things.
Hello out there in BA/QA Land!
If you are receiving this (ideally not more than once), it is because you and I have corresponded in the past regarding Agile software environments in the Sacramento area. Although I am normally loathe to do anything in a mass email format, the market locally has just absolutely exploded with openings and time is a factor in filling them. So I am reaching out to my contacts on mass in the hopes that someone either is available for a position in an Agile environment, or that (more likely) some of you know others that have experience in Agile environments who are either Under-Paid, Under-Appreciated, and/or Under-Employed who may want to hear more about what is immediately open locally as well as coming available soon.
As of right now we have 2 Quality Assurance positions available also with Agile environments. Generally speaking, they are hoping for individuals with QTP Automated experience, but they are also willing to look at candidates with just strong overall Quality Assurance background in manual and automated testing overall, ideally for Agile organizations. Again, if you know anyone who might benefit from hearing about an open position like this locally, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
Several more QA and BA positions are in the pipes and should be arriving the next several months, so if you /someone you know is not ready to make a move just yet, this looks like it is going to be an extraordinarily strong year for hiring locally in Sacramento, so please feel free to touch base with me in advance, I will maintain an understanding that you are not looking for work presently if that is the case, so no pressure.
Other than that, I genuinely appreciate your time and I sincerely hope I am not troubling anyone with this email format, as it is not generally how I do things.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Portnov Computer School Testimonials
We have over 100 testimonials posted by the graduates of Portnov Computer School on the School's forum. There are many others scattered all over the Internet. And I keep lots of those in my mail box.
So, I decided to bring all the Portnov Computer School testimonials and reviews in one place. here is the link - http://qa-career-change.blogspot.com/ The title of that new blog is "Moving to Software QA - Portnov Computer School Testimonials and Reviews". The testimonials in that new resource will be in English only. I will create one more blog for testimonials and reviews in Russian since we have solid enrollment of newcomers from the countries of former Soviet Union.
If you have your own testimonials you want to share with others, please, make your choice. The forum is a good place - http://portnov.com/forum/ and the new blog is also the very right one.
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