In the era of mobile Internet and big data, Internet enterprises are usually characterized by “rich product functions, large user base, complex business logic, frequent update and iteration, inerrant mass data, and high real-time requirements”. With the expansion of enterprise scale, users will have higher requirements on data and business stability, so called quality first.
In this demanding context, IT teams must be able to deliver consistently in order to cope with rapid product iterations. In the process of testing, it means that we must have automatic testing, continuous testing and real-time quality monitoring ability, in order to effectively ensure product quality. Efficiency is king.
1.
Manual tests that don’t understand development are new “illiterates”
Manual test engineers who can only dot and dot and do not know how to develop can not meet the requirements of Internet testing technology system “quality first, efficiency is king”. They are already “illiterate” in the new era and become the object of “optimization”. On the one hand, there is not much room for promotion on the job, and it is difficult to change jobs. The best outcome for individuals is a transition to management based on years of experience (which may have worked in earlier years, but is almost impossible now). In the career development section of TesterHome community, you can often see various popular posts testing midlife crisis, being laid off, and changing careers.
At present, BAT and other first-line Internet enterprises almost no longer recruit traditional test engineers, but only test development engineers. Some functional testing tasks will be assigned to interns and fresh graduates, and the rest will be assigned to part-time testers and outsourced testers. However, outsourcing testing companies usually have poor technical level and high mobility, which generally cannot meet high requirements and are in urgent need of reform and upgrading.
This is just a temporary measure in the transition period of the test industry. The future test team structure will definitely be a management mode dominated by test developers + a few test experts + test managers.
2.
Test positions pay more and test development is in its golden age
The testing industry, through its own cleansing, is like a phoenix rising from the ashes. The typical change is that the skill level has increased, the responsibility has increased, and the rewards have increased significantly. The salary of the test position has been generally increased to between 1W-3W from the previous range of 3K-15K.
Of course, the threshold of test employment has also significantly increased, in the case of excellent test development engineers and test architects are difficult to find, there have been more and more companies choose to directly use R&D engineers to test. Their quest was simple: single test -> interface test -> basic smoke test, which could be automated. It would be even better if it could be done as a test as a service like operations.
The technical stack requirements and project practical experience most match, is also the most scarce middle and senior test development engineer (Alibaba P6+), currently in the talent market can be said to be a high salary premium, one will be hard to find. An excellent test development engineer may get 4 or 5 offers from BAT factories at the same time (the annual salary starts from 50W+, and 100W+ is also common).
According to incomplete and rough statistics, the estimated proportion of excellent test development engineers in the industry is only about 1% after communication with BAT test managers/senior engineers in the industry. This is a reliable test development flat, all the high-paying jobs of the essence of the reason, because the supply and demand conflict is too obvious. So, if you have a passion for test development technology and quality assurance, and want to earn a salary that you can speak of in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, now is the best time to become a test development engineer!
Test development technology is also developing rapidly, and various new technologies and application layers are emerging endlessly. BAT, TMD and other Internet giants are generally implementing full-link pressure testing, precision testing, big data testing, AI+ testing and so on. More small and medium-sized enterprises are also catching up. Testing is already here, so to speak, but unevenly distributed. Can you grasp the new historical opportunity in the industry change, depends on whether you are ready?
3.
What qualifies as a test development engineer?
Often see many new test industry, traditional test engineers will have questions, and even some primary test development also feel that they do very miscellaneous 😅, not clear:
- What are the responsibilities of test development engineer?
- What skills do you need to master when entering BAT factory?
- How to ensure core competitiveness? Planning a growth path?
A good test development engineer needs to possess the following core competencies (the higher the rank, the more comprehensive the requirements) :
1.
Internet test basic ability: In-depth understanding of cutting-edge Internet testing technology system and related theoretical knowledge;
2.
Solid programming and development skills: Familiar with Linux/Shell programming, proficient in an advanced development language (Python is recommended for elementary level, Java is recommended for advanced level, even domain-specific languages such as Go/Rust);
3.
Ability to in-depth code analysis: Sonar and other kinds of code static analysis and modeling technology;
4.
The ability to drill down into runtime analysis: coverage rate, code piling statistics, Hook and other technologies;
5.
Ability to test the business in depth: Able to complete business modeling, user behavior and risk analysis;
6.
In-depth focus on automated test project capabilities: interface, UI, mobile special automation test;
7.
Ability to complete tool-based and platform-based tasks: Ability to create domain-specific tools and platforms;
8.
Ability to perform on-line testing and on-line quality control: performance pressure measurement, online data analysis and quality statistics;
9.
Ability to improve company test process and engineering efficiency: Drive DevOps and continuous delivery;
You can compare the above several, assess their ability level and analysis of the next step in the direction of technology investment.
Alternatively, you can find out your level of proficiency by filling out the Hogwarts Test Institute’s Quick Test Development Ability Test form (available at the end of the address) in just five minutes.
A clearer path from traditional test to test developer is also recommended.
4.
Test development learning and landing practice difficulties
From manual test to automated test development, from waterfall to continuous delivery and DevOps, the transition has been challenging for most test engineers and test teams!
On the one hand, the technical knowledge involved in test development is complicated and there is a certain technical threshold. On the other hand, each team in the implementation of automated testing technology system, and will derive a variety of personalized practical problems.
Because quality assurance is a complex system engineering, it cannot be solved by a single link of testing. In addition to technical problems, variables involved will also have objective influences from business scenarios, team technical strength, development stage goals, management style, even office politics and other aspects.
The previous article, “Typical confusion of mobile automation test landing, Have you encountered it?” There are similar cases. See the testing technology of other people’s home is very cow, is it ok to copy it? How does automated testing work for your team? To what extent? Is it to adopt doctrine, or independent research and development? Can the quality of the team keep up? One step, or evolution? Is the input-output ratio worth it at this stage? Can you go from 0 to 1 if you change teams and lines of business? Wait, in a word, the ideal is beautiful, the reality is very skinny.
It can be said that it is possible, or even relatively easy, to master the advanced testing technology and tools in a short period of time and quickly improve the testing technology level. For example, learning and using various automatic testing framework tools and pressure testing tools. However, it is not so easy to balance the relationship between “quality-efficiency-cost” and make the right choice at each stage and effectively deal with various practical problems according to the specific business situation of the company.
This is because it requires a lot of actual project experience, as well as the improvement of comprehensive quality and ability (including case analysis and problem solving ability, as well as superior communication skills and overall management ability). Skill two words, technology is easy to improve, ability to improve is very difficult! So, test master become master, not only because of strong technical strength, more important is experienced wind and rain, there are all kinds of tread pit fill pit of blood and tears experience! This is the core challenge for test development engineers as they move from beginner to master.
(Article from Hogwarts Testing Institute)
