As you embark on your learning process as a tester or quality professional, it is important to keep in mind several aspects to make this experience more bearable and understandable.

Basic Concepts

• To know what is software testing and what are its objectives.
• Classification of testing types, subtypes and approaches: distinguish between functional and non-functional testing, manual testing, unit testing and integration testing.
• Incident reporting: how to report bugs, errors, defects, failures, enhancements, etc.
  Incident life cycle: what happens to incidents once they have been reported.
• Test plan and test cycles: how they are structured and what are their objectives.
• Test design techniques: equivalence classes, boundary values, decision trees, state machines, pairwise combinations, etc.
• Test cases: what they are, how they are structured and how they are designed.
• Test scenarios: what they are, how they are structured and how they are designed.
• Test execution report/report: what it is and what information it should include.

These are concepts of which we should have some knowledge. Perhaps they are processes that we perform continuously or on a daily basis, but we are unaware of their usefulness and how they help us to carry out a more productive testing process.

Activities and tools to increase the effectiveness and productivity of a Tester

• Incident reporting (bug trackers): in most cases, a report is made to the developer in charge and/or the project leader, usually via email or a document explaining what happened.
• Test management: testing personnel usually perform their tests in a spreadsheet, such as Excel.
• API testing: there are several programs, such as Postman, GitLab and database managers, that are used to perform this type of testing.
• Reports and reports: on most occasions, applications such as Word (or its cloud equivalent, such as Google Docs) are used.
• Collaborative teamwork: it is important that the whole team is informed of the processes, so folders and documents are created and everyone has access to them through Google Drive.
• Communication: for meetings, delivery of requirements, understanding of tasks or questions, tools such as Hangouts, Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet and Gmail are used.

It may seem that testing is simply testing and pointing out what is wrong, but in reality it involves many steps to test effectively and quickly. It is necessary to follow a process and be clear about several concepts and procedures that need to be carried out.

Its scope in the business sectors

Testing services play a vital role in all business sectors, as they help ensure the quality and reliability of the products and services offered. Here are some of the ways in which testing services can be incorporated into different business sectors:

1. Software development sector: In this sector, testing services are essential to ensure that applications and programs function correctly and meet the requirements set. Testers can perform functionality testing, usability testing, performance testing and security testing to ensure that software meets quality standards.
2. Financial sector: In the financial sector, testing services are crucial to ensure the integrity and security of transaction management systems, online banking platforms and payment applications. Rigorous testing is performed to detect potential errors in the processing of financial data and to ensure that transactions are performed accurately and securely.
3. Telecommunications sector: In this sector, testing services are necessary to ensure the quality of communication networks, systems and services. Extensive testing is carried out to ensure connectivity, performance and reliability of voice, data and video services.
4. E-commerce sector: Testing services are essential in e-commerce to ensure that websites and online shopping applications run smoothly. Usability testing, security testing and load testing are performed to ensure a smooth, secure and fast user experience.
5. Healthcare sector: In healthcare, testing services are critical to ensure the accuracy and reliability of health information systems, medical devices and healthcare applications. Testing focuses on the interoperability, data security and functionality of software used in clinical environments.

These are just a few examples of how testing services can be integrated into different business sectors. In each case, it is important to tailor testing strategies to the specific needs and requirements of the industry, with the goal of ensuring quality and customer satisfaction.

Sources: Guide for testers.