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Subject:Re: Part Time QA? From:Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Wed, 23 May 2007 10:34:02 +0800
On the whole it's probably a positive move but just let me make a couple
of points on the 'minus' side so you can weigh it up fairly.
Formal QA is different from the sort of bug hunting we do as a
by-product of TW.
As a TW, we can wait till an apparent bug surfaces, try to reproduce it,
write it up, and pass it on to the developers. If we're not too busy we
can put more time into researching and describing it. If we're at a busy
time in the TW cycle we can just briefly note the problem and get right
back to the docs. Also we tend to concentrate on testing procedures that
have changed in the new release.
As an official QA person you have to do the testing in a much more
formal and rigorous way. You have to work through a (long) list of
tests, and you might have to test the same things (over and over) on
different platforms or OS versions.
So don't assume "50% QA" means you'll be doing the same sort of informal
testing as you've done in the past.
Also, I've found that percentage estimates in a job description bear no
relation to reality. The split between QA and TW could be 50-50, or it
could turn out to be 90-10 or 10-90, or if you're unlucky it could even
be 100-50 (in other words, there is enough QA work for a full-time
person, but they'll want you to fit in the TW work "in your spare time").
On the plus, side, doing formal QA will help you become much more
familiar with all aspects of the product, and you'll probably be more
aware of small changes that you might not have heard about as the TW.
Good luck
Stuart
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