Home
>
Software
>
The Top 5 Wrong Reasons For Not Hiring Testers

The Top 5 Wrong Reasons For Not Hiring Testers

Considering whether or not your software company should hire a dedicated team of testers? Here are the Top 5 Wrong Reasons why you shouldn't.

We Have a Beta Program
Some people feel that the best way to debug a system is to ship it to your customers and wait for trouble tickets. I don't know how things work in your industry, but as far as I'm concerned, finding new customers is hard enough. I definitely don't want to make matters worse by shipping them buggy software.

I've spent the last 5 years in the telecommunications industry where the standard for reliability is 5-9. If I even suggested to my customers that my software was in its Beta phase, they'd hang up on me immediately. I'm positive the same is true in any industry.

Imagine if I published articles that were not only full of grammatical errors but also missed a complete sentence here and there. Would you bother sending me an email to inform me that my articles are defective? Would you recommend my newsletter to your peers? I didn't think so! So imagine how your customers feel when mission critical software breaks and crashes on them.

Developers Will Get Lazy
Some managers feel that developers will get lazy if they know someone else is responsible for testing their code. Developers are either lazy or they're not. Someone who takes pride in his work will rigorously test his code regardless of whether or not you have a dedicated team of testers.

If your developers are lazy, don't blame your testers. Blame the developers! Not hiring a team of dedicated testers won't improve the situation. It'll actually make the problem worse because your sloppy developer's code will find itself in your customer's hand instead of your testers' lab.

We Can't Afford Testers
If you can afford testing, then you can afford testers. Basic economics ? and common sense ? prove that it's more economical and efficient to hire specialists than generalists, as long as you can keep the specialists busy.

If it takes you 50 person-months to develop software, you will (statistically speaking) spend 25 person-months testing and validating it. Which do you think is more economical? Assigning 25 person-months of testing to developers or testers?

As explained in quality is job #1, one of my previous articles which lists reasons why software companies should hire a dedicated team of testers, professional QA people are more efficient at verifying software than developers are. It's their job! Keep the 1:3 ratio in mind and hire 1 tester for every 3 developers, even if it means getting rid of your bottom-of-the-barrel developers to maintain a balanced human capital budget.

Testers Find Too Many Bugs
This excuse sounds more absurd than it actually is. I agree that in some cases testers report bugs that are valueless. Enter non-ASCII characters in one field, ASCII in another, stick a screwdriver in your CD-R drive, do the hokey pokey and hit the Enter key, and the system will return an error. Who cares? No customer will ever come across this scenario in a live deployment. (Actually, if I showed you some of the defects our customers are entering in our trouble ticketing system, you'd be surprised!!!)

If you think your testers are really finding too many insignificant bugs, give them guidance. Don't ridicule their effort or disregard their problem reports. Explain the use cases you're trying to satisfy and the known (and acceptable) limitations of the system.

We Can't Find/Keep Any Good Testers
I truly sympathize with those who bring up this point because it's true. Good testers are really hard to find and the first-class ones often apply to transfer to your product development team. Still, this is not a reason to give up on hiring a dedicated team of testers.

Here are 3 suggestions to keep your testers on your QA team for as long as possible:

When hiring testers, look for people who have previously held a QA role for at least a year. Beware of new graduates and others who will accept any position to get a foot your organization's door. Chances are more likely that they will ask for a transfer as soon as their probation period is over.
Offer your testers a competitive salary. Some companies tend to pay their testers way less than their developers. As a result, testers request a transfer simply because they'd like to earn more money, and you can't blame them. Level your pay scales and you'll give them one more reason to stay on your QA team.
Allow testers to develop their technical skills. Give them the opportunity to write automated test scripts, install and configure test networks, and take design/development courses. Providing these extra benefits will entice your testers to stay in their role for a longer period. And when they do decide they want to move to your development team, they're going to be better prepared.

Conclusion
After reading dozens of opinions on the subject, I'm still convinced that having a dedicated team of testers is well worth the investment. You can disagree with me, but if you do, make sure it's for the right reasons.

Luc Richard holds an MBA with a major in high technology. For the past 10 years, he's been managing the development of software applications. He is the founder of The Project Mangler (quality is job #1), an online resource that publishes free articles, stories, and other ready-to-use tools to help developers, team leaders and managers deliver software projects on time, according to specs, and within budget.

town car ride to ohare Bethalto .. Lockport Chicago limo O’Hare

In The News:

FlashBot Arm, a semi-humanoid robot, acts more like a human than traditional robots, and you may see it working at a restaurant, healthcare center or hotel.

There are multiple ways to find your missing Android phone after it goes missing. One method involves using a smartwatch to ping your phone.

The NeuroOne OneRF Ablation System is a new device with FDA-cleared technology designed for both diagnosing and treating neurological disorders in one procedure.

The CyberGuy provides tips to protect yourself from criminals who use various methods to make unauthorized transactions using your account information.

New drone technology maps land and water with stunning accuracy, giving researchers and conservationists a new way to understand our planet.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

X hit with massive data breach with 200 million records leaked, including emails. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson offers seven tips to help protect yourself.

Atlas robot by Boston Dynamics amazes tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson with its breakdancing moves.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson talks about how Google kept Android SafetyCore details quiet until it scanned users' photos.

Hydrogen trucks debut in Georgia, sparking debates on costs and green freight gains. Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson comments on this promising chapter in green logistics evolution.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says ChatGPT learns from chats, but you should avoid sharing sensitive information to protect your privacy.

Beyond Aero's BYA-1: Hydrogen-electric jet with zero emissions, reduced costs, 2030 launch. Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson discusses a potential game changer in the evolution of air travel.

Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains how you can creatively repurpose your old unused Android devices, which are full of potential and hidden value.

Mech the super-humanoid robot can lift up to 132 pounds and is designed to tackle stressful and repetitive tasks that often lead to workplace injuries.

Double-clicking is something we all do, often without giving it a second thought. But it could be giving hackers permission to do something dangerous.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Kurt the CyberGuy offers some of his easy expert tips to free up storage space on your Android if your device is running short on storage.

You can reset your internet router remotely if you're not home when your power goes out. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains how this can be done.

The EO Canopy is a self-sustaining, solar-powered camping platform designed to provide all the comforts of home while completely off the grid.

Experts say hackers who used to focus on Windows operating systems are increasingly targeting Apple IDs as part of a new phishing campaign.

Unitree, a Chinese robotics company that developed a backflipping robot, has now introduced a humanoid robot capable of doing a side flip.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

According to the FBI, cybercriminals are sending extortion letters, threatening to release victims' sensitive information unless a ransom is paid.

FireSat is a satellite project designed to detect and track wildfires early, aiming to detect a fire that's the size of a classroom within 20 minutes.

Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson reports that researchers have uncovered a Chrome vulnerability used in a cyber espionage campaign.

The Top 5 Wrong Reasons For Not Hiring Testers

Software