Lecture 12 - Bonus Tracks -> Quick Intro -> How Much Technology Knowledge Must A Beginner Tester Have -> What To Do If You Are The First Test Engineer At A Software Start-Up -> What If You Are Asked To Do Test Automation As Your First Task -> What Are Stock Options If you’re the first test engineer at an Internet start-up, chances are that the first thing you’ll be asked to do is … test automation. Why? There are many reasons, but the most common one is that it’s typical for non-QA people to think that TA is the most important part of the testing activities.
Example
When I joined a certain start-up as its first tester, my first assignment was to do load/performance testing. I was in total despair because “load/performance testing” sounded to me like “climb Mt. Everest” – very cool and almost impossible to do. I called my mentor, and he said:
“You’ve been hired for manual functional testing, and you were told that this was what this company needs. Communicate with your manager about testing priorities.”
So I asked my manager to give me some time to explore the functionalities of the Web site, and I also asked him if load testing was really more important than functional testing.
He said, “No, we need to release the product ASAP. That’s why we hired you.”
I asked, “What about load testing?”
He replied, “Oh, that. It’s great to have it.”
I replied, “Let me start with functional testing and later, if necessary, I’ll learn the load/performance testing techniques.”
He agreed. So I started to do what I was hired to do, and we revisited our conversation about load/performance testing ten months later – after we hired four more testers for our QA department.
There are two things to understand here.
1. In 99% of all cases, initially (in regard to test activities) the company needs manual functional testing.
2. If you are hired as black box tester, then your manager cannot expect you to be immediately qualified to do test automation. Please note that I’m not referring to cases where a tester is hired specifically for an automation project.
Talk to your manager about 2 things above. There is nothing to be shy about in this situation. It’s all about business. The general perception that test automation is “kinda cool” doesn’t make test automation more important than old good black box testing. Next ->
Lecture 12 - Bonus Tracks -> Quick Intro -> How Much Technology Knowledge Must A Beginner Tester Have -> What To Do If You Are The First Test Engineer At A Software Start-Up -> What If You Are Asked To Do Test Automation As Your First Task -> What Are Stock Options 
