When was the last time you sat back and thought about how good you are at testing? It may seem like an ego-boosting activity, but taking stock of what you can do can help you understand your value as a tester and spot new learning opportunities. So in this activity, we’re going to explore our abilities as a tester to celebrate what we can do.

Instructions:

Step 1:

Create a mind map that captures details about you as a tester. Consider adding in details such as your skills, knowledge, experiences, roles, personal skills, etc.

You can take a look at Brittany Stewarts' example of a mindmap that she did for her talk “Transitioning into QA: My Shift Left” for inspiration.

Step 2:

Review what you have captured (or perhaps share your mindmap with someone else). Reflect on what you have achieved and the abilities you have.

Finally, capture three new topics you would like to learn more about that would improve your testing skills further.

Wrap-up:

As testers we have an amazing range of skills, experiences and knowledge that we use to provide value to our teams. Sometimes we forget what we’ve learnt along the way so taking time to reflect on what we’ve learnt and achieved helps us to:

1. Appreciate our abilities as testers

2. Identify what’s next for us in our learning journey

Key Takeaways:

• Sometimes we forget the many skills we use as testers

• Testers have a dynamic and varied amount of abilities that help us in what we do

• Not all our skills are routed in the technical space and that’s good

• Taking time to reflect on our abilities can reveal skills, knowledge and techniques we’ve learnt along the way

• Reflection can also help discover gaps that can inform your learning journey

What you’ll learn

Review Brittany Stewarts' example of a mindmap that she did for her talk “Transitioning into QA: My Shift Left” for inspiration.

• Agile Tester Toolkit - Make an Impact by Julia Pottinger -  https://bit.ly/agiletestertoolkit 

• Career Crafting - Dare, Prepare, Share with Lena Pejgan Wiberg - https://bit.ly/careercraftinglena

• A Recipe For A Great Software Tester by Garry L. Hahn - https://bit.ly/recipeforatester