Testing Curiosity
What drew you to testing? What keeps you here? What would cause you to leave?
I fell into testing by accident. Autodesk needed testers for a new version of AutoCAD, I had registered copies of AutoCAD, they asked if I was interested, I said "Oh yeah!", they sent me test builds, I sent them bugs. I did not really know what I was doing, although I did know I was having fun!
This led directly to a position testing IntelliCAD for Visio, which was then still an independent company. My first day on the job my boss handed me a copy of Testing Computer Software and told me to get started testing. Scales fell from my eyes as I put what I learned from that book into practice. I discovered that I had been testing my entire life, and that I was good at it! Promotions came fast and furiously, as did bugs, and praise from my developers.
What drew me to testing originally, and what still draws me to it, is curiosity. Curiosity about how my program works. Curiosity about how my app is implemented. Curiosity about what was going through my developers' heads as they designed and wrote and tested their code. Curiosity about how well they translated their dream of our product into reality, and where their dream does not match with what our customers mean to accomplish. Curiosity.
Curiosity drew me to testing and is one reason I stay here. Curiosity about what interesting bugs I will find today. Curiosity about how I can help my team test better, and more effectively, and more efficiently. Curiosity about what makes my teammates tick and how that interacts with and affects my product. Curiosity about what makes me tick and how that interacts with and affects my product. Curiosity.
What would make me leave testing is realizing that I am no longer curious about these things. While I find that I am no longer interested in proving I am a great tester, I do still enjoy helping other testers become great. As I work with them we generally find bugs, which I still enjoy doing. And I still enjoy hearing about the excellent bugs my teammates and friends find. Curiosity is still present for me I believe!
What drew you to testing? What keeps you here? What would cause you to leave? Let me know: michael dot j dot hunter at microsoft dot com.