Now, just to say firstly, that’s not for me. This is me thinking about the challenge of training a new tester.

How does one go about training a new starter, as well as someone new to testing?
Some might think me a bit mad for taking on someone so “green” to testing, but in their interview I could tell that they would make an amazing tester. As well as being thirsty for a new challenge, they were already thinking like a tester. This is key before anything technical in my opinion. But that still leaves me with the original challenge; how does one go about training a new tester.
We all started in this profession somewhere and somehow and I would hazard a guess that not many of us know exactly when we had that lightbulb moment of realising “I’m going to be a software tester”. A lot of us seem to fall into it. Mine, for example, was by sheer happenstance. I was never there to be a tester. But I digress. Maybe that’s a conversation for another day…
Looking about, there are some amazing books for new starters to read initially. The one that I’ve already blogged about recently (cough cough) “How to test” by mike Talks is certainly one place to start. Another is reading one of my favourite books, “Secrets of a buccaneer scholar” by James Bach. This is now a staple for any tester that works for me, as well as being something I try to make anyone else read. In fact, anything on his website is a good place to go for reference and learning more about our trade.
I can’t forget a blog about things for new testers to read without mentioning Elisabeth Hendrickson’s “Explore It!” either. This is a brilliant eye opener, as well as a great way to think about exploratory testing as well.
Hopefully I have a little bit to start them off with after writing this…
/B