Here is our interview N°2 with a Certified Tester. Today, we are discussing with Adea Natchiah-Blay. If you would like to share your story as an interview, drop me a note, and we can chat about specifics.
This interview took place in November 2022.
My questions are in bold italics, and her responses follow.
Please, introduce yourself.
I am Adea-Natchiah-Blay. I live in Ghana and work remotely as a Software QA Engineer or a Software Tester.
Adea, what do you do for a living?
I test a web application. I do a lot of functional testing, sometimes UI testing, when there are many changes on the UI. I also check databases to verify relationships between the front and back end. I also write automated test scripts to automate certain parts of the tests to become more efficient. Thus, we can concentrate on what needs attention.
Why did you take the ISTQB Foundation Level training?
I was thinking of a way to understand testing from the perspective of the fundamentals. I wanted to get the foundations. Even though I’ve been testing for a few years, I felt I needed to gain ground, especially on some concepts. Reading online and from different articles, I realized I was touching on various testing concepts but seeking more knowledge. So I needed to get the foundations. I needed to know what the international standards are so that I could apply them well. That’s why I took the ISTQB Foundation course to help me better establish myself in my field.
Why did you choose QOLA for the training?
While looking for the ISTQB training, I chanced on academics or organizations offering discounts. Then, I spoke with them and also came across QOLA as well. I also talked to you, the trainer for QOLA. The difference between QOLA and the others was more about the experience that QOLA promises to offer. It covers the trainer’s knowledge, the examples he will give, and the number of admitted students that will be good enough for the trainer to pay attention to every student.
Those are what stood out for me for QOLA.
For the others, I believed it was just a pool of students. It would be some lectures and slides and not give a personal touch to the training. So I chose QOLA.
Anything you would like to share about your training experience?
You gave us what we should expect from the beginning and the various topics or chapters we would have. You let us know where we are starting, where we are, and where we are heading. So that, on the first note, gave me a perspective on what I am in for. You also told us where to go when we realized we needed more information about the meaning of some testing terms.
So on the first day, I felt secure about where I am starting and where I am going. The first session cleared some wrong perspectives I had. Especially about our QA and testing, I got what they meant and how to integrate them. Also, we can ask questions during the training session and contact you anytime. It was not only during the training session. Indeed, you provided us access to a platform where we could contact you anytime. The response was very prompt as well. So I liked that.
One of the reasons I chose QOLA and was satisfied: during the training, we benefited from your experience and counsel on how we should approach the questions. It includes how we could apply these concepts in our workplace as well. You took your time to take us somewhere there.
So, what are the next steps for you?
Indeed, I still want to stay in the software testing field and acquire more knowledge. I am currently looking at applying some of the concepts we learned. For example, with my colleagues, we are thinking about what impact analysis meant in our maintenance test. For my next step, I would like to pursue testing in security and AI. I want to learn about those areas and grow in the testing field.
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