WANT TO GET A JOB AS A TESTER? HERE'S HOW TO PREPARE

WANT TO GET A JOB AS A TESTER? HERE'S HOW TO PREPARE

I recommend that you have a college degree (even if it's from an online university) before applying for a job as a tester, but it's possible to get a testing job without one. But consider for a moment -- what is your ultimate goal? If you eventually want to become a designer or producer or move up into marketing or become an executive, a college degree is definitely helpful. If you just want to be a tester (and do not have any goals beyond that), then fine, a high school diploma might suffice. But guess what three attributes or skills you need first and foremost to be a tester...? These are the sort of things they'll grill you on if you apply for a QA job:

•    Communication skills - The tester must be able to communicate in two ways: via the written word and via the spoken word.
     * Written communication skills. Bug reports are submitted in writing. They have to be clear and concise. The tester needs to be a gud speler (and needs to be fluent with punctuation marks and the Shift key). Darn my hide, I put that in parentheses, and it's really important. Let me say that again. A tester must type in complete sentences. A tester must understand, and habitually use, proper punctuation and capitalization. You cannot become a tester at a game company where everybody uses English, if you cannot communicate properly in written English. Here's an exercise that will help you...
  
       To develop your written communication skills, write an essay or a game critique or a game idea. As you write, put yourself in the place of the reader. Every time you express an idea that could raise a question in the mind of the reader, answer the question. By the time your article is complete, there should be no questions in the mind of the reader - except questions that you want to remain unanswered.
      - The bug-writing exercise. Check out this example of a written bug report: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=407098. Now make up a totally different bug, on a different platform. That example bug describes a Firefox bug (Bugzilla is the bug-tracking system of Mozilla, who makes Firefox), but it contains the important elements of a good bug:
  1. The actual result (what happened that shouldn't have);
  2. The expected result (what should have happened instead);
  3. Steps to reproduce the bug.
  So this exercise is to write an imaginary bug for a PS3 game. Make up a bug; be creative. You have to write your bug in a word processor or text editor (you can't report a bug to a game publisher using Bugzilla, and you can't report a bug to a game publisher using that publisher's bug-tracking system, since you don't have access to it). And after you write the PS3 bug, write another one for a DS game. Write a few bugs and become comfortable with bug-writing.
     * Verbal communication skills. The tester must be well-spoken. Words that come out of a tester's mouth must convey his thoughts clearly, giving information to the listener. Imagine these two exercises, which will help the tester in developing verbal communication skills. How a tester performs in these exercises also reveals the level of his existing verbal communication skills. Both of these exercises are best performed in neighboring cubicles -- the two people taking part in the exercise can easily converse but cannot see what the other is doing.
  
       - The paperclip exercise. In this exercise, the tester must describe a randomly-bent paper clip to another person who has a pencil and paper. The goal is for the tester to get the listener/"customer" to draw a picture of the bent paper clip, without the tester ever saying the words "paper clip" or describing what the object is made of or was originally used for in any way whatsoever. Simply describing how the paper clip looks in its present state, the tester must obtain a correct picture of the paper clip on the second person's piece of paper. It can be enlightening for the tester to see what the drawing looks like, after completing the exercise. This exercise can also be performed using pipecleaners or twist-ties. The clip should be bent in a flat (2D) shape, not a 3D shape, since the listener/"customer" is drawing on 2D paper.
  
      - The building blocks exercise. This exercise is used at Nintendo of America to train or test their Customer Support representatives, but I think it applies equally well to the communication skills needed for testing. Both parties to the exercise have identical boxes of wooden building blocks (it could also work with Legos, I suppose). The tester builds a structure from his building blocks and describes his structure to the other participant in the exercise. If the tester does it well, the two structures will be identical. If the two structures are not identical, the tester can learn how he ought to improve.
      - The telephone exercise. This is an actual question that a testing applicant was tested with. "Describe the use of a telephone." He thought it was a stupid question and gave a stupid answer. Don't do what he did! When you're applying for a QA job, you will be asked to prove that you'd make a good tester. So if you're asked how to use a common everyday appliance like a telephone, give a clear and coherent description of how to use it. "There are two uses of a telephone: it's for receiving calls, and it's for making calls." Then describe how to act when the telephone rings. Describe how this works for a user of a phone with a wired handset, a wireless handset, and a mobile phone. Then describe how to make a call - if you have a dial phone, if you have a touch-tone phone, and if you have a mobile phone. If you can't do this, you'll never get hired to test games.
•    Computer literacy. Testers know how to take computers apart and put them back together. Testers know how to browse the Internet, and they know all about email, instant messaging, and chat room netiquette. Testers know how to troubleshoot installation issues, download drivers, update virus DAT files, and upgrade computers. Testers know how to use word processors, imaging programs, scanners, and modems. Testers are often called upon to make screen shots of games, so you need to know how to grab a shot, and crop it in Photoshop or GIMP. Especially important: know how to use a database program. Check out Bugzilla and Mantis, fool around with them to create some sample bug reports.
•    Game literacy. Play as many games as you can. Compare the pros and cons of this game versus that game. Read game magazines. Know the difference between an FRP and an RTS. Online games, console games, handheld games, board games, CCGs.

Snap reading comprehension quiz: What are the three attributes needed for a game tester?
For extra credit: Can you think of any other ways to improve your skills in these three areas?