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2010 Issue #3 Cramming Pays: In this issue of ISTQB Certification News, discover how college students are learning more about software testing in a week than they typically do in a year, and how that is keeping jobs in the U.S. Articles in this issue: ASTQB Certified College Students Make the Grade for Company's Clients
Want to keep software testing jobs in the U.S.? A new twist for ASTQB software testing certification might just be a way to keep jobs from going offshore. Short for "Offshore Alternative, Student In-Sourcing," OASIS is the brainchild of Minnesota-based Intelligent Quality Solutions, Inc. (IQS) President Steve Crowell that provides low-cost software testing with ASTQB certified college students. "One of the things that differentiates our organization and provides a means of assuring our clients that the students are capable of doing this testing was to put the students through a certification program," explains Crowell, who has more than 25 years of experience in the software quality management industry. "We run local college students through a software testing boot camp consisting of four evenings and one Saturday using the ASTQB certification program. ASTQB's syllabus and software testing glossary brings the students up to speed so fast the students say they learn more at our boot camp than they do in a whole year at college." Once the students complete the boot camp, an ASTQB proctor administers the certification exam and the passing students are certified. The new project was started in May of this year, and eight students have completed IQS boot camp. All eight of students passed the exam and have been certified as Foundation Level Testers by ASTQB. "We then put the students through further training in a software test automation program," says Crowell. "They are then qualified to work on projects for our clients." Founded in 2005 as a software testing company, IQS has evolved into a complete solutions provider of software quality management organization, providing cost effective, on-demand process, methodology, and testing solutions to hardware and software development organizations primarily in the twin cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul. The company focuses exclusively on quality assurance and testing for clients, such as the State of Minnesota for whom they recently did a quality review of their software processes, development procedures, and SDLC software development lifecycle. The State Of Minnesota as recently engaged the IQS OASIS program to perform to off-site regression testing for a large software development program. IQS's first client utilizing the ASTQB certified students signed up for a 2-phase project to do automated software regression testing for one of their applications. "Phase 1 will cover 60 percent of the client's regression needs to validate our approach and will take five to six weeks to complete," says Crowell. "Phase 2 is a 4-week project to complete the initial regression suite for them. If all goes well, the client will have a number of other applications they would like to engage OASIS to automate their regression testing for as well." Crowell is optimistic about the prospects of working with ASTQB certified students. "I looked at three or four other programs, but ASTQB provides the best foundation for our students," says Crowell. He says students coming out of college don't have the background necessary to do this kind of work, but ASTQB provides a great way to quickly get them a solid foundation to understand what they need to know. "It opens their eyes to what software testing is," says Crowell. "It alleviates us spending a number of weeks trying to get them to understand what we do here. In addition, ASTQB has over a hundred thousand certified testers, which is a great network for all us. It's a win, win, win for all of us. We are pleased, the students are pleased, and my clients are pleased."
ASTQB Exam Quality Shines Throughout the World
ASTQB has invested tremendous resources in creating the highest quality ISTQB exam, including an extensive psychometric analysis. That quality has been recognized globally, as ASTQB's U.S.-created exam has been licensed for use by several other countries, including Canada, South Africa, Malaysia, Brazil, Egypt and Hungary. In fact, Stückert Tam's of the Hungarian Testing Board recently announced that the first ISTQB CT-AL exam in the Test Management module was delivered with success in Budapest. Special thanks to the many ASTQB volunteers who have helped to make this possible!
Become a Fan of ASTQB on Facebook
Join the hundreds of ASTQB fans on Facebook and become part of the ASTQB tester community. You are just a click away from special ASTQB announcements, previews and giveaways: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ASTQB-ISTQB-in-the-US/119329946198
Congratulations to Our iPad Winner!
Congratulations to M. Wittke, who was the winner of the entry-level wifi iPad in our random drawing among those who participated in the Test Manager survey. Thanks to everyone who participated!
The next ISTQB General Assembly meeting and series of meetings will be held in Tokyo, Japan in early October. America will be represented at these meetings. Rex Black, CTAL, presented keynote speeches at STANZ (August, in Wellington and Sydney), at SOFTEC (July, in Malaysia), and at TestIstanbul (May, in Turkey). Andrew Pollner, Chair of the National Capital Area Software Testing Forum, led a discussion by industry experts on "Increasing Effectiveness in Testing Through Virtualization" in September. Randy Rice will be presenting keynotes at the Quality Assurance Association of Connecticut, and at StarWest 2010 in September, as well as at the Technology Transfer event in Rome, Italy in November.
News and Offers from ASTQB Accredited Course Providers
ALP International (ALPI): Book ALPI's onsite training & exam for your company by Dec. 31, 2010 and YOU receive an iPad. Refer a friend to ALPI's Dec. 13 – 15 public training course & exam and YOU receive an iPod Touch. To register or for more details contact Katelynn at 301-654-9200 x403. ProtoTest: We will pay for your ASTQB Exam! RBCS: RBCS, Inc boasts an impressive lineup of ISTQB Certified Tester courses in live delivery, e-learning and blended formats. Visit the RBCS store today and receive a 15% discount on any product including the newest certification products, the Advanced Level Technical Test Analyst live, the Advanced Level Technical Test Analyst e-learning and the Advanced-Full e-learning package! Enter the code ASTQB10 in your cart to receive your discount. Offer valid until November 15, 2010. SQE Training: Take the ASTQB on us! We will pay for your ASTBQ exam when you register for either our ISTQB Foundation level public training class or elearning course. For course details and dates visit our Certification page at http://www.sqetraining.com/Certification. Or Call 888.268.8770. Register before January 1, 2011 use promo code ISTQBEX .
Foundation Level Accreditation Updates
RBCS has had their Foundation Level testing class accredited with the new ISTQB Foundation Syllabus. The company has had an existing class, and the changes will be effective October 2010. ALP International (ALPI) also has been accredited with the new ISTQB Foundation Syllabus, and now has their own Foundation Level course. The course has been offered as of July 2010, with changes effective October 2010.
Tell the World About Your Achievement
The more information you share about your certification, the more valuable it will become. So when you achieve ISTQB Certification, tell the world. Right now, add a link to the ASTQB website, http://www.astqb.org, from your Twitter account, personal website, company websites, blog, Facebook page, MySpace page, LinkedIn information, and email signature.
Certification Training/Exams Coming to an Area Near You
If you would like to receive notification when ISTQB Certification training and exams are in your area, simply enter your request at: http://www.astqb.org/general/newsletter.php Below is a list of scheduled public ISTQB certification exams. Details are available at the ASQTB website at http://www.astqb.org or by contacting the ASTQB office at info@astqb.org.
What Would You Like to Learn About? About ISTQB Certification News Non-profit, non-commercial publications and Web sites may reprint or link to articles if full credit is given. Publication, product, and company names may be registered trademarks of their companies. Copyright 2008 American Software Testing Qualifications Board, Inc. (ASTQB) 12000 N. Dale Mabry Hwy., Suite 110 Tampa, FL 33618 USA Phone 813.319.0890 Fax 813.968.3597 info@astqb.org www.astqb.org If you want to change your address, use this link: <http://astqb.org/general/information.php>
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