3 Ways Software Testers and Test Managers Can Be Ready for Any Economy

Trend #1: When the economy goes down, education and certifications go up because employees want to prove themselves.

Build an Advantage: If you are a software tester, get ahead of the crowd. Protect yourself by building your skills now.

While layoffs can be a surprise, the reaction is common: Professionals seek education and credentials. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. educational enrollment levels peak in recessionary periods.

What does that mean for you? Be proactive. Improve your testing skills now, before the economy turns down. Yes, you’re probably very busy right now. But consider this: it’s far less stressful to add new skills while you’re still earning a salary. If you aren’t sure where to start, see the Software Testing Career & Skills Path for ideas.

Don’t wait for your employer to send you to training. Taz Daughtrey, the Lead Cybersecurity Instructor at Central Virginia Community College, noted that self-development is important for today’s software quality professionals. In other words, take the initiative. “There is certainly much more self-reliance and initiative in growing one’s own skills,” said Daughtrey.

Trend #2: When everyone wants a job, getting an interview can be frustratingly difficult.

Build an Advantage: Build your resume and contacts now.

It can be difficult it was to get an interview when jobs are scarce and competition is high. Companies can be overwhelmed with applications. You need to make sure your resume stands out.

Judy McKay, author of ASTQB’s very popular white paper, “7 Things a Software Testing Manager Wants in an Employee,” offers advice about getting your resume noticed.  “Training for specific areas of expertise can make one more marketable. For example, it’s rare to find a testing job these days that doesn’t want automation experience as well.  Performance testing and security testing are just added cherries on top.  Making yourself attractive right at the resume will get that vital foot in the door for a job.” It’s not enough to just claim that you know something. You need to prove it with credible certification through organizations like ASTQB and AT*SQA.

On any given day, job boards such as Indeed.com may have hundreds of postings that request candidates with ISTQB / ASTQB certification. Imagine the importance of your certification when an employer is overwhelmed with applications and is trying to decide between two candidates.

Moreover, many job postings specifically ask for certification: “ISTQB Foundation Level certification (CTFL), ISTQB Foundation Level Agile Extension (CTFL-AT) and ASTQB Mobile Tester certification (CMT) preferred.” This isn’t a theoretical example – it is from a job posting during a good economy.

The author of “Surviving the Top Ten Challenges of Software Testing,” Randall Rice, agrees. “I have talked with several of my advanced certification students who have told me that having multiple advanced certifications is a real attention-grabber in the marketplace. Instead of getting one or two calls, they get more like 10 to 12 calls.”

Don’t overlook your professional network. When a recession hits, LinkedIn lights up with contacts and referral requests. Now is the time to make those connections. So join the ASTQB LinkedIn group and add your certification to LinkedIn with AT*SQA’s free LinkedIn connection in your account. Go to your local software quality meet-up. Connect with past colleagues to see how they are doing. See if you can help someone else in their career. All these actions will pay off if someday you need help in your career.

Trend #3: The amount of work doesn’t drop as quickly as the number of staff to do that work.

Build an Advantage: If you are a manager, build the capacity of your team now. If you are a tester, build your skillset because you may be asked to do new things.

Just because there are fewer workers doesn’t mean there is less work. Imagine being a manager in that situation, with your job on the line – or a tester who is being asked to take on a new role.

Thankfully, there is a solution. You can increase the capacity of your team and yourself with advanced certification training such as Test Analyst and Technical Test Analyst. Similarly, you can add skills through specialty testing certifications such as Test Automation Engineering, Security Testing, Performance Testing, Usability Testing, and Mobile Testing. See the full set of career options for testers.

The time to build those skills is now. Talk to your team about protecting your department and their careers. They will appreciate the proactive approach, especially because it might help them keep their jobs. To save time and reduce travel costs, consider doing remote training with an ASTQB-accredited testing training provider. This is the easy way to build capacity and efficiency across your entire team because everyone will be using the same terminology and principles.

As a bonus, if your team provides consulting services internally or externally, adding advanced and specialty testing skills will allow you to take on a greater range of projects. Competition during a recession is fierce, so adding those certifications now will also help your team win new projects when it counts.