Reality

Last week was the grand finale of our course: guest lectures. We did not make these lectures mandatory for the participants of the course but I was hoping that everyone would attend. I have to say that those who did not missed a lot. And I do mean a lot. The lectures were perfect, a true grand finale for the course.

On Tuesday we were given insight about challenges related to testing cross-platform products in one nameless company. We were basically educated how they are organizing their testing activities and what are the biggest challenges they are facing. The lecture lasted almost two hours and was packed with huge amount of facts, solutions, problems, etc. What was surprising to me was the traditional "QA department" approach and lack of test automation. Still it is evident that the approach works for them.

I must say that I really enjoyed the presentation. No marketing b******t, just facts. No "we are succeeding in every area", instead successes and challeges were both presented. And the lecturer had so honest, down-to-earth style that I just loved listening to him. So I would give full 10 points for the lecture.

Thursday was dedicated to a lecture on tester's life. What is it like to work as a tester? Based on the lecture: challenging and fun. Again the lecture was perfect. Just perfect. The lecturer had prepared a lot of material and we did not have time to go through all of them but still many things were discussed. Exploratory testing, challenges when working with clients, variety of job descriptions for testers, what is actually testing etc. We also learned how to get over mistakes.

Again the session had good down-to-earth vibe and people attended by asking questions. I liked both the ideas presented and the approach to subject. So again full 10 points. I really hope to see that guy in action again some day.

Then some complaining. We have a lecturer from a company listed as one of the hottest in the business today. You would expect rush and excitement. You get approximately half of the course participants and handful of other people. We have a lecturer giving an insight on what it actually is like to work out there in the software testing business. You would expect all the course participants sitting eagerly in the room asking questions. And numerous other interested people. You get even fewer people than in the first lecture. That's a bit sad.

P.S. If you are interested on the lecture materials, you can get them from me.