Hi,
I am Alex, I did my M.C.A and got recruited through campus placement and I'm currently working for a large IT comp since August 2010 (7 months). Currently I'm into a performance testing project but I'm doing "DATA SEEDING" part (creating dummy data for testers for the tests) which is not going to add any value to me as a performance tester.
I have a keen interest in development (java to be specific) and was thinking of doing SUN java certification and try for development job, but I don't know how much potential does performance testing has in the long run as I wish to take up managerial role in the future.
I'm at the start of my career but I want to make a decision before its too late.
I understand that both testing and development are at other ends of the road and both have lot of potential.
But do please clarify my doubts as to
1. Whether testing or development will be a better choice as far as both GROWTH and also HUGE INCOME are concerned.
2. Which of the above roles are rare to find in the market or more in demand.
I liked the kind of advice and suggestions you'll have given in most of the posts put up here.
Hoping to get some valuable advice for me too.
Thanks in advance. Some light shed on me will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Alex
Sainath's Advice on Sunday, February 20, 2011 :
Hi Alex,
I am sure you must have done some evaluation before taking up a role in performance testing. It is understandable that you have been given "background work" and the meat of the assignment might be in more experienced hands right now. But that should not be the catalyst for change. What I mean is this - if you are truly sold out on doing programming and like it better, then go ahead with the SUN certification. If not, then please do your homework thoroughly on the performance testing area before choosing to leave it. The below links of earlier posts might help.
www.dotnetfunda.com/advices/a82-need-advice--software-testing-.aspxwww.dotnetfunda.com/advices/a24-performance-testing-.aspxPerformance testing is a niche area and a complex one as such. You need to use a myriad of tools and then arrive at some conclusions. Increasingly, clients are getting more demanding than ever before. Everything is moving onto the browser and the performance of browser based applications is getting benchmarked against Windows applications. This is not a fair comparison but in the long term, "the client is always right." Which leads to a huge opportunity for perfomance testers as:
- performance testers detect where the performance bottleneck exists and provide critical diagnostic information to developers
- developers then fix the same and the testing cycle is repeated.
All great successes have had humble beginnings - consider this to be your apprenticeship period. Maintain a positive attitude and focus wholely and solely on raising your skills. It is just a matter of time before this will get noticed and you will get better opportunities.Managerial role should be targeted only after you have "spent enough time in the trenches". And true managers do not hesitate to jump into the trenches when the need arises. All I can say is, do a thorough analysis, then decide to change course if necesary.
Regards,
Sainath Sherigar,
www.ugain.info
Alex said on Monday, February 21, 2011
Hi Sainath,
Thanks for the advice. But as a matter of fact I had not done any evaluation before getting into performance testing. In fact I was put into this project after I spoke to my manager that I wanted to work in development and be able to posses worthwhile skills in the market, because he wanted to put me on a support work as that was the project he was handling. And that is how I landed in performance testing & I'm thankful to my manager since he did that much for me.
But I'm still confused as to whether I'm on the right track or no.
Thanks,
Alex
Alex said on Monday, February 21, 2011
Hi Sainath,
I would be very delighted if you could bring out the pros and cons in either of the cases i.e. If I decide to continue my career in performance testing or move to development. This way it would give me a clearer picture of both the sides of the coin and will be very easy for me to evaluate my next step from here on.
Thanks a lot for your earlier advice. Please help me decide on this, one step further.
Thanks,
Alex