{"id":764,"date":"2020-05-31T20:58:17","date_gmt":"2020-05-31T10:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clickworks.me\/?p=764"},"modified":"2020-06-21T18:45:55","modified_gmt":"2020-06-21T08:45:55","slug":"testing-internship-update-api-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/2020\/05\/31\/testing-internship-update-api-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing Internship Update,\u00a0 API Testing, Plans for the Next Month"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Reflecting\u00a0 on what I learned about test automation, how much testing I did in\u00a0 May 2020 and my further plans.<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Testing Internship Update and Thoughts on My Progress<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>April-May 2020 turned out to be quite different from previous months. Lockdowns, social distancing and other many\u00a0 things have became a new reality as we saw Covid-19 cases growing. Kids no longer attend schools, nobody knows, people around us loosing jobs, nobody knows\u00a0 what to expect\u00a0 and how long this situation and uncertainty will last.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been quite stressful period and my productivity has dropped dramatically during these 2 months. Working from home when your 7yo is constantly trying to distract you is hard. On top of that did not sleep well for a long time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Anyways, I have some things to share and I have a few small achievements such as<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8211; learning API testing, new tools<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8211; job search progress<\/span><\/li>\n<li>&#8211; improving my time management<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Learning API Testing<\/h1>\n<p>As always it&#8217;s been very hard to find time for practice.\u00a0 I usually spend 4-6 hours per week on learning API testing and Tavern.\u00a0 \u00a0Yet, since my last blog\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/2020\/04\/28\/testing-internsh\u2026he-next-3-months\/\">post<\/a> I made some progress in this area.<\/p>\n<p>I completed around sample 40 simple tests to try out Tavern functionality. I used their docs\u00a0 and public APIs. Got stuck a few times but overall, I think I was able to prepare a set of examples which I\u00a0 helped me to understand how this framework works. I guess now it&#8217;s time\u00a0 to start writing real tests using Aerofiler&#8217;s API. There&#8217;s no\u00a0 API documentation for the app so I was trying to use Google Developers tools and Charles Proxy to explore API. Turned out these tools cannot give you the full picture. You still need to have an access to the source code or have an API documentation to know what are available endpoints and data schemas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I can also mention couple of things which helping me to learn API testing. I completed a short course on Linkedin Learning Called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/learning\/api-testing-foundations\">API Testing Foundations<\/a>.It&#8217;s really good resource if you are beginner like me just started to learn API testing. Well explained by Dave Westerveld, the course gives you an understanding of Basic concepts, what to focus on when testing an API,\u00a0 number of useful examples on how to use tools and explore API&#8217;s. At some point, when I was having a lot of fun writing requests in Postman and playing with <a href=\"https:\/\/http.cat\/\">cats API.<\/a> I created and uploaded to GitHub a read.me file with <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/MaksimZinovev\/courses\/tree\/master\/api-testing-foundations\">my notes<\/a> which includes the course contents.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As I mentioned, I also installed Postman and Charles Proxy. One of the go to tools for API testing. They are free and there are lots of online\u00a0 resources\u00a0 to learn how to use them.<\/p>\n<h1><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Job Search<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Despite the limited time which I mostly use for learning Test Automation I am also trying to move towards my main end goal &#8211; getting my first testing job.\u00a0 So, in my last blog post I tried to write a plan on what I need to do and how much time I can spend on different job search\u00a0 activities.\u00a0 I should admit, it is hard to implement 100% of what I planned, but still it is much better to have a plan rather than to try and do something without any plan at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>One of the problems I faced is that when I go to seek.com.au\u00a0 I do not see many entry level jobs and manual testing jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Most of the job postings are\u00a0 senior roles or roles that requires solid skills in specific testing\u00a0 areas\u00a0 such as security testing or mobile testing.\u00a0 It is also very common that\u00a0 in QA roles require experience in such programming languages as C++, Java.\u00a0 As a results, I sometimes end up sending just 1-2 applications per week. It is clear that\u00a0 it is\u00a0 very unlikely\u00a0 \u00a0to get a responce\u00a0 with this approach. This is a numbers game.<\/p>\n<p>Is it just not a good timing and job market is on the downward trend now?\u00a0 Am I doing something wrong?\u00a0 Do I need to learn other languages and\u00a0 get hands-on experience with other\u00a0 \u00a0tools\u00a0 before starting to actively\u00a0 apply for jobs? Well, I decided to talk to a few people I know who work in\u00a0 IT industry and seek an advice from them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, I\u00a0 tried to widen the range of websites I use to look for testing jobs. Turned out there are some places I did not consider (I do not know why): Facebook, Glassdorr.com.au, Gumtree.com.au,\u00a0 Upwork.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I also keep working on my GitHub, Linkedin profile, this website and twitter. It is not easy to be consistent and allocate some time for this work on regular basis, but I know it is very important to network,\u00a0 reach out to other people and share what you learned with others.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h1><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Testing Schedule: Too much Things to Get Done and Not Enough Time?<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>I must admit, over the last 2 months, it&#8217;s become clear that my performance was not good and\u00a0 I have not been doing a good job as a tester recently. I have\u00a0 only 1 day per week for testing. I work from home mostly doing manual testing on Mondays. By the end of the day I am sending the results\u00a0 &#8211; bug reports or\/and\u00a0 questions to my client. The problem was that despite the fact that\u00a0 I was working long hours I did not provide the reports on time, the quality was not always good and I felt that the number of reports submitted was not sufficient.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Over the last couple of weeks, with the help from my mentor,\u00a0 I made some changes and I believe fixed some problems. However, I\u00a0 decided it would be good to reflect on this and put on paper some of my thoughts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As I mentioned above, one of the reasons why It&#8217;s been hard to work from home is that all family members are at home. Being distracted on regular basis is not helping to work efficiently. Another reason is that I&#8217;ve been suffering from\u00a0 sleep disorder. And finally, the way I organised my work and used my time was simply not efficient.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Well, it is all about prioritising your tasks, right? I also noticed that\u00a0 it is\u00a0 important to maintain self discipline and develop ability to switch to another area when I got stuck, take a short breaks to stay productive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here is what my typical Testing Schedule looks like now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Monday<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8211; Core testing: 2 hours. Work through set of core tests<\/li>\n<li>&#8211; New functionality: 4-6 hours. This varies from week to week. In some weeks there are not many new features.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Weekdays<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8211; Test automation courses: 1-2 hours.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Weekend<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8211; Learning Test Automation: 5-10 hours. Web UI testing using Python,\u00a0 API testing using Tavern.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>&#8211; Job applications and Interview preparation: 3-3 hours<\/li>\n<li>&#8211; Maintaining portfolio and SM accounts: 1-2 hours.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-765\" src=\"http:\/\/clickworks.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Weekly-Schedule-1024x532.png\" alt=\"Weekly Schedule\" width=\"640\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Weekly-Schedule-1024x532.png 1024w, https:\/\/clickworks.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Weekly-Schedule-300x156.png 300w, https:\/\/clickworks.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Weekly-Schedule-768x399.png 768w, https:\/\/clickworks.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Weekly-Schedule.png 1032w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There is also one area of work which I need to squeeze in\u00a0 my schedule &#8211; maintaining\u00a0 spreadsheet with\u00a0 test cases on\u00a0 regular basis. To be honest, it is not very exciting part of\u00a0 my testing work, but I need to get it done. I&#8217;ve been procrastinating on it for quite a long time. I guess it is time\u00a0 to\u00a0 figure out when and how I can get it done.<\/p>\n<p>Looks good on a paper.\u00a0 Of course, not everything works as expected, but I think I am moving to a right direction.\u00a0 Once again, I think it would be very useful to show this schedule to other people and get a feedback.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h1><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Test <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Prioritisation<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>As I was rethinking my testing schedule very important question came up. How can I define a set of core tests? How to prioritise tests? How to plan testing activities? Well, turns out\u00a0 it is very interesting topic and important topic. I guess every tester comes to a point where he\/she\u00a0 dives into these topics to find the solution which fits their situation, project, skills and background. I&#8217;ll probably write a short article in the future on this topic with the most important things that I discovered at this point.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h1>June 2020 Goals<\/h1>\n<p>I am planning to complete another course. I really enjoy doing Linkedin Courses. Recently I started one about\u00a0 web security called Ethical Hacking: Hacking Web Servers and Web Applications made by Malcolm Shore<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/learning\/ethical-hacking-hacking-web-servers-and-web-applications\"> link.<\/a> Turns out it is a huge area in testing and there are quite a lot tools\u00a0 out there. I think it would be good to have at least general understanding of vulnerabilities, risks and how the testing is done.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Also I decided to reach out to a consultant (was recommended by one of my friends) who helps with resume\u00a0 and interview preparation. I&#8217;ll share results in the next post.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Other goals:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8211; 2-3 job applications per week and interview preparation.<\/li>\n<li>&#8211; complete 15-20 API tests in Tavern.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reflecting\u00a0 on what I learned about test automation, how much testing I did in\u00a0 May 2020 and my further plans.\u00a0 Testing Internship Update and Thoughts on My Progress April-May 2020 turned out to be quite different from previous months. Lockdowns, social distancing and other many\u00a0 things have became a new reality as we saw Covid-19 cases growing. Kids no longer attend schools, nobody knows, people around us loosing jobs, nobody<\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn read-more-btn\" href=\"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/2020\/05\/31\/testing-internship-update-api-testing\/\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30],"tags":[58,32,49,62,41,63,61],"post_folder":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":781,"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764\/revisions\/781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickworks.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}