I have been reading James Bach's blog for a while and in the latest post he has commented on Alan Richardson's commentary on ISEB/ISTQB.
Finally I have someone that agrees with me that ISEB/ISTQB while being good in theory is pretty useless in real life. I know that most people reading this will be saying "That is a very bold statement!". I know that it is and below I will explain why I agree with Alan.
Background
Testers have been fighting for years to remove the stigma that testing software is easy and that any person can do it. This, I feel, is because software testers used to be glorified data inputters with a little technical background. No wonder developers saw a secondment to testing as a demotion. Then Kent Beck came along and wrote Test-Driven Development: By Example. A developer who came along and made testing fun for developers! Something that testers could never get right! So lets have a look at the pros and cons of having a ISEB/ISTQB certificate.
Pros
- Lets start why I think ISEB/ISTQB is good. I just said that testers have been fighting for years to remove a stigma that testing software is easy. ISEB came along and people who didn't work in the industry suddenly thought that testing was a little harder because you needed a certificate.
- It also sets out standard names for things so that if one tester speaks to another they are speaking in the same tongue. Its also the latest buzzword so HR people will more than likely to give you an interview when you apply for a job.
Cons
- The ISEB/ISTQB foundation course teaches the exact same things that I was taught during my first year of university. So not only do you have to pay your way through university but then have to pay from £140 to £700 to get the certificate.
- I met a ISTQB examiner in my last job and he did not seem to understand testing in the real world. So are the testers that are getting these certificates also getting a working understanding of testing? I honestly don't think so!
- The other thing, and this is a big thing for me, is that the foundation course book mentions Agile Development 3 times. Those three entries are no more than a quick mention. Is it worth getting a certificate that doesn't give a chapter what is becoming the most common development methodology.
Results
ISEB/ISTQB is unfortunately going the way of the the MSCE certificate of the late 90s. Its becoming no more than a buzz word and I feel is lowering the standard of testing. I know that I am not the only person who thinks this. I read a blog entry not so long ago where testers in India are seen as the poor cousins. Something that we've been working against!
This has to stop and we as testers are the ones who can stop this! Come on testers, lets start a revolt and get certificates to mean something!
15 comments:
Hi David!
That's a provocative post!
I thought I'd comment because I really do agree with you. I started performing tasks that could generally be described as testing in around 1985 and have tested most of the time since then. I got my ISEB Foundation earlier this year, yep 2008. I don't think not having ISEB ever stood in the way of me getting a job; experience still tends to speak for itself, but I finally landed a job where they wanted me on the ISEB course asap. We have a whole lot of formal process and exams are just part of that.
Which is fine as far as it goes. But I want a qualification like a gas engineer's Corgi diploma. I want something that says I already know enough not to blow you up and that someone without the qualification may not by law service your boiler. I think the industry needs this too.
ISEB is more like getting vaccinated. A shot in the arm and you're infused with the ability to test. Like the person sitting next to me on the ISEB course who had been a tester for about as long as me but had never once expressed any interest in testing even to the extent of googling it. All the techniques came as a surprise, not the names but the actual techniques themselves. I read somewhere recently that testing is one of the 10 most recession-proof careers, which is probably why so many random people seem to be putting themselves in for the exam. We had a huge variety of people on the course I did, including one or two middle-managers who were quite possibly recession-proofing their CVs.
I hope some of that makes sense and isn't a rant:-)
Cons:
* It devalues the testing community because people who have no knowledge or practical understanding of what testing is or how to do it go on a five day course, become "certified" and then push themselves on unsuspecting companies as professional testers.
* Unlike other industries like accountancy, you can't be thrown out for mal practise. Once you've got the ISEB you've always got it.
* It leaves out lots of important stuff and is overly perscriptive in test techniques
* The examinations are too easy and my dead grandmother could pass them
* The certification doesn't look at professional experience or draw from any work that one has done previously
* MOST (not all) people I've met with an ISEB don't have a clue about software testing.
Hope you have read my post on this topic
http://shrinik.blogspot.com/2008/04/software-testing-certification-to-be-or.html
Shrini Kulkarni
I have read it and I totally agree with you. I also agree with Alan's comment that just because people make a living from bringing down an industry doesn't make it right!
David
I have been working in software testing for a number of years now including managing test projects and running test teams. I have never considered an ISEB qualification to be a necessary or even relevant qualification for testers joining my team. I see it as similar to a basic hygeine certificate for chefs, essentially irrelevant once you pass the most basic level of proficiency in the role.
None of my current team have ISEB, instead the team is built of individuals with a range of skills and experience to perform an efficient and proficient assessment of the system under test.
I googled to see if it is worth doing to ISEB and this blog came up.
I have been testing for 8 years across banking, savings, cards, home/motor insurance, medical and now in an accountancy software firm.
The main reason I am going to do the test is for my CV so someone in HR in a new company will see that and give the extra points to get to an interview stage.
You see ISEB in the required or disirable column on job specs so it is an easier route that people understand in order to get interviews and then experience can take over.
I have been working as a test engineer for ~18 years. Recently all of the quality engineers my company was given the opportunity to take the foundation level certification. Out of 12 people on two of us passed. While I would think that a certification can delude the quality of our profession (professional test takers, not professional Test Eng.) for me it seemed to be the opposite, we are currently employing QA folk that can not answer basic test questions.
I personally like to think that a certification should be a base line for a profession and not a qualification
i personally think that certification is ridiculous and meaningless.
It's not a coincidence that the best entrepreneurs and programmers in the world are not certified.
I think I am agreeing with you too..
Although I am still a student, I believe that software testing can make a career out of IT
I totally agree with the article. ISTQB is a good vision how should be testing work in "disney land", but the in real world all the stuff works totally different. I feel an experienced tester know (almost) all that thing what ISTQB says. The only "added value" is that ISTQB play with the words and give them different explanations. I think lots of tester guys fail the exams because of this. But what is a bug, a failure, and all these stuff are soo easy and natural to understand, and they a stickler for this.
In my company the management thinks if they pick up somebody from the street (they usually pick teachers and some similar cheap resources) and force them to make the ISTQB exam they get professional testers. This is the most sore spot in the whole. But their responsibility...
In 95% of cases I completely agree with both James and yourself that the ISEB is useless...
The other 5% though is where I have the misfortune of cruising as I don't have a degree!
One 'requirement' for the majority of testing roles I went for prior to my current position was "Degree or equivalent certification" which means that anyone in my own situation has the choice of spending four years getting in debt or studying and passing their ISEB to move up in the world of testing.
Oh and for the record I've not needed ANY of my ISEB knowledge in any position I've held since starting my testing career 7 years ago...
I'm in agreement with the original post, but in the comments is the more dangerous thinking:
Ben said "You see ISEB in the required or disirable column on job specs so it is an easier route that people understand in order to get interviews and then experience can take over."
This is one of the major problems with for-money certifications. You may take the certification so you don't lose out on a job opportunity, but you then lend creedance to the certification (especially if you are competent in the job). This becomes the positive feedback loop for clueless HR people that think the certification means something.
This is the same thinking as those that say things like "I don't really like shopping at WalMart because I know they destroy my community, but the prices are just so low..."
If you miss out on some interviews because you wouldn't shell out $2000+ for a BS certification, then so be it. If it's a recession proof industry, there will be plenty of other jobs out there.
@Liz
I work on a relatively simple rule when it comes to applying for work, if the ISEB is REALLY a requirement, I don't want to work there.
We had so many poor quality candidates coming through at my previous company with the ISEB that I decided to do the exam. I understand now why they couldn't test and sent my certificate back. The ISEB is a complete joke and a way of hoodwinking employers into thinking that you can test. I don't believe that certification is the answer for software testing as a profession.
"Lets start why I think ISEB/ISTQB is good. I just said that testers have been fighting for years to remove a stigma that testing software is easy. ISEB came along and people who didn't work in the industry suddenly thought that testing was a little harder because you needed a certificate."
If you can get a certificate with absoltely no experience, just by passing a single exam, testing seems easier, not harder.
No dont say that it is useless.
In my lifetime i have completed only one certification and you guys are prooving it worthless. :(
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