There is generally a myth in software Industry, that If you work in a certain domain for a long time you become an expert and are Invincible. In my opinion this is not completely true why?
1. My urge to get the gaming domain knowledge arises from my passion for giving my best at the skill I have been hired for, not for becoming an expert at that particular domain(If you beocme an expert thats a plus), But there is a fine balance between these 2 things.
2. Other teams blindly assume that QA teams are the Domain experts, which is not the case. Other teams like BA, Dev also have knowledge but because they work on certain part of a project, they limit themselves to knowing what can serve their purpose.
3. It is essential for us(QA) not to get into this fixed mode of domain knowledge, Tomorrow If I switch job to another company that deals in other domains,I will again have urge to gain knowledge to do efficient testing. Overtime I will definitely loose or forget prev domain knowledge.
The funny thing about gaming domain is you get easily addicted to it-especially Gambling games, eventhough we might not want to admit it. I will realize it If I look deep within.
My trigger for writing this post is the poker tournament held today in our company, QA team were favourites but This MYTH was broken, other team guys went away with all the first three slots :)I was happy because I got to learn something from this event.
I paste a small story here:
"My Grandfather owned a cigar shop/card house in California. He would say he made his money on people trying to get their money back. The real money in gambling is taking advantage of people who already lost so much, they're desperate to get it back...addicts. The casinos know something about compulsive gambling addiction that we addicts need to learn...the Addiction Cycle. We have an emptiness or negative self-image. All the signals around us suggest, if we had more money, then we could be fulfilled, buying whatever we desire. Since we're not getting enough income for this from our jobs, we feel the lottery, or the bingo parlor, or the card room or the casino can provide us what we want. After all, didn't uncle Joe just win another $ 15,000 jackpot? He never loses! (He never tells you when he loses.) So you take some money to go and cash in. You lose...a lot. You're so embarrassed and humiliated that your self-image is damaged even further. The guilt compels you to try even harder next time with more money, so you can regain your pride...but you lose again, taking you even lower. Until you do something to break the cycle, you'll grind yourself ever lower and more addicted."
After reading this story I felt that we still have not reached this stage and will never reach one :)
Note : This post is purely my opinion, you are free to comment, I would love to see your thoughts on this
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I agree to the fact that a QA does not have to be a expert in the concerned domain let alone GAMING.
ReplyDeleteBut it helps to have a QA/Dev/BA who is a expert in the domain.Being an expert can be helpfull but is not a mandatory skill required in a QA resume to succeed as a QA.
When it comes to Gaming Domain,
I believe getting addicted to Games especially Gambling is not that a bad thing if you have control over mind. It helps to drive you & uncover scenarios which you normally would not think of(i.e. if you have the knack to keep an open mind & pen eye for particulars).It also helps to build Passion for testing if you can channelise this knowledge in your tetsing efforts.Plus if you manage to become a so called "Expert" it boasts your confidence by having that edge over Development/BA/QA in terms of knoweldge accquired.
Coversely if you let your addiction get over your mind then GOD save you.
Bottomline a successfull QA can potentially turn out to be a Expert,however an expert may not necessarily become a good QA person.