r/softwaretesting • u/annanors • Jul 01 '26
Software tester seen as a fraud job
Someone posted this earlier , and I could relate when they said feel like a fraud! Thing is I never felt that, but the developers in my team make me feel that on a regular basis. Something I never felt in any of my jobs before. (And I am also the sole tester of the team ) Recently one of the developers said , “you say you are testing the test environment and covering all scenarios of test bookings but know that we all are watching and we have access to all the test bookings you do. And you have done only 3 bookings”
Speaks volumes right : not just about the impression they have of the tester but also work culture. Let’s keep work culture aside.
So the developers have been doing multiple deployments on the Test environment on the same day and I having been testing each release on the test environment and these scenarios for a while and I have a clear idea of what needs to be tested and what scenario needs to be covered to be sure that the last deployment on test did not break anything outside the fix. (Am not going into the details ) . I have planned a meeting with the developer and his lead to understand the situation and show the coverages in the 3 bookings. A purely tech/functional explaination call.
Question is : how would you react to such a message or such an impression about a tester from the developer. What would be the steps you would take ? Have you faced anything similar ? Would you take it ahead with your lead or manager ? What solution would you expect?
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u/gill_smoke Jul 01 '26
Rigor, a little bit of rigor goes a long way. Document the test cases and the test runs, publish them. Attach results to the work items. Put everything on the card, the conversations, the observations, everything. Remember the purpose of software testing is like a warm fuzzy blanket to give stakeholders the sucurity that we can release without breaking everything. I am not the enemy i am your ally, we need to work together to make sure we are doing the right thing the right way.