Friends,
Hope you are all doing good.
Today, I am penning down my friend's experience with a recent recruitment drive conducted in his organization. The drive was for recruiting junior software testers, and they had decided on conducting two levels of interviews. My friend happened to be an interviewer at the first level (He is working as a Test Lead in his organization).
Since it was a walk-in drive, lots of candidates were to be interviewed, and he was finding it hard to cope with the rush, considering that he had limited time on his hands. He was told to spend not more than 15 minutes with every candidate.
Things were working fine till my friend came across this candidate. Here is a gist of his discussion with the candidate. For the sake of simplicity, I will be referring to my friend as 'I' and the candidate as 'C'.
C: Good Afternoon, Sir
I: Good Afternoon. Please be seated.
I: So, how are you doing today?
C: I am fine.
I: Great. So, tell me something about your experience with software testing till date.
C: Sir, I have total work experience of 20 months in software testing, and during this period, I have written test cases, executed them, and logged defects in Bugzilla. I have also created a test strategy and a test plan.
I: Fantastic, you have even created a test strategy and a test plan during these 20 months of your career. Let's talk about your experience with test cases first. How do you create test cases? Is it for functional testing or some sort of Non-Functional testing? What is the procedure that you follow?
C: Sir, I create test cases in Excel. I save the file and mail it to the developer.
I: I think you did not get the question. Please let me know the basis of your test cases. How do you know how many and which test cases to create? And, why do you send your test cases to the developer after creating them?
C: Sir, ours is a small organization. I sit with the developer when he creates new code, I understand what he is doing, and then I come to my seat and write test cases. I then send it to him for approval. I then execute test cases, and mark defects in Bugzilla.
I: Hold on, you create test cases based on what you see the developer working on? Have you heard of anything called a 'Requirement', something that the customer wants? What if the developer's understanding is incorrect?
C: No. Sir. Never seen a 'Requirement' or heard of it. I told you what I do.
I: OK, what is a test case? Can you tell me what all it includes?
C: Sure. I write down a statement each for what the software should do, e.g., it should allow the user to login to the application. And, that's it.
I: Wonderful. Do you create test data also? What about negative testing? What about expected results?
C: Sorry Sir, I am not able to understand what you are talking about. I create test cases in Excel, save the file and send it to the developer. Once the developer okays the same, I execute them and log defects in Bugzilla.
I: OK. What is a defect? How do you know what is to be logged in Bugzilla?
C: I execute the test case, e.g., I login to the application. If the application takes long to log in, I put it in Bugzilla.
I: How long do you wait before deciding that it is too late now? And, this means, that you are doing performance testing?
C: No, Sir. I log in, wait for a few seconds, and if I am not logged in by then, I log a defect.
I: How many seconds?
C: Depends, sometimes 5 seconds sometimes 15.
I: Wonderful. When do you wait for 5 seconds and when for 15?
C: Sir, I login to my GMail simultaneously. If the application does not log me in by the time I am logged in to GMail, I log a defect. Otherwise, how do I know if the network is slow at that time?
I: I see (with a chuckle). Perhaps, you are correct. Any other example of a defect that you logged?
C: Sir, my machine was not working once ... it was dead. I logged a defect in Bugzilla using a friend's system.
I: Oh ho, you did. Cool!
I: Let's talk about something else. You have created a test strategy and a test plan also. What do you include in these documents?
C: Yes. But I don't remember what I put in there. It was something my manager asked me to put into a Word document, and name it as Test Strategy. Another time, I created a Test Plan.
I: Similarly, just as you created the Test Strategy?
C: Yes, Sir.
I: OK, I do not have any more questions. Do you want to ask me anything before we wrap up this discussion?
C: No Sir. ... Yes, Sir. No question but a request.
I: Tell me.
C: Sir, please please please recommend my name. I really want to join your company and make a career but my present employer would not give a good feedback on my performance.
I: (sarcastically) Why? You have done so much good work, you have even created a Test Strategy and a Test Plan for them.
I: (now looking at C straight in his eyes): Seems as if you are hiding something from me. At least, your current employer can validate that you have been with them for the last 20 months.
C: Sir, they won't. I am sorry Sir. This is a fake experience I have shown. I really want to start my career but have been unemployed ever since I completed my graduation. I am desperate, Sir. Please help me ... please.
I: Sorry, you should have been more upfront. If you have been unemployed, you could have written the same in your profile, Why this lie? We cannot hire people like you. Next time, try and be more honest. In fact, HR may take disciplinary action against you for showing fake experience.
C: Sir, please. I will be destroyed. I have to support my parents. Please, Sir.
And, the pleading continued. My friend finally told him that he would not report his case to HR and that he should apply afresh after 6 months. In the meantime, he should work hard on improving his skills and be honest about his experience (or lack of experience).
In this case, my friend was able to detect this fake profile by questioning the candidate directly on the basics of software testing. And, in my opinion, he did the right thing by rejecting the candidate. Today, he is lying about his experience, tomorrow he may lie about something else.
But I am just wondering if there is a better way this scenario could have been handled. How can we prevent fake profiles from wasting our precious time specially in walk-in drives? When you are looking for talent urgently and need good hands as soon as you can? Thoughts, friends?
Hope you are all doing good.
Today, I am penning down my friend's experience with a recent recruitment drive conducted in his organization. The drive was for recruiting junior software testers, and they had decided on conducting two levels of interviews. My friend happened to be an interviewer at the first level (He is working as a Test Lead in his organization).
Since it was a walk-in drive, lots of candidates were to be interviewed, and he was finding it hard to cope with the rush, considering that he had limited time on his hands. He was told to spend not more than 15 minutes with every candidate.
Things were working fine till my friend came across this candidate. Here is a gist of his discussion with the candidate. For the sake of simplicity, I will be referring to my friend as 'I' and the candidate as 'C'.
C: Good Afternoon, Sir
I: Good Afternoon. Please be seated.
I: So, how are you doing today?
C: I am fine.
I: Great. So, tell me something about your experience with software testing till date.
C: Sir, I have total work experience of 20 months in software testing, and during this period, I have written test cases, executed them, and logged defects in Bugzilla. I have also created a test strategy and a test plan.
I: Fantastic, you have even created a test strategy and a test plan during these 20 months of your career. Let's talk about your experience with test cases first. How do you create test cases? Is it for functional testing or some sort of Non-Functional testing? What is the procedure that you follow?
C: Sir, I create test cases in Excel. I save the file and mail it to the developer.
I: I think you did not get the question. Please let me know the basis of your test cases. How do you know how many and which test cases to create? And, why do you send your test cases to the developer after creating them?
C: Sir, ours is a small organization. I sit with the developer when he creates new code, I understand what he is doing, and then I come to my seat and write test cases. I then send it to him for approval. I then execute test cases, and mark defects in Bugzilla.
I: Hold on, you create test cases based on what you see the developer working on? Have you heard of anything called a 'Requirement', something that the customer wants? What if the developer's understanding is incorrect?
C: No. Sir. Never seen a 'Requirement' or heard of it. I told you what I do.
I: OK, what is a test case? Can you tell me what all it includes?
C: Sure. I write down a statement each for what the software should do, e.g., it should allow the user to login to the application. And, that's it.
I: Wonderful. Do you create test data also? What about negative testing? What about expected results?
C: Sorry Sir, I am not able to understand what you are talking about. I create test cases in Excel, save the file and send it to the developer. Once the developer okays the same, I execute them and log defects in Bugzilla.
I: OK. What is a defect? How do you know what is to be logged in Bugzilla?
C: I execute the test case, e.g., I login to the application. If the application takes long to log in, I put it in Bugzilla.
I: How long do you wait before deciding that it is too late now? And, this means, that you are doing performance testing?
C: No, Sir. I log in, wait for a few seconds, and if I am not logged in by then, I log a defect.
I: How many seconds?
C: Depends, sometimes 5 seconds sometimes 15.
I: Wonderful. When do you wait for 5 seconds and when for 15?
C: Sir, I login to my GMail simultaneously. If the application does not log me in by the time I am logged in to GMail, I log a defect. Otherwise, how do I know if the network is slow at that time?
I: I see (with a chuckle). Perhaps, you are correct. Any other example of a defect that you logged?
C: Sir, my machine was not working once ... it was dead. I logged a defect in Bugzilla using a friend's system.
I: Oh ho, you did. Cool!
I: Let's talk about something else. You have created a test strategy and a test plan also. What do you include in these documents?
C: Yes. But I don't remember what I put in there. It was something my manager asked me to put into a Word document, and name it as Test Strategy. Another time, I created a Test Plan.
I: Similarly, just as you created the Test Strategy?
C: Yes, Sir.
I: OK, I do not have any more questions. Do you want to ask me anything before we wrap up this discussion?
C: No Sir. ... Yes, Sir. No question but a request.
I: Tell me.
C: Sir, please please please recommend my name. I really want to join your company and make a career but my present employer would not give a good feedback on my performance.
I: (sarcastically) Why? You have done so much good work, you have even created a Test Strategy and a Test Plan for them.
I: (now looking at C straight in his eyes): Seems as if you are hiding something from me. At least, your current employer can validate that you have been with them for the last 20 months.
C: Sir, they won't. I am sorry Sir. This is a fake experience I have shown. I really want to start my career but have been unemployed ever since I completed my graduation. I am desperate, Sir. Please help me ... please.
I: Sorry, you should have been more upfront. If you have been unemployed, you could have written the same in your profile, Why this lie? We cannot hire people like you. Next time, try and be more honest. In fact, HR may take disciplinary action against you for showing fake experience.
C: Sir, please. I will be destroyed. I have to support my parents. Please, Sir.
And, the pleading continued. My friend finally told him that he would not report his case to HR and that he should apply afresh after 6 months. In the meantime, he should work hard on improving his skills and be honest about his experience (or lack of experience).
In this case, my friend was able to detect this fake profile by questioning the candidate directly on the basics of software testing. And, in my opinion, he did the right thing by rejecting the candidate. Today, he is lying about his experience, tomorrow he may lie about something else.
But I am just wondering if there is a better way this scenario could have been handled. How can we prevent fake profiles from wasting our precious time specially in walk-in drives? When you are looking for talent urgently and need good hands as soon as you can? Thoughts, friends?
