Big Bucks!

This blog was inspired by James Bach's youtube video "Becoming a Software Testing Expert".

I've been in the testing game for a few years and now's the time to step up a gear. Alan Richardson (author, Selenium Simplified) also gave me a kick up the bum and so here it is! My deadline is October 1st - I'll tell you about that another time. What have I done so far?

I've done some reading:

• Agile & Iterative Development (Larman)
• Lessons Learned in Software Testing (Kaner/Bach/Pettichord)
• Testing Computer Software (Kaner/Falk/Nguyen)
• The Testing Practitioner (Veenendaal)
• The Testers Pocketbook (Paul Gerrard)
• Agile Testing (Crispin/ Gregory)

I've also read a quite a few articles by these and other guys too, especially Bach and Gerrard. I've been to a few conferences: test management summit, test expos and test management forums - TMF is the best! Youtube is also great for tutorials. Oh and I've done ISEB foundation and practitioner. This all means I've read and done more than the average tester. A good start.

What do I now have to do, to become a real testing expert?
Alan and others gave me a few ideas:

• Check out burp suite (security)
• Read the web application hackers handbook (security/computing)
• Read James Whittaker's blog (general)
• Check out firefox add-ins (tools)
• Learn Selenium (bucks)

I think I'll need to check out the forums too. Loads to do. Need to prioritise. I'll pick up ideas along the way. Perhaps you guys can give me some ideas?

One question: how do you know when you're a testing expert? That's for the post next; but in the meantime remember what Bach said: "reputation = big bucks"!