T11 Concurrent Session Thursday 10/25/2007 1:30 PM JUMP TO: Biographical Information The Presentation Selecting Mischief Makers: Vital Selecting Mischief Makers: Vital Interviewing Skills Interviewing Skills Presented by: Andy Bozman, Orthodyne Electronics Presented at: The International Conference on Software Testing Analysis and Review October 22-26, 2007; Anaheim, CA, USA 330 Corporate Way, Suite 300 , Orange Park, FL 32043 888-268-8770 � 904-278-0524 � sqeinfo@sqe.com � www.sqe.com
Andy Bozman Andy Bozman After earning his Physics degree from a major university Andy taught at private schools in Central America (algebra, trigonometry, calculus, physics). Upon his return Andy began his computer career (over 25 years ago) as a scientific programmer for a mathematics think tank, working for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NOAA, NSGS, Johns Hopkins, Army, and Navy, working on nearly every brand of mainframe computer manufactured at the time. The work was highly scientific: calculating satellite orbits, analyzing stochastic processes, and performing large amounts of matrix math. From there Andy moved across the country to work for a large defense contractor, where he formed and ran a small group doing IV&V on assembly language programs. Andy was moved to a new project where he got to wear multiple hats; his primary role was running the software group but he also redesigned a heat exchanger, designed an electrical connector that was a liquid-gas barrier for use in space, and helped design a three-class clean room complex. Andy was nominated for Engineer of the Year and made the final ten (from a field of thousands of engineers), and received a Superior Sustained Performance award, the company’s highest merit award. After working for ten years in the DoD environment Andy was ready for a change, and through an off-hand remark to an acquaintance got one – as an elevator salesman (a what?). Company car, expense account, sharp clothes, meeting with architects and building owner, it was a change. Andy soon became known as the problem solver by the architects. Returning to software, Andy has held multiple positions for a number of companies: Lead Technical Writer, Project Manager, Security Officer, Senior Windows Programmer, QA Manager, SQA Director, and is now SQA Manager for a mid-sized manufacturer of capital equipment.
Interviewing for Mischief Andy Bozman, Software Quality Assurance Manager, Orthodyne Electronics, Irvine, CA andy.bozman@orthodyne.com
Presentation Outline • Why mischief? • Finding mischief-makers • Avoiding trouble-makers
Why Mischief? • It takes us beyond the test plan • It makes programmers say “Why did you test it this way?”
Putting French Toast in the Toaster By pushing the envelope we better know the software’s behavior within its normal realm
Finding Mischief Makers Who has it?
A Typical Hiring Process • emails to HR, with resumé attached • email conversation forwarded to hiring manager • hiring manager emails candidate, sets up phone interview OR phone interview request sent to HR • phone interview • in-person interview request sent to HR • in-person interview • offer extended
Where Does Mischief Finding Fit? = O • emails to HR? ; ) : ( :p • email to hiring manager? it’s going to take a lot of emoticons • phone interview? too likely to offend or be misunderstood • in-person interview? it’s the best shot we have; the stilted, stuffy, artificially polite, scary, nerve wracking situation known as The Interview
Interviewing For Mischief • Put the candidate at ease • Direct the conversation • Stay sharp, the clues can be subtle • Don’t let the candidate know • Don’t let the candidate feel scrutinized
Ask About Specific Areas From Previous Jobs • Types and styles of written communications • Previous co-workers’ admirable traits • Memorable bugs they found
Find out how they handle the following • Conflicting instructions or priorities • Tasks that didn’t make sense
Non-Work-Related Items • Use a double entendre during the interview • Find out about childhood pranks
Using Tester Tests to Detect Mischief • Handling sparse instructions • Handling frequent crashes • Going out-of-bounds
Avoiding Troublemakers They can break a test team
Mischief Detectors Perform Double-Duty • Quips in bug reports • Conflicting instructions • Non-sensical tasks • Previous co-workers • Memorable bugs • Childhood pranks
More Indicators of Potential Trouble • Pre-interview homework • Demeanor during the interview • Keystrokes during tester tests
Thank You Questions? andy.bozman@orthodyne.com
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