Hi I’m Zaheer.
I’m a Senior QA/Test Manager based in London in the UK.
Background
Ever since a young age, I was curious about how things worked.
My parents would be surprised if a toy they’d purchased for me would last more than 24 hours.
When I purchased my first computer in the early 1990s, my friends were buying consoles.
It was an Atari 520ST FM. I still remember it. Later upgraded to a 1040ST E Both beautiful machines.
I was absolutely hooked on figuring out how the computer worked. Understanding how to align my dot matrix printer ribbons for best performance whilst my peers submitted handwritten homework.
I knew then that I was never going to be a Lawyer, Doctor or any of the ‘traditional’ occupations.
To be honest, I didn’t know WHAT I was going to do, but it was definitely going to be in ‘Computers’. Who knew that the IT industry was going to blow up as it did a few years later?
Whilst at university in the late 90’s I bought my first PC and from there my PC and I were inseparable.
In the space of about 3 years, I hardly switched my machine off. I think it was maybe once or twice. I absolutely loved it.
What was more interesting is that I always liked to try and re-engineer things if possible. Try to break it and then fix it.
I didn’t know then that these were the makings of a future tester.
Credentials
I’ve been very fortunate in my career having worked on some fascinating projects and clients.
Having worked with London design agencies who built out websites for their clients, I was involved with the design, build and testing.
I’ve also had my own agency where I did the same but on a smaller scale.
I’ve also consulted for and worked alongside some of the largest consultancies and in the world.
Some of these clients include;
- Working for the UK consultancy arm of a world-renowned software organisation based in Silicon Valley (you can take a few guesses)
- The UK Government working on a £300 million project.
- Working for the World’s largest Foreign exchange clearing house that settles between $5-7 trillion of FX per day. Yes that was Trillion dollars.
I hold a HND in Computing as well as First Class Honours in BSc Computer Science.
I also have my ISTQB and Prince2 Foundation.
I also like to keep up to speed with latest developments as and when I can but it can be difficult when you have a family, job and lots of other interests to juggle.
None of that was to brag, I’m quite a private person so I loathe and feel a bit shy telling people about my background. But this serves a number of purposes;
a) It should hopefully give you a bit of confidence that I have some idea of what I’m talking about from REAL experience.
b) It helps to increase the website’s Expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness in Google’s eyes which will hopefully help rank better and serve more people.
c) Adding to the above point, you’ll know that the content written isn’t some outsourced drivel with someone who has no idea what they’re talking about.
Why the website?
I had the idea to set the site up a LONG time ago. In fact, I think it must’ve been around 2009/2010 but as with most things, ‘life’ got in the way and it was put on the backburner.
One of the things I absolutely love doing is to try to teach/mentor people.
It might not be in a formal capacity, but as a habit, I always like to ‘advise’ people where I can.
I hate the thought of watching people falling in pitfalls which could’ve been avoided.
I’ve faced many pitfalls (like most people) and would also appreciate if someone could’ve helped me too.
Software Testing is something I think I have a fair amount of experience in. This could be in Analysis, Planning, design, execution. documentation or managing stakeholders.
I set this site up for a number of reasons;
- To pass on the knowledge I’ve picked up over the years. The scope for this is quite large.
- To engage with others around the world and also learn from you (I don’t know everything).
- To let the world know what fantastic opportunities the world of Software testing holds.
- Give real insights into the world of software testing.
- Anything that is software testing related.
One of my passions is processes improvement, documentation and governance. I love to look at how we can improve whatever we are doing to make things more efficinet.
I’d love to hear your stories on Software testing.
If you have any suggestions or questions then feel free to reach out to me.
I have varius social media channels that you can get me on;
Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest @testingchat
If you find any content on the site useful then I would be grateful if you could share it with at least 1 person who you feel will benefit.
If you didn’t find the content useful then please reach out to me I can improve it for you.
Thanks again and really appreciate your support.
Z
