Testing at Microsoft...

  • Article

Greetings!

It looks like I’m the latest Microsoftie to jump onto the blogging scene. It’s really growing fast here in Redmond (and elsewhere!).

I’ve got all kinds of ideas to discuss in this blog, such as:

  •  What is like to have a career as Microsoft Software Test Engineer (STE)?
  •  What kinds of skills are important to be a successful STE?
  •  Where is the industry heading, and how does that affect software development?
  •  What do we do for fun? (We love our work, but we love to play hard as well!)
  •  And, any subject you’d like covered!

I’ve been a Software Test Engineer on the Encarta Reference Library team since graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Spring of 2002. As you might expect, I’m enthusiastic about all kinds of technology, including Microsoft, Development and Testing methodologies, and anything “cutting edge” in the computer industry. I’m also fluent in some areas that may be surprising, including free/open source software. I consider myself an experienced Linux user (yes, really :-). I also play a mean game of nethack!

In short, I have a million ideas to blog about. Let me know if there’s anything that you’d like to hear discussed in this blog- I look forward to reading your comments!

Comments

  • Anonymous
    March 23, 2004
    Well, according to the MS JobsBlog (blogs.msdn.com/jobsblog), developing yourself into an STE is hard. Even though courses are taught at Uni / College, generally they aren't adequate enough.

    Obviously after 2 years you're good at what you do. What helped you get to where you are today? What advice would you have for STE candidates?

    And, of course, lots about internal Microsoft culture.

    (fyi: I'm not an STE, nor do I desire to become one, but this is the kind of info I'd be expecting from a blog by an STE)
  • Anonymous
    March 23, 2004
    Did you know that you share your name with a great Australian cricketer ?

    http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/PLAYERS/AUS/C/CHAPPELL_GS_02001364/

  • Anonymous
    March 23, 2004
    Welcome to the blogging scene! RPI is right around the corner from me, (I'm in Albany NY). As one of the other posters mentioned, definitely tell us more about how you get to be a STE.


  • Anonymous
    March 23, 2004
    The comment has been removed
  • Anonymous
    March 24, 2004
    gregch rulez!
  • Anonymous
    March 25, 2004
    Does Microsoft use a dedicated automation team to automate testing of a particular product?
    Do you have specific product test teams that stay with the product throughout the Dev/test cycles and if so do they carry out any automation?
  • Anonymous
    April 05, 2004
    Hi Andrew- I suppose Microsoft does have dedicated Automation teams- we're called Test Teams. We're the people who are writing, running, and documenting the results of most automated tests. (Developers also are running Unit Tests, which is another form of automated testing).

    Testers are working on their assigned product teams, so there's not a lot of "bouncing" to different products that are in ship-mode. There is some, of course, but chances are 98% of our time is spent testing a single application (and one that we know well).
  • Anonymous
    June 08, 2009
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  • Anonymous
    June 09, 2009
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