Keyword Testing

Till date, I have encountered many variations of “Software Testing” types. The recent one that I came across was “Monkey Testing”. But few days back, I encountered (or better to say I invented) one more type of testing – “Keyword Testing”.

Few weeks back, I was analyzing the scope of one of the testing effort. On that activity, my team had measured one testing effort which I was not able categorize under any type of testing criteria. Actually, my team has a list of features that no one in the team was aware of. I.e. the features list was totally grey area for us. But we need to analyze the testing effort for that also. Besides this, we need to identify the areas that need to be tested against those particular “strange” features. Ironically, we had identified some test cases based on the keywords that we had seen similar to the features that we have tested before.

In short, we identified some test cases that we are going to execute for those “strange” features, based on some keywords that we are aware of, in the list. It was quite strange but was the need of the hour. That’s why; I named that testing as “Keyword Testing”.

And the best part is that we are currently executing those test cases. Keeping our fingers crossed, we are expecting a good testing against those features and hopefully, the customer would also be satisfied with the quality of the release.

-- Sanat Sharma

Hindustan Times website  not working. Service unavailable.

One more appraisal cycle

I had covered one great appraisal cycle in one of my previous blogs. Recently, I witnessed the same with same issues, same concerns, same doubts, same attitude, same management style, same dissatisfaction, and same attitude. I mean everything was same. It seems that history repeats itself.

Appraisal is a process when everyone has huge expectations. The expectations are from both sides of the table. One on side, there is an appraise. This person will always be dissatisfied whatever the management will give to him/her. One other side, the management will always try to give as less as possible to check the patience level of the appraise. I rarely saw any example when both the parties are satisfied and happily accepted and close the appraisal process.

In one of my previous company, I started the process of monthly appraisal for each individual. Using this, I was discussing the achievements and weak areas on monthly basis with each individual. This was one of the best practices that I had initiated. In this process, I don't need to evaluate any person on annually basis. I was monitoring the person on monthly basis and a cumulative sum of all the months became the annual appraisal rating for each individual.

One of the most common complaints from the appraises side is that they are not evaluated properly. And that is the reason of not getting the correct rating at the end of the year which redirects the management to not execute the actions that they are eligible for. I think the process that I initiated, is the best cure of this problem.

Sanat Sharma

Trend and Business Success

No business succeeds without aligning yourself with the latest trend that the market is facing. Without following the trend, it’s impossible to get success in business. To prove this fact, let me take you to the trends that India had faced in the past.

In 1960s decade, there was industrial revolution in India. At that time, any person having a normal business sense started their business and now a legend in that arena. Tata, Birla, Goyanka, Morarka, Dalmiya, Mafatlal are some names that are produced at that time.

1970s decade started with Automobiles and Plastic industry. In automobiles industry at that time, who so ever entered, whether a manufacturer, a spare part dealer, or a reseller, all earned money like anything. Maruti is the perfect example of this. In Plastic industry at that time, the business owners were earning more than the Gold and iron business persons.

After this, it comes the Green revolution and while revolution. Agriculture and milk production business earned like anything and created a history at that time.

Then came Gas and Petroleum revolution.

After all this, it followed by IT revolution. It was a miracle of trend only that a simple engineer who started his business with an initial investment of Rs. 10,000 is now the owner of the second largest IT company in India i.e. Infosys.

Telecom industry is multifold many times in the past 10 years in India. Now no one comes to your house to sell the mobile. You need to go to the market to buy. Because you cannot even spend a single second without a mobile. And the business owners of this sector was aware of this fact 10 years back. This is trend. Mobile is now a necessity not a comfort. You are under impression that life is impossible without it. Thanks to the great marketing skills. THAT IS TREND which plays a major role in the success of any business.

Health and medicine sector is the current trend in the market and will be effective in the world for a long time. Small clinics are converting into big hospitals and big hospitals are making their presence globally in the world.

Network marketing is one hottest trend in the market now days. It primarily involves the task of creating an environment for any specific product without which an ordinary man can’t even think of his/her life. Mobile is the perfect example of this. The success of any product using network marketing is 92.5 % in India.

To summarize the above facts, let’s list it down –

• Industrial Revolution (1950 – 60 Decade)

• Automobile and Plastic Revolution (1970 Decade)

• Green / White Revolution (1980 Decade)

• Gas and Petrol Revolution (1980 Decade)

• I.T. Revolution (1990 Decade)

• Health and wellness Revolution (2000 Decade)

• Network marketing Revolution (1990 – 2000 Decade)

• Environmental Revolution (2010 Decade onwards)

Sanat Sharma

Calculation error - Times of India website

TATA PHOTON Website Bug

Twitter is over capacity.

A Great Receptionist

Recently, I visited an Indian MNC office, who is supposed to be one of the biggest IT players of India across the World. I simply went to the receptionist of that office and asked for Mr. XYZ, a dear friend of mine. Surprisingly, I was asked a very strange question from the other side of the table. The receptionist asked “In which group, Mr. XYZ is working”? I said that I don’t know. I was surprised about how come an outsider knows about which group his friend is working. Anyways, I got one more response from receptionist saying “You should ask about Mr. XYZ in other office premise of our company which is located at ABC location”.

I asked again about one more known person of mine working in the same company. She again asked the same – “In which group ...........” Finally, I raised my voice asked her the question “Please tell me one thing. How come I aware about the group names of your organizations?” In respond, I got an answer which gave me some thought food about that company’s policies. The answer was “Sir, we are not supposed to tell anything about any employee of this organization unless and until the visitor is aware of the group name of that person”. I countered attack that lady asking how come this is possible for a visitor to know about the same. She said “I don’t know”.

Finally, I came back without even meeting with any of the persons whom I want to meet.

Still thinking what was there in the back of the mind of policy makers which redirected that receptionist to act like that.

Sanat Sharma

You are destined to be an entrepreneur !!!!!!!

Recently, I have gone through an objective exam on the internet which claims to be an Entrepreneur Readiness Assessment. I answered those questions as per my capabilities and got the following assessment:

You are destined to be an entrepreneur!
You love to tackle a new enterprise, venture or idea, and are willing to assume responsibility and accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. You see yourself as an ambitious leader whose dream is to combine labor and capital to create and market new goods or services.
You recognize that entrepreneurship is often difficult and tricky, resulting in a high risk of failure, but this is only more energizing to you. You long to be a business founder, and create value by offering a new product or service, and by carving out a niche in the market that may not exist currently. Your preferred approach is to identify a market opportunity and exploit it by organizing resources effectively to accomplish an outcome that changes existing interactions within a given sector.
Observers see you as being willing to accept a high level of personal, professional or financial risk to pursue opportunity. You probably dream of yourself in the category of some well-known names, including such people as Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie and Bill Gates. You tend to look at problems, and see them as opportunities.
If you work for another company today, you probably also feel that your ambition is being held in check by corporate red tape and incompetent management. You are driven not so much by the need to make money, but by the need to make your dreams a reality. Money is a byproduct of this motivation rather than the motivation itself.
You are a participant, not an observer or a fan. Generally, you are an optimist, and believe that with the right amount of time and money, you can do anything. So go for it!

I don't know how much true the assessment is?

Let's hope for the best.

Sanat Sharma

Resume Jokes

Now days, I am going through numerous CVs for some of the openings for my organization as well as for some of my clients for consultants job. I am encountering many jokes in the resumes of the candidates which I am going to summarize here.

1. I got one CV of a professional having 3 years of work experience in Telecom domain. He had mentioned something very cute in his “Personal Details” section. He had mentioned his “Marital Status” as “Never Married”.
2. One of the CV had mentioned the passport status as “Police Verification Stage”. The resume was of a fresher.
3. Passport status on of one CV, I have seen, was “will be applied next week”.
4. One CV stated career objectives as “To become a successful professional in the Industry”. The CV was having an experience of 2 years.
5. On one of the CV, address was mentioned without any Indian state name.
6. “References” – “If required” was also very funny.
7. “Career Objectives” – “I am a quick learner” was also cool.

Most of the CVs are nothing but itself a joke. In case of fresher’s, project on which those guys have worked in their college as a part of course curriculum, is like a big question mark for them. 90% of the fresher’s were not able to even present their project for 15 seconds. I don’t know what they have done in their engineering.

As far as experienced professionals are concern, 50% of the CV holders are not able to describe 50% of the technologies that they have mentioned in their respective CVs. A very funny answer in that case is “I studied it a lot but never implemented it” or “I need to brush up the fundamentals”. Even if I ask a basic question about any mentioned technology in their CV, the answer would be same.

Using this blog forum, I would like to say all my readers that you should mention only that stuff in the CV which you have actually worked upon practically. This will make your life easy in the interviews.

Sanat Sharma
www.xtremeedge.in

Are you a Sales and Marketing guy?

Recently, I was in a client meeting along with one of my business friend and was discussing something (not technically) about the feasibility of a project. After some time, the client asked some technical question from my friend, who is supposed to be working in that particular domain from the last 8 years. I was shocked when I got the answer for that particular technical query. The answer was “Actually, I am not a technical guy. I will get back to you later on this. I am a Sales and marketing guy”. The client was actually surprised to hear that. And me too.

Why this answer came at that moment of time? I discussed the same with my friend after that meeting and he said that this is the best way not to take any technical responsibility about the project. I doubt and questioned him that “Is this the best way to hide your in-efficiencies in the domain?” He said “You can think it like that also”. I disagree on this answer.

In my opinion, if you are a part of a very small organization, you are not supposed to answer like this about any technical question. Answering this way will only present your incapability about handling of technical queries. In a small setup, a single person takes care of many roles at a single time. The answer, like this, is not expected. This can be a correct answer in large organizations where there are separate departments like Sales, Marketing, R&D etc.

Better to be prepared for handling all types of queries – technical, managerial, HR, Finance, Marketing, Sales etc. If you are able to answer most of the queries in all the domains, you are a perfect asset for any small organization. But remember, if you are slightly confused about your answer, better to say “I will come back to you on this later” rather than “I am not a technical guy”

- Sanat Sharma

Indian Railways Website Bug

All are busy - Humans as well as Servers

Indian Railways website bugs screenshots -

Resume – A base document for success

Resume is a document which creates the First Impression in front of the recruiters. And that too, before you face that person. This document doesn’t tell about the success and experience stories of an individual but some hidden facts also.

Most of the professionals are not aware of how to create a better resume and due to this only; they are not able to find the suitable job in their dream company. Resume should give a clear picture of your professional expertise and experience. It should tell to the recruiter about why you are the best candidate for the position as compared to others. While creating this document, one should surely mention the professional achievements but better to write what actually are. Don’t try to mention something which can create a messy situation while facing the interview panel.

Once your resume selected for the interview, you will get the call for the same. That means resume is the first step towards your job. This is a place where it is in your hand to grasp the job. While entering into the interview room, keep a smile and confidence in your personality. Dress should be properly selected for that D day. Along with these, your face should be full of energy and respect. Remember – first impression is the last impression.

The very first question that most of the interviewees faced is “Tell us something about yourself”. Now this is very common question but the answer of this question decides the further attitude of the interviewer. Better to prepare a brief summary of yourself and select the selective and short words to answer the same question. No need to start from your birth and till the time you landed in the interview room. Resume itself gave a clear picture about yourself but the interviewer try to see your presentation skills. Once asked the question, better to answer it straight forward. No need to confuse the interviewer.

Some tips for creating a better resume –
1. Use ordinary words.
2. No need to make a larger image of your past experience.
3. Write full in less words.
4. Use new techniques and templates to create the resume.
5. No need to write down strength and hobbies in details.
6. Better to mention career and experience in same level.
7. In my opinion, no need to follow the internet format of resumes.
8. No need to write down your strengths and weakness.
9. No need to highlight your personal attributes.
10. Any technology written in the resume should be thoroughly known.

 Sanat Sharma

An interesting candidate

The year 2010 started with an interesting incident in my organization. I interviewed a candidate for software trainee and was surprised to see that the person was in front of me for interview without even going through the course curriculum that he had gone through in the past. And on top of it, he admitted this fact that he came there for interview without studying a little bit. Anyways, I gave him one more chance and called him after 15 days so that he can prepare for the same. I had done this due to some personal relationship with one of my close friend. If that would not be the case, I would not consider that guy again.

Anyways, he came after 15 days and at that time also, he was not up to the mark that a serious job-seeker should have. Again, due to personal front, I hired him as software trainee for Industrial training for six months. In that time frame of six months, the trainee was supposed to learn, learn and learn along with some work, which is also learning for him.

After four days, we sit together and he said that he is quite confused about what he is doing and will happen with him in future. He openly commit that he is even not aware of the term “IT” and “ITES”. I took a brief session of him about the various questions he had in his mind. After a long class of 1.5 hrs which is free of cost for him (I usually charge for the sessions like this), I was under impression that now he is more sure about his job, his present and his future. But the story turned up into a tragedy and humours spot where he came to me after 2 hrs of long un-paid class saying that he is going to home to understand what needs to be done by him for him. And he had done all the tasks that is supposed to be done by an employee who is going to leave any organization. He said that he will call me up, once he is clarified about everything.

Actually, some persons in this world wants to get (or achieve) everything without doing nothing. The same happened with that guy. He was trying to search for the shortcut which could lead him to sky heights career. His knowledge level was near to zero and on top of it, he was confused also. In that 1.5 hrs long session, I asked him about the neighbouring countries of India, and he was not able to say at least one. On that evening, I asked the same question with one of my nephew (age 8 yrs) and he answered 7 neighbouring countries.

On that night, I was thinking about my career growth. I recollected the memories when I started my career as a GTE (Graduate Trainee Engineer) in a mid-sized organization in Noida, India. At that time, I was not even aware of what my boss was doing. My full focus was on work that has been assigned to me by my seniors. My primary duty was to complete the daily tasks and then leave for the day. To fulfil this requirement, sometime I have to work more than 16 hrs a day.

Actually, I still not understood what the issue with that guy was. But I am still waiting for his call. Not because of the reason that I will give him one more chance in my organization but because to know the reason of what was wrong with him or what is wrong with him? Without having any feeling in my mind and heart, I would love to guide that guy in his professional and personal front. And that too, without any fees.
 Sanat Sharma

HEALTHY NEW YEAR 2010

Wishing all my readers a VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2010.

I will start this year first blog with a list of five formulas for success. Although it is quite tough to list down the success-mantras but if anyone, at least go through it ones, he/she will feel good. And I am sure giving a second thought on those points will give something to the reader.

1. Write down your goal in a paper and paste it on your wall. Keep your dreams always in front of your eyes. Using this way, you will not be derailed from your path. But your goal should be actual and achievable.

2. For good heart and mind, one needs good health also. So keep healthy and fit. Keep control on your daily food and better to ignore unhealthy food.

3. You have two kinds of goals. One is short term goal and second is long term goal. Try to align all your short terms goals towards your long term goals.

4. You can’t go in past but you can make your future. You will get nothing if you think about your past failures. Better to learn from them and move further. Make new things as your first preference.

5. Learn from the legends. How they achieve in their life? What are the difficulties that they encountered while progressing in their lives? Read the autobiographies of great personalities.

Success is when luck meets opportunity. But better not to rely on luck only and keep doing hardworking. When opportunity knocks at your door, one should be ready to accept the challenge.

-- Sanat Sharma