TestDeveloper.com

Source: http://www.leclairegenealogy.com/

I once interviewed a test developer who loves to code, but hates to test.  When I asked him questions about software development, he answered them adroitly.  When I asked him questions about test development, he answered them maladroitly.  He wasn’t some new college graduate who secretly aspired to be a software developer yet was willing to settle for a temporary test position just to get his foot in the door at the company.  Instead he was an experienced professional.

Not everyone is suited to be a software developer.  Software developers work very long hours coding new features and fixing old bugs. Some of their work is very complicated and tricky to implement.  Test developers work very long hours too in the shadows of the software developers.  Test developers are the ones who test the new features and find the old bugs.  The two teams work hand-in-hand, but most agree that that those who code for product are not the same as those who code for test.  So what about that I guy I interviewed?  He must have been in a place somewhere in between—kind of like a coding purgatory or limbo with one foot in heaven and the other in hell.  For him, heaven is the programming and hell is the testing.  He must of thought of me as the devil himself when we interviewed.

During the wrap-up session that followed the interviews, everyone on the team wanted to hire him except me.  My recommendation was to at least wait for a few other candidates before making any decisions.  Unfortunately, the window to hire someone was quickly coming to a close, so we had to decide immediately.  I told the other team members that although I understand how hard it is to find an experienced programmer, we must not forgo the fact that he dislikes testing.  I predicted that he will leave the first chance he gets as soon as we pull him away from his programming duties to do some critical manual testing.  The other team members laughed at me.  They said that it didn’t really matter what I thought since the position the man was applying for was that of my own.

So on that fateful day, the team hired him and fired me.