Introduction to ISTQB Certification

Software Testing Certifications – ISTQB Certification

> IT Certification brings with it industry recognition and improved job opportunities.

> Current Job Market is competitive. Taking a certification exam, can help you differentiate yourself from peers. Employers too benefit, since a certification acts as a skills verification tool and improves the staff’s ability to quickly complete on-the-job tasks.

> But Technical ability, experience and soft skills do play a major role in the job interviews, certification adds an advantage to your career.

1) Types of Software Testing Certifications

We have two types of certifications for Software Testing,

i. Vendor Neutral Certifications (Vendor Neutral Certifications on Manual Testing (No vendor for Manual Testing.)
a. ISTQB Certifications
b. CSTE
c. CSQE
Etc…

ii. Vendor Certifications (Vendor Certifications on Test Tools / Automated Testing, Ex: HP UFT Certification.)

a. HP – UFT Certification, Quality Center certification
b. IBM – RFT Certification Etc…

Note: Selenium is an Open source Software, no authorized certification, but some third party organizations are conduction Selenium certification programs.

Note: It is better to have at least one Vendor-neutral certification and one vendor certification, but first vendor-neutral certification, it gives an advantage for any type of Software Testing Job Role…

In Vendor neutral certifications, ISTQB is a reasonable and widly acceptable certification…

2) ISTQB Certification

> International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) is an international organization that offers globally recognized certifications in software Testing.

> ISTQB Certifications are aimed at candidates who have recently completed their education and want to take up software testing as a profession. It is also taken up by experienced candidates who want to demonstrate their practical knowledge of software testing.

> ISTQB – International Software Testing Qualifications Board is a Non-profit association, Founded in 2002, Headquartered in Belgium(Europe)

> Types of ISTQB Certifications:
i) Foundation Level
Agile Tester Extension
Model-Based Tester Extension
ii) Advanced Level
Security tester
iii) Expert Level

3) Types of ISTQB Certification

i) Foundation Level
> The Foundation Level qualification is aimed at professionals who need to demonstrate practical knowledge of the fundamental concepts of software testing. The Foundation Level qualification is also appropriate for anyone who needs a basic understanding of software testing.

> It is suggested that candidates for the Foundation Level certification have at least six months’ practical experience in a professional testing role.

Agile Tester Extension

> Agile testing is a relatively new approach to software testing that follows the principles of agile software development as outlined in the Agile Manifesto.

> A tester on an Agile project will work differently than one working on a traditional project. Testers must understand the values and principles that underpin Agile projects, and how testers are an integral part of a whole-team approach together with developers and business representatives.

> The Agile Extension will give the tester the knowledge to be part of agile testing teams and achieve high performance.

> To be eligible to undertake the Agile Tester Foundation Extension certification exam, candidates must first hold the ISTQB Foundation Certificate.

Model-Based Tester extension

> Model-based testing is an innovative test approach to improve effectivity and efficiency of the test process. A model-based tester on a project uses models to drive test analysis and design, and keeps advantage of the models for other testing activities such as test implementation and reporting.

> To be eligible to undertake the Model-Based Tester Foundation Extension certification exam, candidates must first hold the ISTQB Foundation Certificate.

ii) Advanced Level

> The Advanced Level qualification is aimed at people who have achieved an advanced point in their careers in software testing. This includes people in roles such as testers, test analysts, test engineers, test consultants, test managers, user acceptance testers and software developers.

> This Advanced Level qualification is also appropriate for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of software testing, such as project managers, quality managers, software development managers, business analysts, IT directors and management consultants.

> To get the Advanced Level certification, candidates must hold the Foundation Certificate and have sufficient practical experience.

Security Tester

> The Advanced Level Security Tester qualification is aimed at people who have already achieved an advanced point in their careers in software testing and wish to develop further their expertise in security testing.

> candidates must hold a valid Certified Tester Foundation Level certificate and have sufficient practical experience to be certified at Advanced Level, which should be not less than 3 (three) years of relevant academic, practical, or consulting experience.

iii) Expert Level
> The Expert Level extends the knowledge and experience obtained at the Advanced Level by providing in-depth, practically-oriented certifications in a range of different testing subjects.

> To obtain Expert Level certification, candidates must have:

Software Testing Certifications – ISTQB Certification

> the Foundation Certificate, an Advanced Certificate depending on the Expert Module desired, passed the Expert Level Exam, at least 5 years of practical testing experience and at least 2 years of industry experience in the specific Expert Level topic

4) ISTQB Foundation Level Certification

> This is an online exam, Questions are multiple choice in nature, there is no negative marking in the exam, Each correct answer carries 1 point, Total number of questions in the exam are 40, Minimum percentage for passing : 65% (26 or more points) and total exam time: 75 minutes.

you can get the ISTQB detailed syllabus and glossary form ISTQB official website -www.istqb.org, istqb.in…

Eligibility: There are no formal requirements for this certification. Foundation level aims at all the individual who are involved in Software Testing & at those who are eager to acquire basic knowledge of fundamentals of Software Testing.

Validity: Foundation level certification is valid for life time.

Note: If you have passed the Foundation Level exam you can use the ISTQB Certified Tester-Foundation Level logo on your resume.

A Brief Introduction about ISTQB Foundation level syllabus:

Exam Mode: Online, Exam Duration: 75 minutes, Exam Pattern: Multiple Choice Questions, Total Marks: 40 and Pass Marks: 26 (65%).

1) The Fundamentals of Testing (7 Marks)

Why is testing necessary?
What is Testing?
Testing Principles
Fundamental Test Process
The psychology of Testing
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2) Testing throughout the life-cycle (6 Marks)

Software development models
Test Levels (Eg. Unit testing, Component testing, Integration testing,etc.)
Test types (Functional, non-functional, structural, change-related testing)
Maintenance testing
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3) Static Testing (3 Marks)

Reviews and the Test process
Review Process
Static analysis by tools
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4) Test design Techniques (12 Marks)

Identifying test conditions and designing test cases
Categories of test design techniques
Specification based or Black Box techniques (eg. BVA, Equivalence Partitioning)
Structure based or white Box techniques
Experienced based techniques (Error guessing and Exploratory guessing)
Choosing a Test techniques
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5) Test Management (8 Marks)

Test organization
Test Plans, estimates and strategies
Test progress, monitoring and control
Configuration management
Risk and testing
Incident management
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6) Tool support for Testing (4 Marks)

Types of test tools
Effective use of tools
Introducing a tool into an organization
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