job help again?!

[kak125]

So here I am again and this time I am having major issues at my new job. So I started a job at the local university over a month ago and its been a nightmare since. To give you all some background info I am in the IT field and have done Quality Assurance work for about 7 years now.
When I took the job I was under the assumption that I would be doing mostly manual testing because they told me they only did a little bit of automated testing. So when I started the job I found out that all they really do is data driven automated testing which requires a decent amount of programming that goes into it. I have never wanted to be a programmer and never have said that I know how to program anything. I have done mostly all manual testing in my 7 years and would prefer to keep doing this. I just dont see the point in spending a couple of days writing these unbelievably complex test cases for an online form that I can test in a few hours. Its not like these forms dont change on a daily basis either. Another issue is the requirements are written in such a way that I cant understand them. I keep asking questions and all I am told is that they are formal requirements and my co-worker suggested that I read a book on logic and reasoning and that they mostly use predicate logic there. I got the book and have tried to read it but its so confusing. I dont get any of this logic stuff and am so confused. I dont know what to do now. My coworker has 2 masters degrees from CMU which is a highly ranked college and everybody else at my work at least has a masters degree or higher. I am wondering why the hired me and am at a loss as what to do next. My coworker is the only one I can ask questions to but he is so smart that he doesnt seem to understand my questions and cant figure out why I think this logic stuff is so tough.
So I am currently looking for another job but I was thinking of going to my boss and asking him if there was somebody else that maybe can explain this stuff to me or ask for some sort of training on this stuff. Of course even if I get the training I dont know if I want to sit there and write automated tests all day long. I am just so dissapointed in the situation. What would any of you do?

[mylittledemon]

When I took the job I was under the assumption that I would be doing mostly manual testing because they told me they only did a little bit of automated testing. So when I started the job I found out that all they really do is data driven automated testing which requires a decent amount of programming that goes into it.


Well we all know what the first 3 letters of assumption are! *wink*

You should've asked all those questions when being interviewed...before you took the job, etc. Now you look like the bad guy. If you were told otherwise in your interview/before you were hired...then by all means, take it up with the boss and tell him what the issue is. If they knew you had no experience in what they are asking you to now do, then it would be THEIR issue to fix (i.e. to train you, etc.)

[kak125]

Well we all know what the first 3 letters of assumption are! *wink*

You should've asked all those questions when being interviewed...before you took the job, etc. Now you look like the bad guy. If you were told otherwise in your interview/before you were hired...then by all means, take it up with the boss and tell him what the issue is. If they knew you had no experience in what they are asking you to now do, then it would be THEIR issue to fix (i.e. to train you, etc.)

i did ask a lot of questions when i was interviewed and the way things were made out in the interview and the way they are now are 2 different things. they asked about my experience and i told them how i have done mostly all manual testing and how i dont like automated testing and blah blah blah. i have a lot of clinical trial experience from a past job which you think would help me in this one but the way they do things is all different. i just dont know why they would think i could do programming when i never said i could do it or have done it in the past. yeah i guess i gotta go to my boss today and see if they can get me some training on that stuff but even then its tough because my brain just doesnt think like a programmer. i have tried and just cant get it but i think its partly because its just not my thing. i like being a tester and finding the bugs. that is what i enjoy doing. not sitting around all day and writing code. thanks for your help :)

[David]

Sounds like the old bait & switch ... on their part. Do you still have the old job ad?

You told them during the interview that you "don't like" automated testing. But did you make clear that you don't know how to perform automated testing?

How could the subject of programming not come up during the interview?

I'm sorry about the troubles you're experiencing. New jobs -- even when we're on top of things -- always suck for about the first three months. Maybe these guys are testing you -- pushing you out of your comfort zone -- just to see how you handle it?

At this point, I think complete honesty -- rather than accusations -- is necessary in a heart-to-heart talk with your bosses. Bring a copy of your resume, the same resume you submitted for the interview. Point out what your strengths are, what your experience is, & what you DON'T know how to do (programming, automated testing, etc.). Emphasize that you are excited about the prospect of what you can do for this new workplace & that you're eager to learn new things. Don't accuse anyone of misunderstanding your interview comments or your resume. Be professionally eager to solve this problem rather than ascribe blame -- just in case 1) they're testing your mettle, or 2) you need a reference from them for a new employer.

See what they say.

[BTFLCHLD]

Wasn't the job title QA Engineer? and isn't that supposed to be the bridge between end-users and programmers? Do you have the job description they supplied?

[kak125]

QUOTE=David;819366]Sounds like the old bait & switch ... on their part. Do you still have the old job ad?

You told them during the interview that you "don't like" automated testing. But did you make clear that you don't know how to perform automated testing?

How could the subject of programming not come up during the interview?

I'm sorry about the troubles you're experiencing. New jobs -- even when we're on top of things -- always suck for about the first three months. Maybe these guys are testing you -- pushing you out of your comfort zone -- just to see how you handle it?

At this point, I think complete honesty -- rather than accusations -- is necessary in a heart-to-heart talk with your bosses. Bring a copy of your resume, the same resume you submitted for the interview. Point out what your strengths are, what your experience is, & what you DON'T know how to do (programming, automated testing, etc.). Emphasize that you are excited about the prospect of what you can do for this new workplace & that you're eager to learn new things. Don't accuse anyone of misunderstanding your interview comments or your resume. Be professionally eager to solve this problem rather than ascribe blame -- just in case 1) they're testing your mettle, or 2) you need a reference from them for a new employer.

See what they say.[/QUOTE]

i will have to see if the job listing is still online but it mostly said what all QA jobs say:
writing test plans, test cases and procedures, documenting defects, works well with others etc.
during the interview they asked if i knew how to use this certain automated tool and i said no that i have done mostly all manual testing and that i did do automated testing at my first job but that it wasnt the data driven kind and that i did not like it and basically that its a waste of time.
that is when they said they just started to use this certain tool there but that it would be a lot of manual testing as well. they then said they didnt even have a defect tracking system and that they didnt even do a lot of the testing that i have done in the past. they just hired a QA at the time which is who i share the office with now. from the sound of the way things were described to me i figured testing their web applications wouldnt be anything too difficult.

i never ever said in any interview that i have ever done programming. programming and quality assurance usually dont go together. believe me i have tried to learn programming in college and i just dont think logically like that and its so boring i think i would rather stab myself in the eye first. i figured out early on in my career that qa was what i was good at and what i really liked. i love sitting there and finding ways to break a program and that is what i excel at.

to be honest i dont think my boss has any idea what is going on with me. i never see him and when i ask for stuff to do he just refers me to my qa co-worker who tells me to write these test cases in excel. i keep telling him that i have never written code and this stuff doesnt make sense to me so he told me get this book on logic and read the first two chapters but its so confusing. i told him yesterday that i am not getting it and he was like oh thats scary and that was it. i know the first few months of a job are tough but i have worked at 6 other computer companies and have always figured out what i was doing quickly and was testing within a couple of weeks. I was always a quick learner until now and now my confidence is shot.

i agree though i do need to have a long talk with my boss and see if we can figure out a way that i can be of help here. i am sure i could just hang around for a while if i wanted but i dont want to do that. i want to be doing stuff and contributing.

[kak125]

Wasn't the job title QA Engineer? and isn't that supposed to be the bridge between end-users and programmers? Do you have the job description they supplied?

my title just says Software Quality Assurance. i have had alot of titles such as quality software engineer and test engineer and at a previous job i was even a senior quality assurance manager but none of those positions ever required any programming. if i just had some sort of training on what they do here and how they do and stuff then i might have a little more of a clue but there is no training.

[kak125]

talk about a bad day. i just found out from my dad that my grandfather passed away. i was just thinking today on my way home about how my hubby and i should go see him this weekend. i feel so bad i didnt get a chance to say goodbye. :(

[JWS]

talk about a bad day. i just found out from my dad that my grandfather passed away. i was just thinking today on my way home about how my hubby and i should go see him this weekend. i feel so bad i didnt get a chance to say goodbye. :(

How old was he? My father is over 80. I never knew my grandfathers...they died before I was born.

[kak125]

He was only 75. He had leukemia for about 7 years and then the past few months he was diagnosed with emphysema and then he recently got pnenomia so it was just one thing after the other. I saw him in the hospital a few weeks ago and he didnt look too good and then a week later they let him out so I thought he was doing better. I was really surprised when I heard from my Dad that he had passed away.

I am very lucky that I have 2 of my grandmothers and 1 great grandmother that are still alive. My grandmothers are in their 70's and my great grandmother just turned 90. A few months ago my other great grandmother passed away, she was 101! Now I wouldnt mind living to be that old. Its crazy I never realized how many of my friends didnt have any of their grandparents until we started talking about it one day.