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Automation Testing Expert – Raghav Pal
Automation testing has been the new age technology for software test automation. Therefore, automation is now reaching all functions, across the industries from installation, integration, and maintenance to design, procurement, and management. Automation also reaches into the domain of sales and marketing functions of organizations.
In this article you will come across various questions answered by an Automation Expert- Mr Raghav Pal.
Raghav Pal is an Automation Test Architect and a Teacher. He started his professional life in the year 2009 with Infosys Technologies and worked on several Testing Projects. 2 years later he got introduced to Automation Testing and was fascinated by how we can use tools and framework to automate our manual work. Over the last 11 years, He have witnessed, worked and delivered multiple Automation Testing Projects and have worked with some awesome people in this industry.
A few years ago, He felt a need to share, and hand-over his knowledge to anyone and everyone who needs it and anyone who wants to learn Automation in a very basic, simple, step-by-step manner.
That is when he started teaching and realized that it was his passion. His motivation to create the platform https://automationstepbystep.com/ was the drive to spread knowledge and education through simple step-by-step guides.
What does an automation testing professional do?
The main work for people in Test Automation is to design, develop & configure test automation solutions like automation frameworks, tools, libraries etc. They also are responsible for efficient test automation execution and maintenance. Test Automation Professionals also actively participate during integration of testing with other processes in the project and help in Continuous integration, delivery and deployment. DevOps has a close association with Test Automation.
What are the career opportunities for people who want to join automation testing?
Career opportunities are great and bright. Automation testing can be done on multiple platforms & applications like Web UI, API, Mobile, Database, Desktop etc. Most of the organizations today need test automation to shorten the testing cycle and have efficient and faster systems for testing.
How did you start your career in automation testing?
While working in Infosys Mysore, I needed and got transferred to Chandigarh center of Infosys in 2011. There I got into an Automation Testing Project and started with test automation. Since then I am into this field.
What do you think are the keys to your professional success?
Test Automation gives you challenges and if you are ready to take them up success is inevitable. This is exactly what happened to me. In the project where I started with Test Automation, the framework was already setup and our team was mostly required to run the automation tests and report the statistics. There came a time where we needed to update and enhance the framework. Where most of the team mates showed the lack of necessary skills required, I decided to take up the challenge and started exploring. However, i had to study a lot using online resources but finally was able to do the work. As a result, i soon became the go to guy for any framework updates or enhancements.
Taking up challenges and working honestly to find solutions is important. This is something I practice till today.
What are some things you do to keep you interested, updated and inspired?
As of now I spend most of my time teaching (automationstepbystep.com) and this is what keeps me busy and inspired. Moreover, my motivation to teach was the drive to spread knowledge and education through simple step-by-step guides. Also, I receive lots of messages from around the world daily and it helps keep me motivated.
What’s your favorite part about what you do?
Firstly, Solving challenges and secondly, helping others through my teaching is what I love about my work.
What will be your advice for people who want to join this field?
Automation Testing is interesting provided you are ready to learn, explore, take up challenges and work until you find a solution. Most importantly, if you have or can develop these skills, test automation is for you and it is a highly rewarding career. Moreover, today we are fortunate that a lot of resources are available online and most of them are free. So, select what you want to learn and go for it.
How will you guide people who want to join top IT companies?
In the field of Test Automation, practical hands-on knowledge is very important. You may watch a video or read an article and feel that you have understood the subject, However, when you will do hands-on, you will face a lot of different challenges and solving them will make you a good Test Automation Engineer. Therefore, Any good company will acknowledge your skills if you have the capacity to design & develop automation testing solutions and have the capacity to troubleshoot and resolve issues.
What do you see yourself doing in five or ten years’ time?
I will continue teaching. Further, i have a long list of topics sent by my students through YouTube, Udemy and other platforms. So, in short I will always be a teacher for sure. I may take up some other work related to Test Automation, like a project or consultation services, but teaching will always be there.
What do you think is the “next big thing” in automation testing?
RPA (Robotic Process Automation), AI (Artificial Intelligence) & Machine Learning is gaining pace these days. However, i believe people with skills on these subjects will be high in demand in the coming years.
What are the online courses/certifications which you would like to suggest?
I will say Selenium for UI Automation and JMeter for Performance testing are good to start. Apart from this certifications on DevOps & Cloud Computing will be useful.
How did you find the Vskills JMeter Certification exam?
I took JMeter certification in 2016. It was very well organized and the complete process was smooth. Above all, the material provided by Vskills was enough to clear the required score.
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