献给非计算机专业想加入测试行业的人
Casting a Wider Net for RecruitsCompetition for recruits heated up, and MS got creative, proving that SDETs may not need CS degrees. A program is yielding dozens of talented apprentices with alternative backgrounds.
By Laurie Rowell
An “eight-hour work day doesn’t apply, especially when we had extra homework,” said former apprentice Erika Doyle.
When the Server & Tools business looked for testers in the recruiting season of 2004-2005, it was a tough go. There were fewer computer-science grads, and more intense competition to hire them. Such a trend didn’t bode well.
The imposing dilemma: What should the group do to increase the supply of future testers?
The ensuing S&T experiment has become the Test Apprentice Program, which seeks exceptional candidates with alternative backgrounds such as physics, mathematics, or biomedical engineering. “These people are great at what they do, but have this crazy hobby on the side – computers or a fascinating technical project,” said Ake Satia, who recruits apprentices.
Microsoft trains them for nine months to be Software Development Engineers in Test (SDETs), who write automated code to test Microsoft products. The program is now supported across Microsoft’s three divisions.
In the 2005 pilot, “we hired 10 people, all in Server & Tools, and they are all still employed by Microsoft today,” said Katie Schwartzenburg, who manages the program through Engineering Excellence. The most recent group, 40 employees, ended their apprenticeships April 27.
Talented Grads Make Connections
Participants spend half the day in workshop-style classes honing coding and other skills, and the other half day working as testers on Microsoft teams. A Microsoft vendor teaches the workshops, identifying recommended reading and requiring labs that sometimes include homework.
Program graduates bridge the gap from their former disciplines easily. Erika Doyle, for example, finished the program in April. As a tester, she draws skills not only from her master’s degree in information sciences, but also from her undergrad background in humanities.
Security architect James Whittaker gives a presentation to the test apprentices.
“Writing code is all about solving logic puzzles and challenging myself to look at things from different directions, expressing ideas clearly and concisely, which are the very things that drew me into studying literature and philosophy,” Doyle said.
Similarly, Geoff Staneff finds that his Ph.D. in Material Science (chemistry plus physics), gives him “a lot of experience in data analysis and experimental design.” The formal scientific nature of his previous work to validate or invalidate theories is much like what he does now. Chris Dove, who, like Staneff, joined the program via the pilot group, cites the analytical problem-solving skills from his physics background as a natural starting point for testing.
Candidates agreed that the program requires a fierce time commitment and keen attention to time management. “Eight-hour work day doesn’t apply, especially when we had extra homework,” Doyle said.
Ambiguities to Work Through
For these candidates, Microsoft doesn’t relax its rigorous interview process, complete with problems and diagrams at the whiteboard, but interviewers don’t expect candidates to write code or answer code-specific questions.
As a result, the interview process was “a big exercise in working through ambiguity,” said Doyle, adding, “I wasn’t quite sure what to say, because it was for a job I didn’t know how to do.” Dove’s experience was similar. “I had no clue what the groups were doing that I was interviewing for,” he said. “I just didn’t have enough background in computer science for them to explain anything meaningful to me...and I was external and there was only so much they could explain.”
Unlike Microsoft interns, who work for a specified span, often three months, and then leave the company, apprentices are hired as full-time hourly employees who stay in the training phase for nine months, then transition to a standard work schedule on their teams. This distinction wasn’t clear during the program’s pilot.
Brenden Brown is among the next group of 25 apprentices, scheduled to start June 18. His college major was physics.
“ had never dealt with SDET apprentices before,” Dove said of his team. One lead mistook Dove’s role, advising him to ensure that all his equipment stayed with the team when he left. “I just looked at him and said, ‘When I leave?’”
Schwartzenburg said the program’s unique nature and a lack of communication led to such clunky experiences, which she said have been resolved. “For v.2, we had upfront meetings with all the leads and mentors about the program’s lifecycle, and had meetings throughout. It was a more targeted communications program,” she said.
Happily, the first group of testers worked out so well, that teams continue to volunteer for the program, which boasts 100 percent retention.
Brenden Brown is one of the next group of 25 apprentices, scheduled to start June 18. In college he backed up his physics major with courses in electrical engineering, and he thought work in software testing would suit him. At a campus job fair he located the Microsoft booth and talked with recruiters about it. While it took time for his query to percolate through to the right people, he had just the kind background and attitude the apprentice program looks for.
“What I enjoy is the abstract thinking,” Brown said. “I want a job where I’m mentally challenged.” 我要加强英语，谁给我订个计划？！
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