From Fresher to Software Tester: A Typical Learning Journey

User story: 'As a user, I can reset my password by email.'

Questions a tester asks:
1. How long is the reset link valid?
2. What happens if the link is used twice?
3. What if the email is not registered? (Avoid revealing which emails exist.)
4. Are there password rules for the new password?
5. Are other sessions logged out after reset?
6. Is there a limit on reset requests per hour?

Exploratory session (30 minutes) on a practice site

Charter: explore the signup form for input handling

Notes:
- Accepts email without a domain (possible bug)
- Password field shows no rules until error
- Error message disappears too quickly to read
- Tab order skips the 'terms' checkbox (accessibility)

Follow-up: write test cases for each finding

Field: age (valid 18-60)

ID    Input   Expected
TC01  17      Error: must be 18 or older
TC02  18      Accepted
TC03  19      Accepted
TC04  59      Accepted
TC05  60      Accepted
TC06  61      Error: must be 60 or under
TC07  (blank) Error: age is required
TC08  abc     Error: enter a number

-- After registering a test user, verify the data was saved correctly
SELECT id, email, created_at, is_verified
FROM users
WHERE email = 'test.user+tc02@example.com';

-- Check no duplicate accounts exist for the same email
SELECT email, COUNT(*) AS accounts
FROM users
GROUP BY email
HAVING COUNT(*) > 1;

# pip install requests pytest   Uses a public practice API
import requests

BASE = "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com"

def test_get_post_returns_expected_fields():
    r = requests.get(f"{BASE}/posts/1", timeout=10)
    assert r.status_code == 200
    body = r.json()
    assert {"userId", "id", "title", "body"} <= body.keys()

def test_missing_post_returns_404():
    r = requests.get(f"{BASE}/posts/999999", timeout=10)
    assert r.status_code == 404

# pip install pytest-playwright && playwright install chromium
from playwright.sync_api import Page, expect

FORM = """
<form>
  <label>Email <input id='email'></label>
  <button type='button' onclick="document.getElementById('msg').textContent =
    document.getElementById('email').value ? 'Thanks!' : 'Email is required'">Send</button>
  <p id='msg'></p>
</form>"""

def test_empty_email_shows_error(page: Page):
    page.set_content(FORM)
    page.get_by_role("button", name="Send").click()
    expect(page.locator("#msg")).to_have_text("Email is required")

Software testing portfolio (example):

1. Test plan for a practice web app
2. Test case sheet using boundaries and partitions
3. Three bug reports with screenshots
4. SQL queries verifying saved data
5. API test suite (pytest + requests)
6. UI test for a key flow (Playwright or Selenium)
7. GitHub repo with CI running tests
8. README explaining what you tested and why

Stage                 Target weeks   Done?   Evidence
Fundamentals          ____           [ ]     notes, quiz
Test design           ____           [ ]     test case sheet
Bug reporting         ____           [ ]     three reports
SQL basics            ____           [ ]     queries
API testing           ____           [ ]     test suite
Automation basics     ____           [ ]     UI tests
Git and CI            ____           [ ]     repo with CI
Mock interviews       ____           [ ]     feedback notes

Prepare short answers (2-3 minutes) for:
- Walk me through how you would test a login page
- Tell me about a bug you found and how you reported it
- What is the difference between severity and priority?
- How do you decide what to automate?
- Show me one test from your portfolio and explain it

Practise aloud and record yourself once.