We're bringing 2022 to a close with a second month of coaching-related conversation, as we finally maroon the one and only Vernon Richards on our desert island, to share his many career adventures, from games testing, to Will Smith body double, to flourishing as a coach. We talk about day-to-day challenges facing testers, such as the demands to upskill (particularly around code), how to display 'coach-like' behaviours regardless of your job title, and how to balance networking with being a functioning family member. On the music front, there's a selection of hip-hop from across the decades (with a promise of some karaoke in the future), and Vernon exploits Neil's festive kindness to increase the size of the island's bookshelf by 10 titles. Plus, a round-up of our favourite music and movies of 2022! Grow your testing skills at Ministry of Testing, the home of testing https://www.ministryoftesting.com/podcasts?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=tid

As we move unfathomably towards the festive season, we take a break from the cold and gloomy weather to welcome TestBash UK's very own pink ray of sunshine, Clare Norman, for a discussion of the specific skills and traits that can help us to be better quality coaches We talk about how a lack of testing resources can often be liberating for our roles, how listening is as valuable a skill as speaking, the differences between coaching and teaching, and the power of persuasion, in an episode which somehow remains coherent despite Neil's tiredness and the recording software crashing twice. Clare's musical selections include a couple of big-hitting rock bands making their first-ever appearances on the podcast, the return of an old favourite, and some classical and world music choices too. And while Clare adds one book to our island selection, we also spend most of the episode name-checking lots of other influential books, talks and blogs in the coaching space. Grow your testing skills at Ministry of Testing, the home of testing https://www.ministryoftesting.com/podcasts?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=tid

Fresh from last month's TestBash adventure, Neil is joined by fellow conference attendee Conor Fitzgerald, who brings his experiences as co-founder of the Ministry of Testing Cork meetup, as well as from his many years as tester, manager and toastmaster. On our agenda today, we discuss conferences and meetups (including the challenges of running both in-person and remote events), moving into management roles, how to lead when you can't see people, and how good listening is often even more important than good speaking. From a musical perspective, Conor does a fantastic job of debuting a few timeless bands onto our playlist, including some classic grunge and rock, and a third appearance by one of Neil's favourite acts. Plus a load of bonus book recommendations!

We're doing it live! For our five-year anniversary, Neil throws caution (and editing) to the wind as he roams The Lowry in Manchester during TestBash UK 2022, contending with challenges including a tea service, a hotel restaurant, tannoy systems, outside broadcasts and interviewing multiple guests at once. Betwixt the background buzz, we talk to speakers and attendees about the return of face-to-face events, the novelty of a multi-track TestBash, and the common themes that we observed during the two-day conference, including quality engineering, culture, coaching and cognition. There are music selections as usual, with a mixture of new and old, and a first appearance for possibly the quintessential 90s one-hit wonder (even though Neil is aware that they actually had multiple follow-up singles). With thanks to all of our guests who volunteered their time for this episode: Yanir Taflev, Alex Reynolds, Simon Prior, Vernon Richards, Stuart Day, Diana Dromey, Julia Förster and Steve Moss. Grow your testing skills at Ministry of Testing, the home of testing https://www.ministryoftesting.com/podcasts?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=tid

This month it's a truly worldwide affair as Neil is joined by Nicola Lindgren, a New Zealander who's based in Sweden, to share stories of her testing journey and her community content creation, including a newly-published book, "Starting Your Software Testing Career" We talk about how to reserve the time to participate in extra-curricular activities, and take a deep-dive into the process of creating a book from start to finish, including finding value for your audience, how contributors can help you to create more well-rounded content, getting your content reviewed, and how to promote effectively on social media. On the music front, there are memories of Nicaraguan night-life, graduation parties, Korean dance routines and "songs for squats"!

The usual Testers' Island Discs schedule is back on track, and we're resuming things this month with Callum Akehurst-Ryan, who chats about activities during the recent Pride Month, the importance of embracing people's authentic selves, and espousing love for the joy of exploratory testing. Along the way, we get into discussions about videogame crushes, tactical tattoo selections, watery mammals, using Dungeons & Dragons to help with healing from trauma, and there's a little light excerpt of Callum's DM storytelling which is perfect for ASMR fans. In Callum's musical selections, there are covers, AI recommendations, songs with videogame connections, and a track which allows Neil to share a peculiar punctuation-related statistic.

In an episode delayed by a horrible cold which Neil is audibly still not over, we bring two-thirds of the Tech Team Weekly podcast together as Gwen Diagram arrives for a long overdue (and colourful) testing discussion. We talk about Gwen's career and tech passions which have burned from a young age, her path from Australia into the UK, and the chance events which led her into IT, into testing, and subsequently into test management and engineering management. We talk about the challenges of big career jumps, speaking at conferences/online, speaking truth to executives, and representing the rights of the humans in our teams, in a session which was 100% not designed to be cathartic for Neil. Honest. Among Gwen's raucous musical selections, there's punk, garage rock, songs which cause us to bemoan the passage of time, and the shortest song that's ever appeared on the podcast (played in its entirety). Plus, Gwen's Leeds musical roots give Neil the perfect opportunity to finally wax lyrical about his favourite band that nobody's heard of.

We're trying something a little bit different this month, as Contract Testing aficionado Lewis Prescott joins us to talk about the joy (and challenges) of using Pact to support the development of multiple connected services without introducing breaking changes. It's a technical topic which is tough to cover optimally in audio format, but there's something here for everybody: those who are already familiar with Pact will find some practical tips and when and how you should (and shouldn't) use it, whereas newcomers will find a good grounding in the general lingo, and some recommendations for where to look in order to get hands-on experience. Lewis also manages the rare feat of selecting songs by five artists who've not appeared on the podcast before, as we welcome some modern classics into the island vaults, from the world of pop, R&B, hip-hop and rap.

A new year means a new start for many people, and that's definitely the case in this episode, where both host and guest have just started new roles as Head of QA. This month, Neil interviews Simon Rigler, which is another way of saying that Neil wants to ask Simon all of the most difficult questions that are keeping your host awake at night. It's a veritable Greatest Hits of test leadership discussions, as they discuss what draws people into (and out of) the world of testing, the importance of collaborating between disciplines and breaking down walls, remote collaboration challenges, and how to handle the situation where managers are fixated solely on automation. We've got diversions aplenty, including discussions about globetrotting, lockdown life on the coast, timezone headaches, and how to avoid being the testing equivalent of the Grim Reaper. On the music front, there are electronic and instrumental offerings, some Antipodean friends, a band marking their fifth appearance on the podcast, and Simon picks a track from one of the defining albums of 1999 which sends Neil off down memory lane.

Neil draws 2021 to a close by welcoming calls (and emails, and Rackets) from across the testing community. Our magnificent seven guests share a festive retrospective on their accomplishments of this year, and set themselves some targets for 2022. And Neil answers the same questions for the sake of balance. Among the bumper crop of songs featured in this round-up, there are tracks with Danish, Spanish and German lyrics; four songs which were actually released this year; two returning guests pick songs by artists that they've chosen before; and we get a light dusting of metalcore for good measure. Plus, a lot of the songs seem to be swearier than usual! We hope that you enjoy this little slice of something different, and look forward to welcoming you back to our regular service at the end of January.

After many episodes talking about how we can help to encourage newcomers into the world of testing, Neil finally decides it's a good idea to interview somebody who's been through this process recently! We're joined by Kelly Kenyon, to discuss the many (oftentimes musical) threads of her working life, and how they have eventually led her to discover the joy of testing. We discuss Kelly's experiences at the Coders Guild Bootcamp, some of her biggest learnings and revelations, and how well it's prepared her for the "real world". We also get into deep discussion about the challenges of managing and moderating your learning objectives. On the music front, there are a couple of picks which speak to Kelly's musical background, and an eclectic selection of chart hits which allow us to finally tick off a few more "I can't believe nobodys picked this artist before" entries. This episode is sponsored by Provar, the leading expert in accelerating innovation within the Salesforce ecosystem. Founded by experts in the Salesforce community, Provar provides a robust test automation solution to help you deliver scalable and repeatable tests. Automated and polymorphic testing is the key to maximizing your Salesforce investment. https://www.provartesting.com/

In an island first, we welcome a recruiter into our midst, as Gabbi Trotter swims ashore to discuss some of the challenges with hiring software testers. We look at both sides of the coin: what can candidates do to better position themselves for their dream roles, and what can companies do to attract the right talent? We get some insider insights on how the recruitment market has evolved since the pandemic began, the perks of interviewing over Zoom, and the rising debate around remote working. And in an unlikely coincidence of scheduling, we once again get into the topic of how you can build your personal brand, especially when you don’t have the time or energy for content creation. Gabbi brings with her a slate of powerful female musicians, some of whom are making their debut on the podcast, and others which make Neil very happy indeed (you know which one in particular we mean). This episode is sponsored by TestRail: TestRail helps you manage and track your software testing efforts. Its intuitive web-based user interface makes it easy to create test cases, manage test runs and coordinate your entire testing process. Easily track and follow the status of individual tests, milestones, and projects with dashboards and activity reports. Get real-time insights into your testing progress and boost productivity with personalized to-do lists, filters, and email notifications. https://secure.gurock.com/customers/testrail/trial/

In our longest episode to date, Neil gets deep into pretty much everything with fellow podcast aficionado Chris Armstrong. We chat in-depth about Chris's early career within the games testing industry, looking at some of the fun and not-so-fun aspects of combining work and play. There's also the perfect chance for Neil and Chris to nerd out about their love of the Football Manager game series. It's not just a chat about games though! We get into some thought-provoking and introspective discussions about career progression, examining how we can make opportunities open up for ourselves, and we nerd out uncontrollably about the awesome support that the testing community is always willing to offer up. On the music front, expect a variety of nu-metal, pop-punk, another Eurovision entry, and one of the unlikeliest 90s pop selections that we've had for a long time. This episode is sponsored by Xray, the leading QA and Native Test Management app for Jira. With Xray you're able to streamline development and testing into a single collaborative workflow where all the requirements are naturally linked to testing. Never overlook another test now that quality is built right into everything you develop. Say goodbye to silos with Dev and QA, united as they should be. Discover the future of native quality management and start your free trial today at https://www.getxray.app

To commemorate a half-century of episodes, we're joined on the increasingly densely populated desert island by Sam Connelly, who hails from the 26th largest island in the world, to talk about her journey into testing and some top tips about building your personal brand, especially in the audio-visual and streaming space. We discuss the places to gain inspiration for our brand names, the challenges of pairing online from remote timezones, setting up your personal working environment, finding motivation during lockdowns, and recommend some ways to get up-and-running with streaming quickly and cheaply. Looking at the person behind the brand, we also touch upon defining our personal values, discussing when it's important to be transparent, which touches upon some of Sam's hobbies which aren't strictly NSFW but which might prompt awkward questions from young listeners; and Neil confesses to the time that he tried to tie his personal branding in with the Backstreet Boys. Among Sam's rich music choices are some Mongolian folk metal, another artist with a RuPaul connection, the first appearance of a violumpet on the podcast, and a song which features her name within the lyrics. Plus, finally, a book to help our fifty island inhabitants to survive! This episode is sponsored by TestRail: TestRail helps you manage and track your software testing efforts. Its intuitive web-based user interface makes it easy to create test cases, manage test runs and coordinate your entire testing process. Easily track and follow the status of individual tests, milestones, and projects with dashboards and activity reports. Get real-time insights into your testing progress and boost productivity with personalized to-do lists, filters, and email notifications. https://secure.gurock.com/customers/testrail/trial/

With summer in full swing, we welcome Thomas Rinke to the island, to talk about his career in testing, talking through some of the challenges and achievements associated with guiding teams along their agile journey, from both a tester and manager's perspective. We also talk further about the concept of "whole team quality", the joy of exploratory testing, the importance of promoting team diversity, and how we can each help to elevate new voices. In an episode recorded in early July, Neil makes some eerily accurate predictions for the outcome of the rescheduled Euro 2020 tournament, and there are some rock/pop-infused musical selections that include the first appearance of a James Bond theme song. This episode is sponsored by Provar: Provar is the leading expert in Salesforce testing focused on accelerating innovation within the Salesforce ecosystem. They provide a robust test automation solution and deep Salesforce expertise to help you deliver scalable and repeatable tests to enhance release agility and maximize your Salesforce investment. To learn more visit https://provartesting.com/

This month's special guest is Beth Marshall, who joins us on the island to talk about how we can advance our careers as testers, ranging from learning how to build (and measure) your reputation within your team, how to create a test automation portfolio, finding ways in which your experience can help you to give back to the community, and talking about the processes involved with creating workshop content. We talk a bit about TestBash Home (even though it hadn't happened when we recorded), the importance of celebrating everyday stories more than elevating people to heroes, our thoughts about the new audio-based social media platform Racket, and Beth finally teases an announcement from Neil about his new job (and how it ties in to a previous Testers' Island episode). Beth's musical selections (both the ones that made the cut, and the ones that only just missed out) contain some choice gems, ranging from pop delights to motown classics, and she becomes the first person to select a Eurovision entry.

This month, we're joined by Simon Tomes, who in a complete coincidence has just begun a role as CommunityBoss at Ministry of Testing! Simon talks to us about the many different hats that he's worn in his career, including being the co-founder of TestBuddy, a tool to support the capturing and sharing of exploratory testing notes. In a show which is a useful companion to the previous episode, we get deep into the nitty-gritty of exploratory testing: How do you estimate timeboxes if you're testing something completely new? What categories of information do you capture during exploratory testing charters? And how do you engage others with the output of your sessions? Along the way, Simon takes a (very) deep dive into five songs which all feature elements of exploration, teaching us elements of music theory and trying not to mention the time that Prince choreographed a Batman-themed dance routine. This episode is sponsored by Provar: Struggling with the complexities of building and maintaining tests given the impact of localization (running tests that work for various languages, time zones, etc.)? Learn more about simplifying test automation for global companies in this complimentary white paper: https://bit.ly/32xyIri

In conjunction with the Ministry of Testing's Exploratory Testing Week, we welcome our Antipodean friend Lee Hawkins onto the island for a discussion about exploratory testing: Do we all understand what it is? Do we all do it? How do we estimate how long it will take? And how do we showcase the results of these activities? With both guest and host bringing experiential stories which delve back into the 1990s, we chat about ways for new testers to become familiar with ET, the need for senior testing figures to share more about how they test, and whether automation has a place in supporting exploratory activities. In perhaps the most musically on-point episode of the podcast so far, Lee shares his love for the many different and less-well-known facets of the band Status Quo, and we learn that they are not confined solely to music. This episode is sponsored by Provar: Struggling with the complexities of building and maintaining tests given the impact of localization (running tests that work for various languages, time zones, etc.)? Learn more about simplifying test automation for global companies in this complimentary white paper: https://bit.ly/32xyIri

In this month's episode we welcome Lina Zubyte, who adds our desert island to the list of many countries on her tester's passport. We talk about the nature of making human connections, how we can maintain these when we're apart, and how to make sure we're connecting/collaborating inclusively with a diverse group of people. In an episode with almost as many off-the-cuff book references as musical choices, we talk about some of the more vulnerable aspects of being a tester or test manager, such as learning to let go, being comfortable with failure, and managing our approach to changes. We also talk about rising to challenges, which extends into Lina's song choices, which include a live performance with a story that's almost as remarkable as the music itself. This podcast is sponsored by TestProject (https://testproject.io), the world's first 100% free test automation platform for Web, Android, iOS, and API testing, just launched its major 2.0 next generation release, enabling its 100,000+ users to enjoy the best of both worlds and operate on either their Hybrid Cloud or completely offline. Whether you need the simplicity of a cloud solution or the control of hosting tests locally - TestProject has got you covered, making it easier for testers and developers to ensure quality with speed, eliminating maintenance and setup hassles and empowering Selenium and Appium with AI self-healing technology. By fostering a collaborative community that can come together, as individuals and in teams, TestProject is shaping the future of software testing and helping teams overcome testing challenges with ease and deliver flawless products.

On this month's podcast, we're delighted to be joined by the renowned (and SEO-friendly) Viv Richards, for a chat about visual regression testing which definitely doesn't take any diversions into discussions about cricket. If you're stumped by the concept of visual regression testing, if you're bowled over by the number of different tools that are available in the marketplace, or if you're worried about being caught out by focusing on automating the wrong things, there's a variety of advice on offer within this month's episode. Viv's musical selections include some classic earworms, one of which achieves a significant Testers' Island milestone, and you can find out which boy-band member manages to have one of his solo tracks selected before any of his band's offerings. This episode is sponsored by TestProject (https://testproject.io/), the world's first 100% free test automation platform for Web, Android, iOS and API testing, trusted by over 80,000 users in the testing community. TestProject helps testers and developers ensure quality with speed, by eliminating maintenance & setup hassles and empowering Selenium & Appium with AI self-healing technology. No matter your skillset, TestProject has all the tools you need to ensure a top-notch automation experience, using advanced codeless features or open source SDK compatible with native Selenium APIs. To top it off, you also get to leverage their useful Addons library, out-of-the-box beautiful test reports, seamless integrations into your CI/CD pipelines, worldwide team collaboration options to boost efficiency, and all of this at no cost. Try out TestProject today. https://testproject.io/