Mirjana Kolarov is next in our ‘Meet the Speaker’ Series to answer our questions.

Mirjana will be presenting her session ‘Monitoring System Performance’ on Monday at 4 p.m.

How did you get started in software testing?

As with most testers, I got into testing by accident. I graduated at a Faculty of Electrical Engineering (Computer Science), and was looking for a job. Back then I knew only a little about testing (almost nothing actually), so I thought that I should be a programmer.

I saw a job opportunity for a tester and a developer in the same company, so I applied for both. At the interview they told me that the developer position will be opened in a month, and that if I want to start right away they could offer me a tester job. Since I am an extremely curious person, I was intrigued as to what testers actually do. I took the tester job opportunity, with the option to convert to a Java/.NET developer if I didn’t find it interesting.

For the first couple of months it was not that challenging to me. I wanted to switch my career to development. But luckily, they recognized my organisation and soft skills and gave me a chance to be the only tester in the development team, to organise my work and to be responsible for it. This is when I realised that a tester’s job is more dynamic and challenging (at least to me) than the developers.

That’s where I stayed.  Who knew back then that I would be starting a Test Community 6 years later.

Who inspires you?

A lot of people. I cannot just name one.  Since I feel strongly for diversity in IT, and of course in testing, I admire every single female tester who decided to take the heavy path and step into an industry made of mostly the men.

Just to name a few who are doing it extremely well: Anne-Marie Chaerrett, Fiona Charles, Maaret Pyhäjärvi, Jenet Gregory, Lisa Crispin, Katrina Clokie, Rosie Sherry, Dorothy Graham … And, of course, my family who’s always inspiring me to do better and to do more.

What do you see for the future of software testing?

In the future of software testing I don’t see roles at all. It will not matter if you are a Test Manager, Test Lead or even a Test Architect.

Testers will need to learn more – to have wider picture and go even deeper into certain subjects. I see testers arising from their current role and being the glue to the whole development team. Those who can recognise when to do what and then find specialists to execute those tasks. Testers should be able to adapt to changes faster and better in the future, that’s for sure.

I don’t see it as problem, rather a challenge.