Forum etiquette

OK - let the ranting begin.......

I subscribe to a number of testing related forums. One forum in particular, I registered with in 2002, then by 2003 I stopped reading it. I got upset with the number of *lazy* / *misguided* people using it as a short-cut to doing research.

Let me give you an example of one of the posts that was allowed through on the forum:

"How to do testing" - this was posted by a person who was trying to apply for a testing position, with no testing experience. This isn't too bad, people have to start somewhere, HOWEVER, this person had not taken the time to read through this forum, do research on the web, etc. They wanted a quick answer so that they could give unsubstantiated responses to interview questions....

So, why has this upset me? There are a number of reasons:
1. As a hiring test manager - I do NOT want someone who is going to constantly be at my desk, or annoying other team members on basic questions, where they could have gotten the answers to by using a little initiative and doing a bit of research.
2. As a hiring test manager - it REALLY annoys me when interviewing someone who tries to bamboozle you with buzz words - yet when challenged (which I LOVE to do) about the context in which they would use said buzz word, they try again by throwing in a few new buzz words. At this point, my blood is boiling, and I quickly finish the interview, and then stamp their applications with a NO HIRE EVER recommendation to HR. I do not like my time being wasted by someone, who has not put in the effort to apply for a position.

Now, don't get me wrong - I have hired people with very little testing experience, who have turned out to be superstars on the test team. But, the difference with these people - they didn't try to BS me during interview. When they didn't know the answer to a question, they were happy to tell me that - and were able to give me examples of other times when they were not familiar with the situation, and what they did to remedy this. They also asked me the right questions during the interview. These people displayed to me the initiative and ability to research a problem, and present solutions.

Why is that important, rather than someone who knows all the buzz-words?

Because testing is a constant challenge! You have to be able to think on your feet - know when to say "I don't know, but I'll get back to you within an hour with a response". Testing is also not about following the latest buzz-words, or following a text book description of testing.

Testing is about thinking, analysing, and researching.

If I cannot see these characteristics in a potential hire, then I will not waste my time, or the company's time entertaining these people. The last thing I want is a tester who makes up a response to questions they don't know - rather than saying "I'm not sure, I'll get back to you when I have found out". This type of person is the one who will cause a project to go off-course.

So, back to this particular forum.....

A few months back, a colleague of mine asked if I subscribed to this forum. I said that I did have an account on it, but hadn't been on for a few years due to the type of garbage that was being posted on it. He assured me that it had changed, so I bought in again......

So, here I am today - looking over the forum, posting a few grouchy responses to people who obviously haven't taken the time to research their questions before posting. But, amongst the noise of silly questions - there are some very good posts, and responses, which I have been happy to read through.

So, what is the purpose of my current rant?

Could I ask the moderators of this forum to NOT post the silly questions and answers (similar to the example given above), so that we can reduce the noise on the forum, and allow the meaningful discussions to be more prominent? And, to all those thinking about posting onto the forum - please show a little forum etiquette........

/rant over - going over to the forum now to post a few more grouchy responses to the time wasters ;-D