First Software Tester Job in September - What should I be focusing on?

I’m starting my first Software Tester job/apprenticeship in September and I want to learn as much as I can between now and then to feel more confident when I begin. I’m currently working through a good Udemy course by Tarek Roshdy (ISTQB). Are there any aspects that I should be studying/focusing/experimenting on specifically as a beginner Tester? Is there anything you’d do differently looking back, when starting as a Tester?

The company I’ll be working for uses Microsoft Test Manager/Azure DevOps Test Hub for Manual and for Automation Workflow Testing uses Ranorex with C#.

Thanks in advance!

I would remember that you’re being hired specifically as an apprentice/junior tester - that means you should have a lot of support and time to learn once you have already started the role, and people to help you make decisions on the best path to take.

However, if you do have the time and the inclination to begin something beforehand, you might want to explore the following:-

Read Nicola’s recent book “Starting Your Career In Software Testing 5” - lots of nuggets of wisdom in there that will be directly applicable to someone in your position

If you’ve time, consider planning a test portfolio 5 - be that a trello board of the areas you are learning/want to learn, a playbook of good testing talks you want to watch, or a set of github repo’s of beginners test automation frameworks. You don’t have to complete it, but planning it out gives you something to show your new managers and a kick off point for further learning

Finally, as your new company is using Azure DevOps - I’d say to think about becoming Azure Fundamentals certified by Microsoft 2. You can do the revision for free on their online materials and then encourage your work to pay for you to take the exam (its pretty cheap and I think there’s enough value in this for your new company to be happy to pay).

Congratulations on your new role and all the best for your future testing career!

I’d focus on understanding the product, the tech stack, how your team works and how projects are delivered. Identify key people/Subject matter experts you can learn from. Aslo see if there’s someone good at testing in your team and shadow them. Practice practice always beats reading reading reading