13.1 Test engineering as a career

Test engineering is seldom considered a career goal for new graduates with design aspirations. This career choice is well suited, however, for engineers looking to develop a career that will eventually expand beyond product development. Properly defining the role of the test engineer will benefit the project. In this way, excellent test services may be performed by an employee in a position to use the tremendous amount of technical wealth locked up in the heads of those capable of the following:

• Understanding theoretical system operation;

• Knowing system requirements and designing test cases;

• Testing system behavior;

• Knowing the product intimately.

Test engineering is as vital to the business as are the design, marketing, and sales roles. Hiring a mix of good technical talent for test engineering positions is very important. Attracting such individuals to this field that lacks prestige (given the bleak characterization of the role) is the topic of discussion for the remainder of the chapter. Items addressed include the following:

• A potential career roadmap for those in the role;

• Reasons why a position would be appealing;

• The types of personalities that accept a test engineering role;

• How to recruit effectively.

13.2 Professional road map defined

Completing a degree in engineering tends to peg the graduate as an unsociable geek who is fixated on technology. This generalization does not consider that portion of the graduate population that has plans other than remaining technical, and in fact may not want to remain in engineering for an extended...