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Independent test consultant
I am now an independent test consultant. I've spent the past week reading books about consulting, cleaning up my website, refreshing my resume, and starting to network.
I'm curious, and a bit apprehensive about whether I have what it takes to succeed, and most especially how I gain clients. Is there a market for independent testers? And if so, how do I break into it?
I joined SiliconIndia to network, and now I'm reaching out. There are areas outside my core expertise, that I'd love to build relationships with. This includes development, system administration, and web design. Particularly I'd like to forge a relationship with a small firm specializing in Linux administration, and VMWare package creation.
My product, tentatively called a "QA-Site", consists of an installation of collaborative testing tools such as bug tracking, test management, and version control.
I don't want to end up in a situation where I spend all my time administering the servers and not providing value in test automation. Likewise, I will eventually need development and design help creating new features. And if I have more work than I need, I'd like to hire and train additional testers as well. But that's all in the future.
Another aspect of my business will be providing a gateway for other firms. If I can be the United States contact for an offshore team, I could potentially find work, act as an intermediary for local meetings, and provide Quality Assurance to American clients. Of course I have a reputation to uphold, and would only parter with firms I am familiar and comfortable with.
Or alternately, I could provide consulting and services for an firm that wants to improve it's own presence and image in the U.S. market, including training with in up to date tools and methodologies such as Agile and Scrum.
I'm curious, and a bit apprehensive about whether I have what it takes to succeed, and most especially how I gain clients. Is there a market for independent testers? And if so, how do I break into it?
I joined SiliconIndia to network, and now I'm reaching out. There are areas outside my core expertise, that I'd love to build relationships with. This includes development, system administration, and web design. Particularly I'd like to forge a relationship with a small firm specializing in Linux administration, and VMWare package creation.
My product, tentatively called a "QA-Site", consists of an installation of collaborative testing tools such as bug tracking, test management, and version control.
I don't want to end up in a situation where I spend all my time administering the servers and not providing value in test automation. Likewise, I will eventually need development and design help creating new features. And if I have more work than I need, I'd like to hire and train additional testers as well. But that's all in the future.
Another aspect of my business will be providing a gateway for other firms. If I can be the United States contact for an offshore team, I could potentially find work, act as an intermediary for local meetings, and provide Quality Assurance to American clients. Of course I have a reputation to uphold, and would only parter with firms I am familiar and comfortable with.
Or alternately, I could provide consulting and services for an firm that wants to improve it's own presence and image in the U.S. market, including training with in up to date tools and methodologies such as Agile and Scrum.
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