ISTQB Certified Tester

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ISTQB Certified Tester is the term for the standardized qualification for software testers. The certification is offered by the ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualifications Board), which is based on a multiple-choice exam on the free available syllabus. The education program is offered in 28 countries (date: september 2006).

The ISTQB was officially founded as an International Software Testing Qualifications Board in Edinburgh in November 2002. The EOQ-SG (European Organisation for Quality – Software Group) is the legal entity acting as the umbrella organization for the ISTQB.


Contents

[edit] Certifications

  • Foundation Level
  • Advanced Level - Test Manager
  • Advanced Level - Functional Tester
  • Advanced Level - Technical Tester
  • Advanced Level (CTAL) - Full Advanced Level (after passing the above exams of Advanced Level)
  • Expert Level

[edit] Content of the exams

The exam for the Foundation Level has more theoretical nature and requests for knowledge about the software development area - especially in the field of testing.

The different Advanced Level exams are more practical and they deepen the gained knowledge in special areas. Test Manager deal with the planning and control of the test process. Functional Tester concern themselves among other things with reviews and Black box testing methods. Technical Tester look into the subject component tests (also called unit test), where they use inter alia White box testing methods and non-functional testing methods and also includes test tools. The Expert Level is still in preparation.

[edit] Premises

The exam Foundation Level has no premises. To take the Advanced Level exam, candidates need to pass the Foundation Level exam first and must prove having at least 60 months of professional experience (in USA). In India 24 months and Germany it is 18 months.

[edit] Exam

The exam consists of a multiple-choice test, which until 2005 about 80% of the candidates passed. A reason for this can be, that people can learn by self-study without visiting preparation seminars, because the syllabus is available for free in the internet.

In USA pure exam fees for Foundation Level are $250.00. For Advanced Level it is for each component exam US $200.00 and there is a one-time qualification fee of US $100.00 (date: september 2006).

Certificates are valid for life time (Foundation Level and Advanced Level) and do not need recertification.

So called testing boards are responsible for the quality and the auditing. Worldwide there are in 28 countries testing boards (date: september 2006). In USA the corresponding organ is the ASTQB (American Software Testing Qualifications Board).

[edit] Figures about Certified Testers worldwide

At the moment there are over 50000 ISTQB Certified Testers worldwide. One reason for this is, that organizations which offer also certifications for software testers affiliate with ISTQB (e.g. ISEB (Information Systems Examination Board)). At the moment Germany, India and USA are leading in the real Certified Tester programs.
The QAI (Quality Assurance Institute) is another organization, which offers in more than 40 countries certificates.

[edit] References

for Foundation Level:

  • Thomas Müller (chair), Rex Black, Sigrid Eldh, Dorothy Graham, Klaus Olsen, Maaret Pyhäjärvi, Geoff Thompson and Erik van Veendendal. (2005). Certified Tester - Foundation Level Syllabus - Version 2005, International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB), Möhrendorf, Germany. (PDF; 0,424 MB).
  • Andreas Spillner, Tilo Linz, Hans Schäfer. (2006). Software Testing Foundations - A Study Guide for the Certified Tester Exam - Foundation Level - ISTQB compliant, 1st print. dpunkt.verlag GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN 3-89864-363-8.
  • Andreas Spillner, Tilo Linz. (2005). Basiswissen Softwaretest - Basiswissen Softwaretest: Aus- und Weiterbildung zum Certified Tester: Foundation Level nach ISTQB-Standard, 3rd extended and updated run, dpunkt.verlag GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN 3-89864-358-1.


for Advanced Level:

  • German Testing Board e.V.. (2003). Software Testing - Advanced Level Syllabus - ISTQB-Certified-Tester, Advanced Level, Version 1.2(E). European Organization for Quality - Software Group, Erlangen, Germany. (PDF; 0,318 MB).
  • Erik van Veenendaal (ed. and author). (2005). The Testing Practitioner, 3rd run. UTN Publishers, CN Den Bosch, the Netherlands. ISBN 90-72194-65-9.
  • Andreas Spillner, Tilo Linz, Thomas Roßner, Mario Winter. (2006). Praxiswissen Softwaretest - Testmanagement: Aus- und Weiterbildung zum Certified Tester: Advanced Level nach ISTQB-Standard, 1st run. dpunkt.verlag GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany. ISBN 3-89864-275-5.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../i/s/t/ISTQB_Certified_Tester_f841.html"
In other languages