Process · Team Building

Hire deliberately. Grow people continuously.One hire at a time, then everyone, every cycle.

The test team is the product. This process structures hiring as a reversible, repeatable loop and pairs it with an always-on skills and career-path program.

Sub-steps
9
Hiring cycles
Repeat as needed
Career reviews
Continuous
You cannot out-tool a thin team. The hiring process and the skills program compound over time; neglect either and the whole test program decays.

Key takeaways

Four things to remember.

  1. 01

    Start every hire with explicit permission

    Written approval to fill a role prevents downstream political reversals when the best candidate shows up.

  2. 02

    Advertise the job you actually need

    A vague posting attracts vague candidates. Write the role description from the skills gap you have measured, not the headcount budget you were handed.

  3. 03

    Never stop screening

    Resume review, phone screen, in-person interview. Each stage eliminates a distinct failure mode. Collapse the stages and the failures arrive later, as bad hires.

  4. 04

    Career paths are a retention tool

    Revisit them with each team member regularly. The test career lattice is wider than "QA analyst to senior QA analyst", design paths that keep people growing.

Why this exists

The problem this process fixes.

Most test team problems we are asked to diagnose are really hiring problems, skills problems, or career problems in disguise. The system looks fine from the outside: roles are filled, headcount is reported, budget is met. Inside, the team is drifting.

This process treats hiring and growth as a single, always-on activity. Step 1 is a discrete hiring loop you run for each open role. Step 2 is a continuous program you run for everyone. Step 3 is the reminder that both run forever.

The checklist

12 steps, in order.

  1. Phase 1

    Hire appropriate test team members.

  2. 1.A

    Get permission to hire.

  3. 1.B

    Define and advertise the position.

  4. 1.C

    Gather and screen candidates, based on their resumes and phone interviews, eliminating unqualified or undesirable candidates.

  5. 1.D

    Interview qualified, desirable candidates in person.

  6. 1.E

    If appropriate, extend an offer to the most-successful candidate, often via an offer letter.

  7. 1.F

    If the most-successful candidate accepts, orient the new hire. If not, repeat steps 1.E and 1.F for the second-most-successful candidate, either until a successful candidate accepts or the process must restart at step 1.A. Notify rejected candidates that they should pursue other opportunities.

  8. Phase 2

    Foster team skills and career growth.

  9. 2.A

    Work with new hires to develop career paths.

  10. 2.B

    Regularly revisit the career paths for all employee's and each employee's progress on their path.

  11. 2.C

    Actively manage the employee's skills growth necessary to reach employee and team goals.

  12. 3

    Iterate step 1 as needed to add new people. Iterate step 2 continuously.

One more thing

Step 3 is the whole point. Hiring is event-driven; skills growth and career management are steady-state. The best test organizations we have seen treat the second as non-optional, even when the first is on pause.

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