CTAL-TM practice question 11 of 30

You are the manager of a test team. You inherited most of these people from a previous manager who promoted technical skills, particularly…

You are the manager of a test team. You inherited most of these people from a previous manager who promoted technical skills, particularly programming skills. As a result, your people are very strong in test automation skills, white box testing and complex test design techniques. You have just been told that you can hire five new people. You want the new people to complement the existing skill sets and you want to be sure the team will have a strong mutual respect. Given the following options, who should you hire? [3]

Answer options

A: Hire all black box testers because you are severely lacking in that skill set.

B: Hire customer support people who have experience with the customer interface.

C: Hire a mix of people with strong testing and domain skills. Correct answer

D: Hire college interns who can be trained by the existing people.

Correct Answer:

C. Hire a mix of people with strong testing and domain skills.

Explanation

The existing team is already highly proficient in technical and programming skills (automation, white-box testing). To build a well-rounded team, the manager needs complementary skills, specifically domain knowledge. However, to ensure "strong mutual respect" from a highly technical team, the new hires must also possess strong foundational testing skills. Option C provides the perfect balance by introducing the missing domain expertise while ensuring the new members have the testing acumen required to earn the respect of the existing technical testers.

Why Incorrect

Option A: Hiring only black-box testers ignores the critical need for domain knowledge and may create a technical divide, hindering mutual respect.
Option B: Customer support staff may lack formal testing expertise, making it difficult for them to gain the professional respect of highly technical testers.
Option D: College interns lack the proven experience and advanced testing skills necessary to immediately complement the team and earn mutual respect.

References

- ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus - Test Manager, Section 7.2.1 (Building the Test Team).

- Black, R. (2014). Advanced Software Testing - Vol. 2: Guide to the ISTQB Advanced Certification as an Advanced Test Manager. Rocky Nook. (Section on Team Composition and Skills Matrix).

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