Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiruh/

Intro

As Steve McConnell rightly said – “It’s hard enough to find an error in your code when you’re looking for it; it’s even harder when you’ve assumed your code is error-free.”

Today we have with us Mr. Rahul Singh with an extensive experience in Software Engineering and Performance Testing.

He is an engineering graduate in Electronics and Communication from MLV Government Textile & Engineering College and also completed his MBA from BITS, PILANI

He has worked in senior capacities in diverse industries as Software Test Engineer and presently working in Oracle as a Senior Performance Engineer.

With his vast experience and diverse skill set, we wish to learn more about his career trajectory and learning experiences.

We welcome you sir to this interview series and hope you have a good time ahead.

List of Interview Questions –

1. Can you share more about your journey and why did you choose this field?

I am from Bihar, a district called Khagaria. I did my schooling from khagaria and later i came to Patna for IIT preparation. Then I got selected for MLB Govt _ & Engineering college through AIEEE rank. I did my engineering there. So i am 2015 pass out and got placed from college itself. Then i moved to Bengaluru. I joined Tyson Foods as performance engineer. This is how it started. I wasn’t aware of the _ any job in the industry. But first time i joined as a java developer but later on there was a requirement of performance testing and engineering.

They provided me with the training, from where my journey actually bloomed. Later i started_ financial services, NSL hub, bank affirmation and now Auricle. This is a 7 year long journey where i have learnt a lot about performance testing and also utilized my skillset. So this is how i started my career in performance testing.

2. What is performance testing and how is it relevant in the new age of software development paradigms?

Performance testing is nothing but non- functional testing where we are resoluting our system in terms of non functional. Like what is the working of CPU, memory, network related performance. Basically everything is about response time, how responsive is the application. That is performance testing. In simpler and shorter terms performance testing is checking the performance of any application under the load and stress and in that situation reviewing the behavior of that application.

For example we make a big car like Ferrari, everything is perfect including looks and design but at the end performance turns out not be satisfactory. It can travel like up to 500kms/hr. While doing observations, we observe that if a car is going at a speed of 100, automatically car behaves abnormal. There is no control over steering. Making noises. That way we can say, car is good including costs and everything but performance isn’t. It makes all other applications irrelevant.

Even in software of any industry, if everything is good but performance isn’t, that item/product is of no use. That is performance testing.

3. How would you select a test case for performance testing?

When we talk about performance testing, that is related to non-functional, we are not going to bother about manual or automation tester. For performance, we will take those scenarios which have more traffic. Let’s say, in Gmail, there is more of a flow scenario. People will login and either check email or replay it. Secondly, they will login it and they will create an email and send it, then log out. This is the major kind of scenario in Gmail. So user pattern is one of criteria for selection.

Even we have one more criteria. Let’s say i worked in a banking domain, where there’s one functionality of payment. I was working for global _ banking, there was less kind of user. But if there are more users, we are qualifying it for the testing. But here what we did was, there were less users, but premium users. Premium terms in terms of more transaction. Like if 1000 people are doing transaction and they are making 1000 million dollars. But here is only 1 user who is making 1000 million dollar alone.

This implies this 1 client is equal 1000 users. And then we take flow also as a performance kind of criteria. Since loosing a user like that will be a great loss. Such a loss will result in value of business leading to losses. If there is any kind of loss in the business, that time we can do performance. Therefore, we consider premium account holder user, otherwise if there are more users, those could be considered too.

4. What are the most common tools for performance testing—open source or proprietary?

First we’ll take up J-meter. It is more of a market ruler tool now a days in the industry. Almost all the organizations at all the levels including startups are using J-meter. That is completely open source and lightweight kind of software. You can download it from website and start using. It is very to use and could be used by fresher too.

Secondly, it is honorer from Micro focus. Till 50 user it is totally free. Almost all big organization related to fintech are using paid version kind of this tool. It is a very good tool to use. These are the two major tools needed for a person who wish to enter performance testing domain.

5. Which test management tool is suitable for performance testing?

If you go for low runner, they are providing alm integration, there you can manage all the test suite, script and everything. Even we have a tool named performance enter. Majorly projects are related to micro focus only. Micro focus is actually a product acquired from HP. In performance enter you can upload all the test cases and calling like script too from there only you can design a scenario. It will even generate a report for you to download. E

Even we have tools like blaze meter and astro runner. Astro runner is again from micro focus. If you want to go for cloud based performance testing, in terms of load generation, you can go for blaze meter and then take load generator from geographical location and check performance of the system.

6. What are the opportunities available in performance testing in the coming five years?

If i talk about opportunities, what i observed in my case was even the people who were close to me in terms of friends and family, there is huge requirement in the market. Earlier people were not aware, even company had much knowledge about performance. Those who had knowledge, there wasn’t good framework, where performance testing could be performed. Slowly, we had open source, paid version of these tools, with lots of support mechanism. Now most of the company uses it and offers a high pay as well.

If i compare the salary of performance, it will be somehow be equal to tester developer. If you are a good performance engineer, first working in 3-4 years, then slowly they can take up things and reach heights. Once anyone can start performance engineering, from there _will be stronger than developer and tester. And then would start getting huge packages offer similar to architect. Because we are closely related to it.

There is huge scope for performance tester and engineer. But you need to start from performance tester and eventually go to being an engineer and then architect.

7. What is your advice for freshers who wish to get into this field?

Firstly i would welcome whoever enter our field or domain. First of all freshers should get a job, any job related to software. Either tester, or developer or anything related to software. Once he gains an experience then he can learn for performance testing, and then slowly move towards performance engineer. Because for performance engineer, one should have a vast knowledge about coding, java, python. It would include all testing like manual or automation, performance testing, API testing, database testing.

Again one should have good knowledge about CI/CD with DevOps. CI/CD means you need to create pipelines like we have genkins, APM tool, ____, you should have very good knowledge about DV query. At least milestone query DV and all. Then, __ because in the industry everyone work son this server. Network related knowledge is equally important too. How OS, Network,____,___ is working. Those knowledge will be not only an overview but in depth it is required.

So i would suggest start from 0, then add skills to your resume and become a performance engineer. Every step needs to be given enough time.

We thank him for giving us his valuable time to learn more about Performance Engineering and career prospects in it for students and professionals.

The post Rahul Kumar Singh – Performance Engineering Interview appeared first on Vskills Blog.

By adopting DevOps, organizations can improve their products, serve the customers well with quick feedback and fixes, get a competitive edge in the market, and achieve their business objectives faster.

Let us listen to our expert Mr. Vijaykant Khowal. He has 15 years of experience in networking, security, Linux and Cloud. He is well versed in IT Administration, Windows/Linux Servers, Intranet implementation, Web Hosting, cloud platform(AWS, GCP and Azure) management. He had worked in various capacities at OSScube and currently working as DevOps Technical Lead at Happiest Minds Technologies. We seek his guidance to learn more about DevOps as a subject and a profession and also his career trajectory in DevOps and systems administration.

Q1. Can you share more about your journey and why did you choose this field?

Answer: This journey has started mistakenly. I was really into sports. I was a player in football at ground level at Jawaharlal Stadium. In the meanwhile, I got a call from a company that they have an opening in IT and at that time I was interested in IT as well. So because I have done my diploma in computer networking hardware. Since I was doing a diploma in IT, which forms an interesting part of my life of being involved in IT things, so I just completed my course.

At that time I was playing stadium playing football as fast forward player and I got the call which changed my life. I had previously given an interview at the company, but they suddenly opened the positions again and informed me that I was selected. They asked me are you available? are you still available for this position? can you join? This I considered to be a changing point in my life and I had to decide will I be with football or IT.

IT was my passion when I just joined it. In my starting days I was working as a hardware engineer like I was repairing the hardware, and machines, and assembling hardware and software installation. My first job was in 2004 when I joined a company as a hardware engineer. That job was a field job and at that time I was doing the night shift as I was still studying and had to manage it along with the job. At that time, I worked completely on the night shift from 9 pm to 6 am. 9 am my classes of the course I was pursuing used to begin at 1 pm. I used to get only 3-4 hours of sleep.

So I used to come back home, have lunch and again at 3 pm my another class and then in my job time. That was the start of my journey.

Q2. Is DevOps relevant for system administrators or IT managers?

Answer: Basically, there are quite different roles. Because IT system managers, engineers, and administrators worked only on-premises work like system issues, server implementation, server management, and internal server management kind of things. But the DevOps part is completely different. I have started my journey on hardware and networking so after 1 year of fieldwork, I joined company of value tech ltd. So in that company my roles was to manage local systems and internal customers like the members working as an employee.

That work is also customer following as internal customers. I took the night shift not comprising with my studies. After that, I started working on a windows server, how the server works, server implementation, and server installation all of these I learned during my jobs and studies. Then I started working on learnx and mail servers. In early 2009, I started learning learn, an open-source thing. After 2 years of practising in learnx, my boss told me that since I’m already working and learning on learnx, why don’t I go for certification?

So I tried for it and luckily got it cleared in RSCE. After that, I thought I have learned enough about windows and servers and that probably I should go for the certification of Microsoft as well. I pursued MCSC, for which there is 7 exam which needs to clear. Luckily I cleared all of them and got certification. My company has a lot of expectations for me because of my learnings, the things were going good for me. In 2011-12, the cloud was introduced. My boss asked me to learn to work on cloud-AWS, which was the first cloud. After some years I did certification in AWS as well. And I have learnings about AWS, GCP, AZURE, and other clouds too.

Currently, I am managing 6 people in the team and handling clients as well. In starting of my salary I used to get 2500/pm. That time was very hectic as I used to get 2-3 hours of sleep only. I had no choice but to choose between football and IT, and I chose IT.

Q3. Which DevOps tools are in more demand in the market and more remunerative for professionals?

Answer: DevOps is not a small entity but a vast area. In DevOps, there are multiple things to be learnt, the various tools like version cover tools, the concept of learnx, knowledge of software development and deployment and familiarity with infrastructure as a code. The understanding of CS/CD pipelines, networking security and cloud providers and services. All these are present in DevOps. You cannot say that these kinds of tools can be used in DevOps only. There is multiple things. DevOps is a kind of merger of small and big tools.

Q4. What should a fresher learn to get a job in DevOps?

Answer: For the people who started learning DevOps, the first thing is they must be aware of open source technologies like learnx and windows. After that DevOps software development cycle, they should know. They must have basic knowledge of project planning, software development, quality assurance, and security maintenance. They can start with these. After joining the organization, they will get to work in a live environment with the clients and internal employees, so they will learn in real scenarios.

Q5. How do you keep yourself updated with new developments in DevOps?

Answer: For nowadays, the internet is the best thing to keep yourself updated about new technologies and new things introduced in the market. You must be aware that in lockdown, people worked and learned online. There was no other way available. On daily basis, I check what all new tools have been introduced, and why social media like LinkedIn was introduced. So the internet is the best thing for me and for everyone to be updated about technologies and everything.

Q6. What is that one quotation you live by your life?

Answer: I must say “looser in the one who didn’t play”. Like if you haven’t tried, you won’t ever know it’s easy or difficult. It is not about winning or losing. It is about doing. Negative thoughts limit mental and emotional aspects, that is what I believe in. I also believe in nothing is impossible. Impossible is what you don’t want to do.

The post Learn DevOps Tools in demand 2022 | Interview with Mr. Vijaykant Khowal appeared first on Vskills Blog.

1. Can you tell us more about your journey and why did you choose this field?

Answer: Very difficult question to answer because it wasn’t a planned one. By graduation, I am a mechanical engineer. In those days every parent’s wish was for their child to become either an engineer or a doctor. But thanks to my teacher during my MBA days, they enlightened me with my actual calling. The skillset of understanding the human side of a business and the ability to influence the business to excel by balancing the machine with aspiration and potential is not so easy. That is the fuel which made me choose this career.

2. What is your management style? How do you drive results for effective management?

Answer: If I consider myself, I practice an affiliative management style. For me, my employees are my first priority. I think I am a part of a team and not a step above. I think all problems can be solved by understanding and building trust. Which is very much important in today’s world. For me, my employees make my company run. Their satisfaction and perspective are my utmost priority. How I drive the business result, I follow 5 points which will be very much effective for any affiliative management practitioner.

The first one is prioritizing and trusting an employee’s morale. I try to be trustworthy with my direct reports. I try to prioritize their interest and esteem morals. The second one is giving constructive feedback. I try to become very much honest with my employees and believe in balancing constructive criticism with positive feedback. I want employees to sense their own value and never get walked down by any instance.

Sometimes employees live with the guilt of any mistake committed by them. I try to keep them calm and help to overcome these things. Concentrate o their own strength. The third is emotional intelligence. I try to understand my team’s emotional needs and psychological well-being. These interns help my team achieve a higher drive for success. In participative dialogue, I always offer a broad communication channel. Anybody can anytime provide me with any kind of communication.

They can approach me anytime, they can discuss me anytime, and ask for guidance for me. These particular aspects actually facilitate confer resolutions and open the floor for team members to share exciting ideas to improve the company. Last but not least is a strong moral compass. A leader must lead with morals. I do not put my employees in ethically compromised situations. These values and competencies are not exclusive to any affiliative leaders. Many of the other leadership styles like democratic leaders or pace-setting leaders also showcase the same kind of leadership skills.

3. How do you focus on connecting talent management practices to companies’ strategic priorities?

Answer: If we see a good talent management strategy puts processes in place which enable matching the job resources when the job demands are very high. If you see the job demand resource model, people will be more engaged. Job demands are met by a higher level of job resources. So there are 2-3 points which need to be taken care of while making our strategy for talent management. What are our strategic priorities? Every company is having their strategy at the start of the year. Sometimes organizational goals are set by the board of directors and sometimes we use a business balance support card to define business strategy.

It is strategic priorities that are keen to select the focus areas for HRs. So they answer questions like should we prioritize sales or marketing? Are we focusing more on expanding our customer base or deepening the customer relationship? So are we working in a project-based manner or we are the operational partners for our clients? These are some questions which will be arising out of these strategic discussions. To answer these questions, the skill set which is required is that you will be looking for new employees or would be trying to develop those skills in existing employees.

That will define your strategy for talent management. 2 point which needs to be considered is connecting these talent management techniques with to our these strategic priorities. Like suppose, large tobacco companies are now hiring people who will work on projects to make the world smoke-free. Same the petrol and diesel cars and oil and gas companies are trying to change themselves into battery-run cars. Being an HR this directly impacts our employee branding and employee value proposition.

Impacting key talent management strategic prepositions. We have to first attract onboard more developed and engaged and high-performing employees who will be fitting in these mattresses. After that, the 3 point is our HR processes. The workflows, the systems, and the training requirement will be matching these kinds of capability building. So these 2-3 things according to me are very much important for any of the talent management strategies of any of the organizations.

4. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion have been quite in the spotlight recently in many organizations. What’s your opinion on that?

Answer: Diversity is a very new term coined recently. So I think we have seen recently in the covid pandemic that technological and social changes continue to alter the landscaping of every industry. So any organization will need humans to work and those humans will provide their judgment that the passion and creativity run the organization and excel in its specific areas of operations. Until and unless all these people realize their promise of arising new technologies or increasing agility or inventiveness. So until then, the organization will not be successful in future business scenarios.

An organization which will be needed only some people not diversifies workplace will risk losing money, losing inventiveness, earning less, and falling behind their competitors in the disruptive climate. Only those companies that will succeed are able to cultivate tremendous value from people’s different angles and sights. Since a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace fosters more innovative and creative teams. A company embracing DNI will be more resilient to crises than a homogenous one. As we have seen in the covid scenario.

Such workplaces make the less biased decisions we know. Produce better ideas because it is a cumulative approach from all the team members irrespective of their gender, race etc. And researches have also revealed that organization that follow diversion and inclusive policies even during a crisis are in a much better position to bounce back. So a diverse and inclusive workforce is associated with better individual performance. Since the employee is motivated and engaged as well as it also leads to higher collective performance. This is because there is a diversity of thoughts across the organization during successful decision-making.

5. Adapting to new work environments requires upskilling and reskilling. How hard is training a hybrid workforce and what kind of flexible training infrastructure is required?

Answer: The hybrid workforce has to be there because after the pandemic we have seen that if we are flexible then only we will be able to provide a better working environment and better training opportunities for our hybrid workforce. If you see the world’s economic forums estimates, the recent estimates by 2025 50% of all employees will be needing reskilling due to adopting technologies. 5-6 years from now approximately 2/3 of their skill which is considered important today will become irrelevant.

We don’t know which kind of skills we would require after 4-5 years because of technology scenarios, and the economic conditions we cannot predict. I personally feel reskilling challenge will be particularly acute in the operational intensive sector like manufacturing. Like us, transportation, retake an operation-aligned occupation. Because these sectors and fields will experience a magnitude of change more significant than the industry average. Because of automation or data integration is what we call it.

They have repeated nature of many operations in this kind of industry and employees in these kinds of areas tend to have less education as compared with professional roles. If I compare manufacturing with software, you’ll find it. Therefore, reskilling very urgently is needed to maintain the stability of a particular part of a middle cass. The second obstacle which I have seen as an HR in my 12 years of career is people’s unwillingness to spend time and money to skill or reskill themselves.

They don’t want to change because once they will change their typical working day will be altered. These are some difficulties which we feel while upskilling or reskilling the new workforce. It is not hard, but with compassion and focus on the accessibility and affordability of new technology, the hybrid learning models would help. Companies should create opportunities for their employees to learn and give them access to free networks and information. Also, provide financial affordability as support to upskill them.

These are some ideas in my mind and I always try to discuss with my HR how we can reskill our employees this way or that way. We have a very good system say, sometimes you are pre_ we’ll show that how we are actually reskilling our employees to sale model. It is a kind of a hybrid model which works both on the system and physical environment.

The basic infrastructure which we require is technology infrastructure. We need to access corporate resources easily. My employee, want to learn something as they are giving their time which is a very important resource for them. So they need to access corporate resources easily as good as they are sitting in the office or home there is no difference in accessibility. I think a user should pick a laptop in his/her office and should have an identical user experience as if she’s on set all day.

Optimization of staff requires technological consistency. We can also think about the security service edge, the SSE which is a technology stack in which networking security tools converge in a cloud infrastructure. So cloud is an infrastructure where accessibility will not be a major challenge. For the senior management and board no longer need to worry reversal of a decision regarding the employee’s location. It works from anywhere or any day. Depends on them. It is very easy to talk about these but difficult to implement them because we still have a long way to go. In India, we have certain challenges, going forward we will be able to overcome these.

6. Automation and AI are essential parts of the recruitment process. How are hiring decisions backed by analytics?

Answer: In recent years technological interventions like AI and automation have become very prominent in recruitment. There are many benefits which it provides me. Objective visibility into the effectiveness and value of our recruitment ability. It helps me to keep track of high-potential candidates who might not join us today but will be a potential for tomorrow. So allows me to actively nurture future high. It let me create a robust talent pool, a permanent record of all the candidates or the hired that can consistently come back.

It unlocks the potential to learn from the improved process. Very importantly, it enables me to do proactive recruitment instead of reactive recruitment. There are some AI tools which help me to determine which candidate will be a high performer which will be an average performer and which will try to switch after 1 year of tenure. These are some very good tools which AI provides. But personally, I feel there is always a human intervention required.

So while predictive analysis by AI can help recruiters put only the best candidates in front of hiring managers. Organizations need to first evaluate Predictive analysis tools against their own requirements. Because we should know our requirements. Data has limited impact until and unless you do not have any kind of requirement from data. It will provide you with whatever you require, but you should be clear what you require from this data. Without humans to make a final decision on hiring, these tools like AI and automation won’t be very much effective.

We must know which kind of candidates we require, and which kind of skillset we need and then only those requirements could be put into AI and automation tools. So it will basically save my time and free up the time for HR teams too, do some other fruitful activities.

8. How important is the role of industrial relations in the structural change of organizations?

Answer: I have been in their role for 5 years. With an ever-changing economic environment coupled with strong unions and longer collective agreements. In this case, collective agreements cannot be flexible enough to meet managers’ and workers’ interests all the time. Most of the time they do, but not all the time. So instead of what I believe is the administration of the agreement, that counts. In the absence of a union meeting, both sides’ interest depends on setting up a structure and workforce to meet both side interest, the organization as well as the union.

Given this need in recent years, employers, workers, and unions have come together to create some non-traditional structures. Very important to drop on both sides of each level, company level and at some point of time sectoral level also. Their efforts have been augmented in many cases, jump-started by recent trends. The Ministry of Labor in India is going to work upon. In addition, there is a growing number of private sector human resources and labour relations consultants working with organizations to provide flexible responses to their labour relations challenges response.

In the last 2 decades what I have learned from my Gurus in my organization is there has been a decline in employment in the agriculture and industrial sector obviously. Because there is a boom in the service sector in India. So the resulting changes in the nature of work and composition of the workforce that is changed. We cannot work upon those ideas like they have to be treated like a tool, it cannot be possible.

So this resulted in a structure of contradiction between the hierarchical nature and managerial direction, And control and points to the need for integration and consensus coming. So the recent advances and changes in the work environment including the demographic profile of the employees and the gradual shifts from muscles to machines all to the brain power. The initiative, enthusiasm, and diligence commitment to the employees to corporate objectives are so crucial in today’s technologically oriented job environment.

There is this little wonder that momentum is building up to adopt a managerial strategy not to be based upon direction and control but based on consent and commitment. So our unions are working on this consent and commitments. They must also learn to share their power and influence with the rank inside. There is a need to save the stake of the workers and unions in the manner in which an enterprise should be managed. With the technological advancement, with new thought processes coming into this sector, we are obviously going to create a better future for our organization, our workers, employees, all of them.

8. How do you stay up to date on employment law and legislation?

Answer: I am ever ready because I think a read a lot, have many journals and magazines and attend seminars and talks whenever I get time to. I have lots of industry talks on youtube and go through magazines which have labour-related matters. In a profession, every moment is learning and to apply what you learnt. I keep looking to my counterpart in other industries to share and receive new knowledge.

9. What advice would you like to give to freshers who wish to make a career in this field?

Answer: From my own experience where I made mistakes, somewhere I have done very well. So as per my experience, I must say to the freshers that be what you are, follow your dreams what you actually really want to become. There is no need to rush. You should have to believe on yourself. Once you decide this is the career for me just go for it, and work with people who nourish you and motivate you. Read and grasp as much as possible in your field. You need people who are the leaders in your area, talk to them, listen to them. Get learn from them. Then nothing is impossible.

In my experience, as being HR professional, I always try to move in vertical function to have a good hold on processes. So once you are in the HR field try to work in corporate, industrial, and commercial functions. In this way your hold over the processes are corporate HR, industrial HR or commercial HR will be very good. While these are all professional talks. We HRs are mainly known for their human talk, and emotional intelligence which forms the bases of HR. Don’t lose your emotional intelligence.

This is the area where many leaders keep their bets on. Try to understand people, talk to them. As much as you talk to them, you will understand their concern. Then you will have more areas to work on your knowledge and expertise. That way slowly you will grow in your domain.

The post What is the role of HR Business Partner in HR| Learn with Dr. Manish Chandel appeared first on Vskills Blog.

Important Role and Responsibilities of a Talent Manager

The important roles and responsibilities of professionals working in the field of Talent Management are –

• Plan and organize a company’s staff to make the most of its workers’ abilities.
• Link a company’s management with its staff.
• Employee benefits packages should be planned and overseen.
• Assist other administrators as human resources consultants, advising them on topics such as equal employment opportunities and sexual harassment.
• Coordination and supervision of experts and support personnel’s jobs
• Oversee the recruiting, interview, selection, and hiring processes for a company.
• Handle problems with staffing, such as managing disagreements and directing disciplinary procedures.

To understand more, let us now hear from our subject matter expert Ms Debalina Roy who has over 14 years of professional corporate experience as a human resources practitioner, currently working as a senior talent manager at a financial services firm. She has worked with companies like HDFC Bank, Reliance communications, Star Cement Ltd and Vikram Solar Ltd. She has completed many professional certifications, MDPs and EDPs from Aon HR Learning centre, XLRI, SHRM etc. She is also a certified behavioural assessor of Thomas Profile PPA, 16PF, and SHL OPQ32 personality test.

Q1. As a business leader, we must get the best out of our staff. We want them to stay motivated and perform the tasks willingly and efficiently. To achieve this, a good management style is necessary. What is your management style and how do you use it to drive positive results?

Answer: One thing I have learnt over the years is that there is NO one-size-fits-all management style. Management style is about motivating and managing people to get the tasks at hand done and I somehow believe situational leadership style is the best management style. In this style, you need to focus on tasks and people. Thereby, based on the situation you need to adapt yourself. Sometimes you need to be more participating, sometimes more delegating, and sometimes you need to be authoritative. So you need to adapt yourself based on tasks, situations and the people involved.

Q2. Is it possible to have multiple management styles in one organisation? If yes, how?

Answer: Yes, it is possible. For example, management trainees are freshers, they require a Directive management style. But when we work with equally experienced functional leaders in the same organisation, then we need to exercise a Participative management style. Now, when we are dealing with senior team leaders, we usually need to give them more power in the situation. There is no hard and fast rule for this. Management style is a fluid concept which completely depends on the situation and the task at hand.

Q3. During the pandemic in 2020, how did you adapt to the changes the pandemic brought with it?

Answer: The pandemic was a black swan event but a blessing in disguise. It has accelerated digitisation in organisations. For example, before the pandemic, working from home was a myth but during the pandemic, for several months, work was remote and later it became a hybrid. With time, we have thrown old strategies out the window. We have formulated a new business continuation plan for organisations. Now, working from home isn’t just a luxury but has become a necessity for organisations.

Also, before the pandemic, people did not know how to use platforms like zoom, google meet etc but now people do not just know how to operate these platforms but are also aware of the online meeting etiquette. We adapted to the situation and emerged more equipped, skilled, agile and resilient.

Q4. Do you think skill-based hiring has accelerated its presence after the pandemic? Is it more important than the candidate’s credentials?

Answer: Skill-based hiring is nothing but hiring for specific skills and competencies required for the job. It was present even before the pandemic hit. We always focused on the JD which mentions the skillsets and competencies required to do the job effectively. However, now the demand for skill-based hiring has increased because the jobs available in the market now are highly specialised and required special skills rather than qualifications. However, there are still many entry-level jobs including internships where relevant qualifications are a minimum requirement to bag the stint.

Q5. Does this give rise to the gig economy? what are the pros and cons of the gig economy?

Answer: The gig economy is all about people having some subject matter expertise, skillset and experience but looking to work in a flexible manner instead of a traditional full time 9-5 job. They join on a project basis and the payment is based on output or as decided by both parties. In this fourth industrial revolution, especially millennials, they are choosing to be gig workers. They want to have the flexibility to work anywhere and anytime. The workplace has become boundaryless and timeless. The gig workers can work on multiple projects at the same time while in the case of a full-time traditional job, you are not allowed to work anywhere else even on a part-time basis.

The merits are for both workers and organisation, the workers get the work flexibility while employers save costs. The demerits of the gig economy are the workers are never integrated into the organisation’s culture. There will always remain a lack of discipline and routine, and the workers don’t get any worker benefits. Even for the organisation, there become many different sets and types of employees which makes the entire process complex to cater to needs, so organisations are being careful before hiring them at present.

Q6. Why did the Great Resignation happen? What are its ramifications?

Answer: There are much literature, research and analysis on why this happened. In my opinion, the pandemic has taught people that personal life is a priority, maybe people really introspected and analysed what they want from life and hence employees are not ready to revolve their life around just work. People have left their secure jobs to follow their passion, or become an entrepreneur. People need work-life balance more than anything now. Even the definition of success has changed too. All these reasons must have contributed to what we call the Great Resignation.

Q7. With things coming back to normal, do you think the hybrid work model has been completely integrated into organisations now?

Answer: Many factors come into play for this to happen namely, technological support, and people’s mindsets. It also depends on the organisation. However, in surveys published by Gartner, Aon etc, we can see that almost 70% of organisations have already successfully implemented a hybrid model. Some organisations have also gone on to implement permanent work from home since this has many advantages like saving office resources and this has worked positively in these organisations. Hence, there is enough evidence that the hybrid work model is here to stay.

Q9. What is internal mobility and is it a key part of building a successful talent strategy?

Answer: Internal mobility is the movement of talent within an organisation both laterally and vertically. This is an advantageous strategy to exercise. Instead of hiring from outside, we can find talent inside our organisation. Many top companies like HUL, and Colgate-Palmolive are already implementing this and have been successful as well. This reduces costs to the company, the employee doesn’t need to adapt to the culture of the organisation since they have already been working there, boosts employee engagement and the employee gets a chance to work on domains of their interest and hence supports the business.

Q10. How do you manage to stay updated with the trends and technological tools available?

Answer: If you go through World Economic Forum reports, you will find that the ability to continuously learn, the learning agility, is an important skill for the present as well as the future. One way to achieve this is by continuous reading, there is no substitution for it. Read journals, research papers, World Economic Forum reports, and research reports by companies like Gartner, McKinsey and Deloitte. These are the world’s leading players in their domain. Read different books and watch educative movies. There are also specialised courses like MDPs EDPs etc. There are MOOC platforms like Udemy, Coursera, LinkedIn learning etc.

There is no end to learning. More than resources, you just need the curiosity, open mind and agility to learn and you will sail through for sure.

Q11. What are the most important skills for someone to become a talent manager for a fresher?

Answer: Few of the important skills are:

• Flexibility
• Good communication skills
• Curiosity to learn more
• Analytical and problem-solving ability
• Be a good listener
• Empathy
• Ability to collaborate with others
• Ability to inspire, motivate and help others

These skills can also be extended to other professions and are not just limited to talent management.

Q12. Advice for people looking to make a career in the field of HR and its career progression.

Answer: There are many areas one can work in under Human Resources. To name a few, talent acquisition, talent management, learning and development, HR Analytics, HR operations, employee engagement, compensation and benefits etc. In general, there are two kinds of roles, HRBP and COE roles. HRBP roles include doing everything that comes under the HR wing like the ones I mentioned above for a particular business you have partnered with. Then comes the COE role where you are the Corporate Subject matter expert of a particular HR Function. So, based on your interest, experience, and aspirations, you can choose anyone and make a career out of it. Be consistent with your role and keep yourself updated.

I started from talent acquisition and I personally believe one should start from the same since you get to understand the organisation, and the people required well and then gradually you can get into other roles.

Check out Vskills Certified Talent Management Certification Now!!

The post Interview with Talent Management Expert – Ms.Debalina Roy appeared first on Vskills Blog.

Automation testing has been the new age technology for software test automation.  Therefore, automation is now reaching all functions, across the industries from installation, integration, and maintenance to design, procurement, and management. Automation also reaches into the domain of sales and marketing functions of organizations.

In this article you will come across various questions answered by an Automation Expert- Mr Raghav Pal.

Raghav Pal is an Automation Test Architect and a Teacher. He started his professional life in the year 2009 with Infosys Technologies and worked on several Testing Projects. 2 years later he got introduced to Automation Testing and was fascinated by how we can use tools and framework to automate our manual work. Over the last 11 years, He have witnessed, worked and delivered multiple Automation Testing Projects and have worked with some awesome people in this industry.

A few years ago, He felt a need to share, and hand-over his knowledge to anyone and everyone who needs it and anyone who wants to learn Automation in a very basic, simple, step-by-step manner.
That is when he started teaching and realized that it was his passion. His motivation to create the platform https://automationstepbystep.com/ was the drive to spread knowledge and education through simple step-by-step guides.

What does an automation testing professional do?

The main work for people in Test Automation is to design, develop & configure test automation solutions like automation frameworks, tools, libraries etc. They also are responsible for efficient test automation execution and maintenance. Test Automation Professionals also actively participate during integration of testing with other processes in the project and help in Continuous integration, delivery and deployment. DevOps has a close association with Test Automation.

What are the career opportunities for people who want to join automation testing? 

Career opportunities are great and bright. Automation testing can be done on multiple platforms & applications like Web UI, API, Mobile, Database, Desktop etc. Most of the organizations today need test automation to shorten the testing cycle and have efficient and faster systems for testing. 

How did you start your career in automation testing?

While working in Infosys Mysore, I needed and got transferred to Chandigarh center of Infosys in 2011. There I got into an Automation Testing Project and started with test automation. Since then I am into this field.

What do you think are the keys to your professional success?

Test Automation gives you challenges and if you are ready to take them up success is inevitable. This is exactly what happened to me. In the project where I started with Test Automation, the framework was already setup and our team was mostly required to run the automation tests and report the statistics. There came a time where we needed to update and enhance the framework. Where most of the team mates showed the lack of necessary skills required, I decided to take up the challenge and started exploring. However, i had to study a lot using online resources but finally was able to do the work. As a result, i soon became the go to guy for any framework updates or enhancements.

Taking up challenges and working honestly to find solutions is important. This is something I practice till today.

What are some things you do to keep you interested, updated and inspired?

As of now I spend most of my time teaching (automationstepbystep.com) and this is what keeps me busy and inspired. Moreover, my motivation to teach was the drive to spread knowledge and education through simple step-by-step guides. Also, I receive lots of messages from around the world daily and it helps keep me motivated.

What’s your favorite part about what you do?

Firstly, Solving challenges and secondly, helping others through my teaching is what I love about my work.

What will be your advice for people who want to join this field?

Automation Testing is interesting provided you are ready to learn, explore, take up challenges and work until you find a solution. Most importantly, if you have or can develop these skills, test automation is for you and it is a highly rewarding career. Moreover, today we are fortunate that a lot of resources are available online and most of them are free. So, select what you want to learn and go for it.

How will you guide people who want to join top IT companies?

In the field of Test Automation, practical hands-on knowledge is very important. You may watch a video or read an article and feel that you have understood the subject, However, when you will do hands-on, you will face a lot of different challenges and solving them will make you a good Test Automation Engineer. Therefore, Any good company will acknowledge your skills if you have the capacity to design & develop automation testing solutions and have the capacity to troubleshoot and resolve issues.

What do you see yourself doing in five or ten years’ time?

I will continue teaching. Further, i have a long list of topics sent by my students through YouTube, Udemy and other platforms. So, in short I will always be a teacher for sure. I may take up some other work related to Test Automation, like a project or consultation services, but teaching will always be there.

What do you think is the “next big thing” in automation testing?

RPA (Robotic Process Automation), AI (Artificial Intelligence) & Machine Learning is gaining pace these days. However, i believe people with skills on these subjects will be high in demand in the coming years.

What are the online courses/certifications which you would like to suggest?

I will say Selenium for UI Automation and JMeter for Performance testing are good to start. Apart from this certifications on DevOps & Cloud Computing will be useful.

How did you find the Vskills JMeter Certification exam? 

I took JMeter certification in 2016. It was very well organized and the complete process was smooth. Above all, the material provided by Vskills was enough to clear the required score.

Suggested Certifications

1. Selenium
2. JMeter
3. Appium
4. Devops Testing

Stay tuned with us for more Expert’s interview !!

The post Interview with an Automation Testing Expert – Raghav Pal appeared first on Vskills Blog.