| Michael Bolton 2006-06-17, 7:09 pm |
| > Applicant must have at least 2 years "commercial software testing ". This
> came as part of the spec of a job that I'm considering applying for.
> I have a few years experience as a web tester for virtual learning
> environments. What is the difference between that and "commercial software
> testing"? Would I be boxing above my weight?
"Commercial software testing" is whatever the writer thinks it means.
It might mean that they want
- someone who has worked on software that has been sold;
- someone who has worked on software that's of sufficient robustness
that it could be sold;
- someone who has two years of software testing experience;
- someone who has tested for money for two years;
- someone who has tested on a volunteer or internship basis for a
commercial software company;
- someone who has equivalent experience;
- someone who doesn't have equivalent experience, but who can do the
work anyway;
or one of lots of other possible variations, such as "as an HR person,
I don't really know what the development manager wants, but it's
someone with some experience, but not with no experience, so I'll put
down 'two years'".
So, we don't really know what they're asking for. Moreover, we don't
know very much about you either. "A web tester for virtual learning
environments" is similarly ambiguous from where I'm sitting. In an
interview, we could have a conversation and we could sort out more
stuff about each other.
So: why not apply? If they accept you for an interview, the interview
will give you a lot more information. The job may well be below your
skill set, rather than above it. If you're /really/ a tester, test the
situation. :)
---Michael B.
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