Written by Oliver Jacks, Test Intern @ PushpayWeTest, a meetup group based in Wellington, hosts a software testing conference annually in Auckland and Wellington. It has transformed from a 50 people, half-day event into a full-day event now seeing over 500 people, all sharing an interest in software testing. At the conference, attendees are able to listen to a diverse range of speakers, including overseas guest speakers, who talk about various topics regarding testing.I had the pleasure of attending the WeTest conference in Auckland back in October, where there were many topics explored, catering towards different levels of experience.The talk that resonated with me the most was about how to be successful in testing and grow your career in the industry. This talk was very relevant at the time, as I was about to start my internship but, I had never worked nor had an internship before and didn’t know what to expect.The key things I took away from this talk are:

• To ask and receive help from others, as sometimes that’s all you need to figure out what path to go down to reach your goals.
• Reading other people’s posts, writing about your own experiences, sharing your acquired knowledge and mentoring others can accelerate your career, and even help others as well. It’s never too late to do so. (e.g. tweets, podcasts, vlogs and even conversations).
• Don’t let imposter syndrome stop you from growing as even though you might feel you have nothing to show from your experiences, everyone has their own unique experience/story to tell.
• “You might not believe in yourself until someone believes in you, but you can help others to believe in themselves by believing in them” – Em Preston.

Some of the other topics explored were how to effectively harness the power of Automation testing and how concepts of Narratology can be applied to Testing. Every speaker shared their own individual industry experiences, which was very enlightening.Not only did the WeTest conference help me to understand what it is like to work as a software tester in the tech industry, but it was also a great opportunity to network with testers from various companies around the country. I highly recommend it to anyone who is considering/interested in working in this area of IT. Huge thanks to Ruth and Shirley for the opportunity to attend this event!Thanks to Shirley Tricker and the WeTest team for long time support of Summer of Tech.Slides from all the talks can be found here at http://www.wetest.co.nz/wetest-2018/ Photo credit: Mas Endarto (@dabudamdre on Instagram).