My first day(ish) as the new guy

Originally, I was supposed to join the Communicator team today, but a cancelled day of vacation pushed my start date up to yesterday…but there was a meeting I wanted to attend on Monday, so I’ve basically been out of building 21 (EE land) and in or near my new office since Monday afternoon. So, let me tell you’ what I’ve been up to since then!

It’s been a bit of a slow start – given that I started early and the pace that the hr backend is updated, I don’t have permission to enlist in the source code yet. On top of that, I’m told it will take a week or two to get my server account moved so I can use the in-development release. I’m also still waiting on my new computer (I still have my laptop and a computer that will become my secondary machine, so I’m certainly not completely blocked).

And, despite waiting for permissions, I don’t feel blocked in my ramp up either. I have a 3-pronged approach to ramping up on a test team that is working well for me so far. First off, although I normally don’t like going to meetings, I’ve already attended half a dozen or so. Some, I’m invited to, and others I just tag along. It’s a good way to figure out what’s going on in the project, learn faces, and get a sense of the team dynamic. Secondly, I’ve spent several hours reading through bug reports. It’s great – without talking to hardly anyone, I already have a sense of the types of testing approaches used on the team, a sense of how the database fields are used and interpreted, and even some insight into individuals on the team. I’ve recommended reading bug reports as a way for testers to ramp up quickly on a team for years, and I’m delighted to see that it works. And – I’ve read team wikis, test plans, and whatever other collateral I can find in order to help round out what’s going on.

I’ve been reading so much, in fact, that by Tuesday afternoon, my eyes were aching and my vision was fuzzy. So fuzzy, in fact, that I visited the optometrist on the way home for my first ever eye exam. Shortly later, I ordered my first ever pair of eyeglasses. I’ll post photos of my new look as soon as they show up.

Today, I made sure I took a few breaks to rest my eyes – I used the time mostly to unpack a few items and tidy up a bit. My new office is now entirely unpacked except for a big box full of random cables that I’m afraid to get rid of because the moment I do, I’ll need one of them.

I think that’s about it. Oh – except that I’m giving a talk tomorrow on random career tips. I think it will be interesting, but we’ll see. Looking forward to sharing them here at a future date…or perhaps over live meeting??? 🙂