Knowledge And Experience

A REFLECTIVE DIARY 1 A REFLECTIVE DIARY ON THE PROGRESS OF MY WORK INTERNSHIP AS A JUNIOR SOFTWARE AUTOMATION TEST ENGINEER Author name The Name of the Class Professor The Name of the School The City and State where it is located The Date A REFLECTIVE DIARY 2 PART A: PREPARATION FOR PLACEMENT Skill audit of past employment and learning experiences . Over the past few years, I have been working on developing my skills as a software automation test engineer. This I have done my immersing myself in knowledge about the course from boo ks and from learning in school. I have various skills that I have gathered from my past employments and my learning experiences which include, prowess in various programming languages such as java, scala, and python. I learned these languages from my schoo l program and others are such as python is self -taught. I am experienced in basic windows or UNIC commands and very proficient in the integration and development of software strategies. Additionally , I have strong problem -solving skills , excellent communication, and writing skills, and mathematical aptitude which I have put to test in my previous employment work environments. Other additional skills that I have developed include test design and test architecture skills that are vital required skil ls in my line of work and the ability of detecting and describing defects clearly in software . Additionally, I have skills in performance testing of the software , troubleshooting, and configuration management skills which I apply in my job as a software au tomation test engineer. I have prior experience in various systems including Financial Management Systems, eBenefits, Health Benefits Capabilities Environment, Vista Eligibility and Enrollment, Corporate Data Warehouse, CareT Identity Access Management, and Veteran's Transport Program. I have past experience in the use of tools and frameworks such as Python, Robotium, and UIAutomation and the writing of great quality test codes such as Java or Ruby. Additionally, I have experience working collaboratively with a multi -disciplinary team to deliver quality software development projects. My experience extends to the reporting and identification of defects in the software using debugging tools, codes, analyzing stack traces, log files, and defect management sy stems like Jira. A draft training plan of what I want to achieve on my work internship as a junior software automation engineer. Before I began my internship, I created an internship plan in which I wrote down what I wanted to achieve throughout the intern ship with consideration to what the rest of the department in the organization was doing. Here is a draft of the training plan:  Gain a new perspective on company cultures and projects by working and interacting with diverse individuals within the workplace , including mentors.  Get an opportunity to receive constructive feedback from my seniors and workmates to build on my knowledge and experience gaps and identify areas that I might need to improve on so I can be the best eventually.  Participate in a code re view case as completed by another engineer  Take part in deployment testing within the organization to build on my knowledge and understanding of DevOps and learn of the complete process that is involved in code creation.  Get to know the application of codi ng in the real world as compared to academia A REFLECTIVE DIARY 3  Gain knowledge and experience in Agile, legacy codebases, product teams, and deployment  To build on my knowledge of programming including developing and practicing my programming languages through working with a team in the company. PART B: REFLECTIVE DIARY OF INDUSTRIAL PLACEMENT 1. What I have learned about the company in context with the Industry or the methods/processes used . Software automation engineering involves the integration of technology into various engineering aspects. It involves the delivery of automated solutions for software -based processes in companies . The most commonly used software in automation engineering is the automated testing software which is the type of software applied in the company I work in. The company is undertaking my internship in is a technology -centered company that deals with manufacturing. The company has various departments that work together the y ensure the success of the company as a whole. The engineering department ha s software automation and testing category, where is where I was actively involved in my role as an intern of software automation test engineering. Our main role in the department was to develop and design programs that are used to test the new and the exi sting software within the company. I learned that the company is constantly looking for new ideas and ways of thinking to improve its operations. As I was interning, I realized and learned that the company had employed a diverse group of individuals withi n the work environment who were tasked with the responsibilities of coming up with new ideas by working together as a group. This I learned from the interactions and the engagement I had with the various workmates I interacted with. It was company policy t o ensure that the workforce employed is as diversified as it can be so as to help promote idea generation and creativity. I learned that the company has version control which is a system that the company uses to record changes to a particular file or vario us files over time. The use of this process system ensures that there are no conflicting changes made to the development. Additionally, it allows multiple developers to work on the same software or code at the same time and still keep track of the changes recorded in the database. The company additionally encouraged the use of a range of techniques to achieve a goal in engineering. This encouraged the aspect of multiple testing of the automation software so as to ensure that the final product did not have m any defects. I learned that the company undertakes its process through software development cycles. The company ha s a planned out software scheduling which starts at the begging of the development process of production and manufacturing . Continuous testing is carried out on every feature of the software to ensure that there are no defects or bugs within the systems . It additionally helps in the improvement of the quality of the products and software and helps in the building of the confidence of the team involved in developing the product in the company. A REFLECTIVE DIARY 4 The company additionally has customized software testing solu tions for all the projects that are carried out within the company. These customized tests are formulated to suit the needs of the various projects and their uses. The company has also engaged the use of skilled testers who are equipped with the latest tes ting skills in various areas . This ensures the functionality of the entire teams as the employees are each specialized in various areas and thus together, their cumulative performance of the team leads to the success of the company. 2. Project(s) that I was associated with During my internship, the company undertook various projects and was lucky enough to be part of a few projects that the company took part in. one of the projects was the development of a sentiment analysis project for the product ratings of the company. This is a web application that is based on e -commerce. The company undertook this project intending to understand their customers better and find ways they can meet the customer's expectations by improving their products to fit the customer needs. This aim was to be achieved through analyzing the customer's hidden sentiments in their feedback. The project took advantage of the available customer -based app that was already in existence, which customers used to analyze, review and comment on t he products of the company. The sentiment analysis project that was installed would then analyze the comments of these customers and rate them and the products appropriately. It used a database of sentiment -based keywords that took into consideration both the negative and positive analysis. Based on the keywords stored in the created database, a customer could now find reviews about the products of the company. Various issues were experienced during the planning and construction of the project. One of the major issues included the lack of data that could be used during the construction of the database. This was a huge problem that affected the progress of the project at some point. However, the company was able to solve this problem by tapping into seconda ry sources and stored data from other companies with similar projects. They then tailored the data used to fit into the requirements of the project being undertaken in the company. The new database thus had a functioning system of keywords that could be used in the sentiments The company also undertook a finger -print based computer authentication system project. It's a type of desktop project that makes use of individual fingerprints to authenticate users within the company. Since every individual ha s a unique fingerprint print pattern, the use of a fingerprint -based security system to protect computers with sensitive information was a project meant to ensure that no unauthorized individual got a hold of the company's sensitive information. Additional ly, the fingerprint authentication system in the company was used to secure some of the rooms in the company where sensitive items were stored. This was to increase the physical security in these rooms and ensure that only authorized personnel had access t o the room. The problem that was faced in the implementation of this project was that the project required the installation of a new type of software that our company was not an expert in. the first time we tested the software it backfired and never worked . Various consecutive tests and improvements had to be made after this attempt. Although the team members had knowledge in the implementation of the software required for this system , it became a challenge to develop it. Eventually , the company had to rely on outside sources to help in the installation of the entire system especially the sensors that were to be used. On the positive side, this became a learning A REFLECTIVE DIARY 5 opportunity for most of the project team as we gained new skills and other s were motivated to research more about sensors and software related to it. During my time as an intern in the company, I got an opportunity to be part of a project that dealt with the installation of a website for a client company. The client required us to help them insta ll a company -based website where they could advertise their products, collect feedback from their customers and build their brand on the online market. This was a simple project for the company and only a few employees were assigned to it including me. Th e project involved the creation of a working website for the client that ensured their specific requirements had been met. The website had to have a deal of the day segment and a comments segment for the customers. Additionally, it had to incorporate basic details about the company and the products that it offered. As the project was being carried out, we faced a number of issues. These issues included the client being impatient and demanding that the project be completed in four days rather than the normal eight days that it took to complete such a project. This situation was further agitated when the registration of the website took longer due to a problem with the regulatory commission. Other issues were the testing of the website to ensure that it was operational was hindered by the lack of a proper functional Wi -Fi network within the premises. Additionally, as the website was being tested, we found various loopholes in its security sys tem that had to be corrected and secured so as to ensure that the website was safe from hacking and other types of malware. The issue of the impatient client was resolved by one of the employees with great people skills having a sit -down session with the client and explaining to him exactly what was neede d in the building and designing of the website and exactly how much time it would take. This helped the client calm down and they gave us ample time to work on the project. 3.0 Evaluation of the work tha t I did During my internship as a software automation test engineer, I took part in many roles and jobs within the company. I was able to apply my skills in various scenarios and additionally gained extra skills from my time working as an internship. I built on my skill in knowledge and understand ing by taking part in the various projects and tasks that were being undertaken within the company. I used my skills in programming languages by taking part in a project that dealt with the creation of new so ftware within the company for clients. This helped me in making practical use of the skills and the knowledge that I had immersed . Additionally, I gained more experience in the use of these skills. I was part of the team that was in charge of creating a w ebsite for a client. I contributed to the creation of the website by offering my skill in the detection of defect s within the software system. We were able to fix this issue ear ly in the development phase and thus I was easily able to contribute to the team working on the project and additionally, get a chance to apply my skills within the company. While still working on this particular project, I got a chance to be in charge of testing the software applications that were being used on the website. The head project manager delegated this task to me and I handled it efficiently proving my reliability to the team A REFLECTIVE DIARY 6 and my ability to contribute to the administration of the project. I w as also able to work effectively with other team members in the project to ensure that the website was working effectively and efficiently. I did this by performing several tests on the software thus proving my management and leadership skills. The signing and creation of contracts between our client and the company helped me testing my basic knowledge in contractual awareness. I was additionally able to gain a better understanding of what commercial awareness was and how it affected company dealings and ac tivities with their clients. Additionally while still working on this project, I got an opportunity to develop my interpersonal skills and communications skills as I got to interact with this particular client face to face while explaining the challenges facing his website and how we were going to solve them. By working with the team in charge of this project, I was able to confidently share my ideas on how the system could be improved , and thus I developed my social skills and my communication skills. I also built on my teamwork through this experience as we cooperated with other engineers working on the project . During the implementation of the fingerprint authentication system project within the company, I realized that it w as an entirely new concept for me and that I had no skills that could help in the implementation of this project within the company. I decided that I would sit back and wait to learn from those with the skills required . I had been assigned to be a part of the major team members taking part in this project but I informed my superiors about my lack of kno wledge in this area and they allowed me to stay and participate from the sidelines rather than being in the main project team. I realized my limitations and chose to accept them and learn from them. As the project was progressing, I was then engaged as part of the team performing tests on the software of the fingerprint authentication system and this opportunity was crucial in my experience as I developed my skills further. As we implemented the project on customer sentiment analysis, I realized that there were various issues that had to be taken into consideration when implementing the project. These issues included compliance to the safet y and welfare of the customers and the professional bodies of regulation that are associated with the project. As part of our studies in school, I had learned the above issues and how they related to projects being undertaken , and during this internship, I got to test my knowledge on them. I was able to assess the environmental issues that impacted the project additionally how regulatory bodies in the industry impacted the company dealing, specifically, how engineering was impacted. The team had to first conduct an analysis on the project before it was implemented to ensure that it complied with the required standards both in the environment and in regulation policies. Through this experience, I was able to test my knowledge of these standards and additionally learn where they were applied in each part of the project. A REFLECTIVE DIARY 7 4.0 A descriptive reflection o n how the placement applies to me and my future plans From my internship, I gained extensive experi ence an d learned valuable lessons that can be applied in my future career. I gained experience in the use of various software testing systems and how they are used practically in a work environment. This will be especially useful in the future as I now have practical experience in the software that I am supposed to employ in my field of work. Addition ally, I gained experience in how to detect defects in software while testing it. This will ensure that in the future, I will know exactly what to look for as a sign of a defect in a system that I am testing. I will also know what might pose a threat to the software that I am testing while doing my job. I have gained valuable practice experience from the internship by working in an environment that highlighted all my areas of interest in my career. From the practice, my skills in software automation testing have been honed to become better than they were before. This will be a vital advantage in my career experience as I know have a better and in-depth understanding of practical software automation testing. The internship helped me learn valuable lessons li ke how to work within a team of diversified individuals and maintain relationships. I also learned how to handle clients while working with them directly and additionally, how to communicate with them effectively during the project. From the internship, I learned how to create software testing schedules so as to ensure that the testing is continuous and effective and that A REFLECTIVE DIARY 8 REFERENCES Brunhaver, S.R., Korte, R.F., Barley, S.R. and Sheppard, S.D., 2018. 4. Bridging the Gaps between Engineering Education and Practice. In US engineering in a global economy (pp. 129 - 164). University of Chicago Press. Chan, C.K.Y., 2012. Exploring an experiential learning project through Kolb's Learning Theory using a qualitative research method. European Journal o f Engineering Education , 37 (4), pp.405 - 415. de S. Campos Junior, H., de Paiva, C.A., Braga, R., Araújo, M.A.P., David, J.M.N. and Campos, F., 2017, September. 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