Like many testing professionals, I don’t post as much about my work as I sometimes feel I ought to. An insightful post from Adam Knight entitled “The Facebook Effect” provides a good explanation as to why.
It’s always considered a no-no for any professional to criticise their employers on public forums, and rightly so. This is a problem for those of us in testing; our very job revolves around breaking things in interesting and innovative ways. It’s difficult to talk about your work in public when so much of it is about the bugs you’ve been finding. Your employer may well not want the world to know about that huge security vulnerability you just discovered.
This places us in something of a double-bind at times. While spilling too much information about current projects could be a seriously career-limiting move, not having a positive online presence can have exactly the same effect. I’ve actually been told I’m less likely to be hired if I’m testing in secret!
Fortunately Adam Knight does come up with some practical suggestions for sharing professional knowledge without compromising your employment.
