One of the UK’s fastest growing and largest independent software testing companies, Edge Testing Solutions, part of Eurofins Digital Testing, has seen the 100th graduate successfully pass through its software testing education programme, Edge Academy.
The Academy, which Edge Testing set up in 2013, is a learning program that combines hands on experience with classroom based software testing training at Edge Testing’s three office locations – Glasgow (Belshill), Birmingham and London.
Three times a year, candidates go through a rigorous selection process and, once accepted into the Edge Academy, are paired with experienced mentors to work on live client projects, either on client site or at one of the software testing company’s Digital Test Hubs.
Accessible to a range of candidates, Edge Academy is typically a two year programme, though some candidates who excel early on are placed on the fast track one year course. The Academy attracts anyone interested in testing as a career, including school leavers with a passion for IT, graduates, graduate level apprentices and older career changers.
Former police officer, James McLean, completed his Edge Academy training 13 months ago. He is now a Test Lead and commented: “Edge Academy offers a shorter course with better quality training, which is hands on, working alongside experienced professionals. Thanks to Edge Academy, I have been given the skills to transform my 25 years in law enforcement and finding criminals into hunting down and fixing bugs and glitches in IT systems, programmes and apps.”
Nadia McKay who is the Testing Services Director at Edge Testing and heads up recruitment said: “Through our Academy, we are building a pool of testers familiar with the latest tools and frameworks to ensure that our clients’ products and services are released without any glitches. We are championing software testing as a dynamic career choice for trainees from various levels of experience and background, especially as we embrace new technologies.”
Edge Academy is proving popular because each graduate is paid throughout the training and has a job at the end of the two years, so it’s a proven career path. While the majority of candidates come in via Edge Testing’s two-way training relationships with Scottish and Midlands universities, the first London based candidate was taken on earlier this year.
Nadia said: “As demand for our software testing services increases, Edge Academy graduates help ensure that we continue to be responsive to client needs with expert testers that can quickly be on client site.”
Edge Testing, which has been awarded the highest level Gold status ‘Investors in Young People’ accreditation, already has strong relations with Scottish universities and encourages testing as an exciting, flexible and demanding career path. Now with the Digital Test Hub in Birmingham, the company has nine new trainee test analysts from Midlands universities coming through the Edge Academy programme.
Classroom based training includes preparation for ISTQB certification, fundamentals of software testing, understanding requirements and technical skills including programming and SQL.
The Academy is just a part of Edge Testing’s continued growth, with a team of over 250 people. Now in its 11th year of trading, Edge has seen growth year-on-year and boasts some of the UK’s premier testing thought leaders and experts in the industry.
For more information, visit: http://www.edgetesting.co.uk/careers http://www.edgetesting.co.uk/services/training
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