Meet our Academy Consultants - Amelia Nock

Our Academy Consultants seamlessly fit into client organisations to help them bring their projects to life – even if that means joining a project that’s already underway. Take Amelia Nock: she spotted an advert for the Ten10 Academy and joined us in 2020. Now she’s part of the major projects completed by our stellar team of testers down in Poole.

Before the Academy

“I left school without a sole career in mind. I studied Forensic and Medical Sciences at university for my undergrad which was interesting, but it is a competitive career to get into. After studying my undergraduate degree, I went travelling for five months around Southeast Asia and New Zealand which was an invigorating experience – to get that depth of understanding of different cultures.

“Once I returned from travelling, I did a master’s in Human Nutrition because I really started to gain an interest in my health and fitness journey and I was interested in gaining more in-depth knowledge. Whilst looking for more long-term work, I did voluntary nutrition work for charities along with some online notetaking work at a university. I came across the advert for Ten10’s Academy and I noticed you didn’t need a background in technology or software testing. It looked like they gave great opportunities for careers – career progression and skill development, which was very important to me. I’ve always been interested in technology and gadgets, though hadn’t explored the tech sector before.

“I thought technology was both exciting and daunting because it moves so quickly. Nothing stays the same and I knew, from the Academy advert, that this would be a career I would be constantly changing in. That’s something I always wanted to do because I like learning and developing different skills. As technology develops, we need to develop with it to be able to test it and let it reach its potential.”

Training at the Ten10 Academy

“I was part of the first remote Academy, where training was done online. However, I did manage to get to the Leeds office for the assessment day. I enjoyed meeting everyone, networking there, and getting a good idea of the atmosphere of the company. There were people of all ages, who had studied IT, and other people like me who had come from a completely different background. There were quite a lot of people as well, and it was nice that everyone spoke to each other before the day started so it eased our nerves.

“My first dose of full-time remote work was my time training in the academy at Ten10. It took me a few days to adjust, but I still had all these people who could help me as even though I was in a room by myself, I still felt that I could ask for help and have quick Zoom meetings if I had specific questions I wanted to go over. Now, remote working is like second nature.”

Amelia’s Academy Training

Core training started: April-June 2020
Core training modules:

• Introduction to the Academy – Overview of the Academy, assessment, and expectations
• Introduction to Agile – Agile manifesto, principles, and philosophy; a simulated practical Agile project
• Introduction to Enterprise IT – IT Architecture; CI; CD; Virtualisation; Cloud; Enterprise IT Roles
• Foundations of Web Technology – The Web (HTML, CSS, HTTP, protocols); APIs
• Data and Database Fundamentals – Data types; databases; relational databases; SQL; non-relational databases
• Development Fundamentals – Essential programming; version control; OO design principles; unit testing
• Foundations of Testing – Testing approaches, designs, and techniques; practical testing; performance engineering
• Foundations of Automation – Automated test techniques and approaches; Selenium WebDriver; intro to BDD
• DevOps – Living in the Pipeline – DevOps tooling; infrastructure automation; CI; CD; quality and reliability engineering
• Effective IT Professionals – Leadership; communication; self-awareness; self-development

Specialist training: Test and Test Automation – Exploratory testing/session-based testing; context-driven testing; heuristics; further defect management; further test automation using C#, SpecFlow and Gherkin

“Overall, I enjoyed the training. Some aspects were harder than others though it all comes with practise to carry on developing those skills. The Academy gives you a good overall grounding and I enjoyed learning more about website development and manual testing.”

After the Academy

“I didn’t know what to expect when I was placed with my first client. But you’re always nervous before everything starts. Once you’re in the thick of it and doing the work, it’s all fine.”

Project 1

Providing additional testing services to support a major rollout of hardware across multiple UK sites for an existing public sector client

The rollout required multiple small teams of 2-6 test analysts to be on-site at multiple locations across the UK over a six-month period, whereby integration and site acceptance tests were carried out. Each site had 5-30 hardware installations deployed requiring over 150 scenarios per hardware installation.

I was placed on a public sector client and we started with daily stand-ups in the mornings which was good to learn what other groups were working on in related projects. Other Ten10 employees started with the client before I joined, so I was able to go to them to ask questions. There was always someone who could help me.

I enjoyed my first project because it was my first experience in the software testing world and I could start learning and developing my skills in practise.

Project 2

Providing test capability for a project that is enhancing and maintaining a transport management system deployed in the Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

The project involves a blended team of Ten10, client permanent and other third-party team members supporting the test activities across a hybrid Agile/waterfall delivery process. This includes testing multiple sprint releases and supporting formal test phases. The test coverage includes back-office systems, handheld devices, and large ticketing machines.

My second client has been very different to my first as I’m working in the client’s system test team. I’m using a lot more software testing tools including JIRA and TestRail, and I’m working on-site at the client’s office in Poole. Five Ten10 consultants started originally, and now there is a total of 12.

If you would have told me when I left education that I would be working in technology – I wouldn’t have guessed it. The fact that I saw this advert and have this opportunity. It’s made me develop both my skills and my confidence. I have ambition and direction. I enjoy what I do, it interesting and challenging. I’m grateful for the fact that it’s enabled me to develop my skills, improve my confidence, grow and meet my potential.