== Intro Vincent Dirks - Software Quality Engineer ==
As a versatile Software Quality Engineer, I aim to understand the nuances of the product, team dynamics, technological landscapes, and organizational structures so that I can adapt and contribute effectively. I specialize in adapting to diverse contexts, and look beyond traditional testing methodologies to consider the design of the whole quality ecosystem necessary for delivering quality software solutions efficiently.
At the moment I am taking a break from work to give myself some time for self-care after some difficult periods over the last couple of years.
=== [[Water Services Reform, Dept of Internal Affairs (NZ Govt) - Senior Test Automation Engineer]] (Nov-2023 - Jan-2024) ===
=== [[Trade Me - Senior Software Test Analyst]] (Dec-2014 - Aug-2016) ===
: Part of a small squad at Trade Me, I conducted Conducted context-driven exploratory testing for software changes to the iconic [https://www.trademe.co.nz/ Trade Me] website, focussing on the [https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors Motors] page & features. My responsibilities included testing DBs, UIs, APIs, and mobile apps, leading deployments, conducting test planning and peer reviews, utilizing BDD and visual test tools. I gained experience with implementing agile methods, Splunk, ReadyAPI, XMind, Jira, and Confluence. I also enjoyed onboarding new staff and contributing to the test and agile guilds.
=== [[Pre-2014 Roles]] ===
==What I'm reading, watching, listening, learning, and trying out in 2024==
===My Personal [[Observability Project]]===
* [https://expressjs.com/en/starter/hello-world.html Express.js basic hello world] and my [https://github.com/VincentDirks/node.js-in-the-cloud node.js-in-the-cloud] repo
* [https://www.atlassian.com/microservices/microservices-architecture/kubernetes-vs-docker Kubernetes vs. Docker] by Josh Campbell at Atlassian <br>
:I want to learn the difference between these technologies to see how it might apply to my [[Observability Project]]
* Setting up Docker Desktop at home to run the [https://github.com/Splunk/docker-Splunk Docker Splunk Image]
=== Test Community Events ===
* Registered to go to the [https://nztestingconf.nz/ NZTestingConf 2024] in Wellington to listen to
:Interesting alternative to the ''"Test Automation Pyramid"''.
:Quote: ''There are testing problems to consider at every level, "Quality above requires quality below".''
===My '''[[Observability Project]]'''===
* [https://expressjs.com/en/starter/hello-world.html Express.js basic hello world] and my [https://github.com/VincentDirks/node.js-in-the-cloud node.js-in-the-cloud] repo
* [https://www.atlassian.com/microservices/microservices-architecture/kubernetes-vs-docker Kubernetes vs. Docker] by Josh Campbell at Atlassian <br>
:I want to learn the difference between these technologies to see how it might apply to my [[Observability Project]]
* Setting up Docker Desktop at home to run the [https://github.com/Splunk/docker-Splunk Docker Splunk Image]
===[[Archive What I'm Reading, Watching, Listing, Learning, and Trying Out|Archive]]===