The Anxious Tester - Chris Kelly

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Chris

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Talk Description

Over the last year I have become more aware of my anxiety levels. As this awareness has grown I have noticed that it can really affect my day-to-day work. In this session, I want to talk about the things that I do to try and manage my anxiety.

I've never been diagnosed with anxiety and I have not talked to a professional about it. However, when someone close to me needed help, and eventually accepted that they needed to ask for it, I started to see some of the same behaviours in myself. It took time for me to fully accept that this is normal, even when reassuring that other person. It is easy to give good advice, but much more difficult to act on it.

Takeaways

If one person in the audience can recognise a behaviour in themselves that they haven't been aware of before and takes away one of my methods to help deal with it, then the inevitable anxiety that I will feel about standing in front of everyone will be worth it.

But I would hope that everyone takes away something.

What you’ll learn

By the end of this talk, you'll be able to:

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Chris

I still feel new to the software industry. After graduating with a BSc in Software Engineering, I worked for 5 years in Technical Support, supporting a wide variety of tools using a variety of technologies. When I felt it was time for a new challenge, I made the move to Testing. It was a natural move as I had already developed the basic skills I needed in support. I have been a Tester since then, and use my experience in support to keep user experience (and the pains that poor experience can cause support teams) as the focus of my testing.

During my transition to test, I found help, support and mentoring from other experienced testers. While I will always have more to learn, I have been working to give back to the community where I am involved with the Software Testing Clinic (Cambridge) and the Cambridge Lean Coffee mornings. I also care deeply about the health of my team, as a healthy team will be a happier team, and a happier team will deliver better projects.

In my spare time, I volunteer with St John Ambulance as an Advanced First Aider. I cycle as much as I can, mountain bike whenever possible and ride a motorbike given the slightest excuse.

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  • mental-health