We're bringing 2022 to a close with a second month of coaching-related conversation, as we finally maroon the one and only Vernon Richards on our desert island, to share his many career adventures, from games testing, to Will Smith body double, to flourishing as a coach. We talk about day-to-day challenges facing testers, such as the demands to upskill (particularly around code), how to display 'coach-like' behaviours regardless of your job title, and how to balance networking with being a functioning family member. On the music front, there's a selection of hip-hop from across the decades (with a promise of some karaoke in the future), and Vernon exploits Neil's festive kindness to increase the size of the island's bookshelf by 10 titles. Plus, a round-up of our favourite music and movies of 2022! Grow your testing skills at Ministry of Testing, the home of testing https://www.ministryoftesting.com/podcasts?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=tid

As we move unfathomably towards the festive season, we take a break from the cold and gloomy weather to welcome TestBash UK's very own pink ray of sunshine, Clare Norman, for a discussion of the specific skills and traits that can help us to be better quality coaches We talk about how a lack of testing resources can often be liberating for our roles, how listening is as valuable a skill as speaking, the differences between coaching and teaching, and the power of persuasion, in an episode which somehow remains coherent despite Neil's tiredness and the recording software crashing twice. Clare's musical selections include a couple of big-hitting rock bands making their first-ever appearances on the podcast, the return of an old favourite, and some classical and world music choices too. And while Clare adds one book to our island selection, we also spend most of the episode name-checking lots of other influential books, talks and blogs in the coaching space. Grow your testing skills at Ministry of Testing, the home of testing https://www.ministryoftesting.com/podcasts?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=tid

Fresh from last month's TestBash adventure, Neil is joined by fellow conference attendee Conor Fitzgerald, who brings his experiences as co-founder of the Ministry of Testing Cork meetup, as well as from his many years as tester, manager and toastmaster. On our agenda today, we discuss conferences and meetups (including the challenges of running both in-person and remote events), moving into management roles, how to lead when you can't see people, and how good listening is often even more important than good speaking. From a musical perspective, Conor does a fantastic job of debuting a few timeless bands onto our playlist, including some classic grunge and rock, and a third appearance by one of Neil's favourite acts. Plus a load of bonus book recommendations!

We're doing it live! For our five-year anniversary, Neil throws caution (and editing) to the wind as he roams The Lowry in Manchester during TestBash UK 2022, contending with challenges including a tea service, a hotel restaurant, tannoy systems, outside broadcasts and interviewing multiple guests at once. Betwixt the background buzz, we talk to speakers and attendees about the return of face-to-face events, the novelty of a multi-track TestBash, and the common themes that we observed during the two-day conference, including quality engineering, culture, coaching and cognition. There are music selections as usual, with a mixture of new and old, and a first appearance for possibly the quintessential 90s one-hit wonder (even though Neil is aware that they actually had multiple follow-up singles). With thanks to all of our guests who volunteered their time for this episode: Yanir Taflev, Alex Reynolds, Simon Prior, Vernon Richards, Stuart Day, Diana Dromey, Julia Förster and Steve Moss. Grow your testing skills at Ministry of Testing, the home of testing https://www.ministryoftesting.com/podcasts?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=tid

This month it's a truly worldwide affair as Neil is joined by Nicola Lindgren, a New Zealander who's based in Sweden, to share stories of her testing journey and her community content creation, including a newly-published book, "Starting Your Software Testing Career" We talk about how to reserve the time to participate in extra-curricular activities, and take a deep-dive into the process of creating a book from start to finish, including finding value for your audience, how contributors can help you to create more well-rounded content, getting your content reviewed, and how to promote effectively on social media. On the music front, there are memories of Nicaraguan night-life, graduation parties, Korean dance routines and "songs for squats"!

The usual Testers' Island Discs schedule is back on track, and we're resuming things this month with Callum Akehurst-Ryan, who chats about activities during the recent Pride Month, the importance of embracing people's authentic selves, and espousing love for the joy of exploratory testing. Along the way, we get into discussions about videogame crushes, tactical tattoo selections, watery mammals, using Dungeons & Dragons to help with healing from trauma, and there's a little light excerpt of Callum's DM storytelling which is perfect for ASMR fans. In Callum's musical selections, there are covers, AI recommendations, songs with videogame connections, and a track which allows Neil to share a peculiar punctuation-related statistic.

In an episode delayed by a horrible cold which Neil is audibly still not over, we bring two-thirds of the Tech Team Weekly podcast together as Gwen Diagram arrives for a long overdue (and colourful) testing discussion. We talk about Gwen's career and tech passions which have burned from a young age, her path from Australia into the UK, and the chance events which led her into IT, into testing, and subsequently into test management and engineering management. We talk about the challenges of big career jumps, speaking at conferences/online, speaking truth to executives, and representing the rights of the humans in our teams, in a session which was 100% not designed to be cathartic for Neil. Honest. Among Gwen's raucous musical selections, there's punk, garage rock, songs which cause us to bemoan the passage of time, and the shortest song that's ever appeared on the podcast (played in its entirety). Plus, Gwen's Leeds musical roots give Neil the perfect opportunity to finally wax lyrical about his favourite band that nobody's heard of.

We're trying something a little bit different this month, as Contract Testing aficionado Lewis Prescott joins us to talk about the joy (and challenges) of using Pact to support the development of multiple connected services without introducing breaking changes. It's a technical topic which is tough to cover optimally in audio format, but there's something here for everybody: those who are already familiar with Pact will find some practical tips and when and how you should (and shouldn't) use it, whereas newcomers will find a good grounding in the general lingo, and some recommendations for where to look in order to get hands-on experience. Lewis also manages the rare feat of selecting songs by five artists who've not appeared on the podcast before, as we welcome some modern classics into the island vaults, from the world of pop, R&B, hip-hop and rap.

A new year means a new start for many people, and that's definitely the case in this episode, where both host and guest have just started new roles as Head of QA. This month, Neil interviews Simon Rigler, which is another way of saying that Neil wants to ask Simon all of the most difficult questions that are keeping your host awake at night. It's a veritable Greatest Hits of test leadership discussions, as they discuss what draws people into (and out of) the world of testing, the importance of collaborating between disciplines and breaking down walls, remote collaboration challenges, and how to handle the situation where managers are fixated solely on automation. We've got diversions aplenty, including discussions about globetrotting, lockdown life on the coast, timezone headaches, and how to avoid being the testing equivalent of the Grim Reaper. On the music front, there are electronic and instrumental offerings, some Antipodean friends, a band marking their fifth appearance on the podcast, and Simon picks a track from one of the defining albums of 1999 which sends Neil off down memory lane.

Neil draws 2021 to a close by welcoming calls (and emails, and Rackets) from across the testing community. Our magnificent seven guests share a festive retrospective on their accomplishments of this year, and set themselves some targets for 2022. And Neil answers the same questions for the sake of balance. Among the bumper crop of songs featured in this round-up, there are tracks with Danish, Spanish and German lyrics; four songs which were actually released this year; two returning guests pick songs by artists that they've chosen before; and we get a light dusting of metalcore for good measure. Plus, a lot of the songs seem to be swearier than usual! We hope that you enjoy this little slice of something different, and look forward to welcoming you back to our regular service at the end of January.