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I recently took the course for Certified Agile Tester and got the certificate after sitting the exam. The course is organised by ISQi (International Software Quality Institute) of Germany. It spans over 5 days, four days of training and a written and practical exam on the fifth day.
As opposed to other Testing Certifications like ISTQB, the course material is not prepared by the training institutes. Instead it’s done by the ISQi itself, hence all the course takers will go through the same material, no matter where they sit for the exam.
The course material gives a comprehensive introduction to Agile Methodology, Manifesto, comparison with traditional methods, its advantages, related ceremonies and relevance of traditional roles in Agile. It covers everything in nice depth and breadth. Course days consist of half day of theory going through the course material and the second half on each day is a practical exercise. It’s the practical sessions that stood out for me. First day’s practical was a LEGO exercise based on Scrum. The next three days’ practicals are like real life scenarios where we were given story cards, had to do Scrum Iterations, actually take the code, test it, raise issues, get Acceptance from the customer etc.
The exam consists of practical and written exam. For practical exams, you are the tester, the team and the customer. You have to take builds, do Iteration Planning, prepare session charts, do the testing and Retrospective…. pretty much everything done in SCRUM. It is followed by a subjective theory exam…yes, it’s not multiple choice. I would not say its very difficult, provided you kept your ears open during the training sessions and went through the course material every day (which is a huge task seriously!!).
I think none of the other Testing qualifications make you do TESTING. Its just about mugging up some theoretical Testing Principles (which might not be relevant in real life!!) and spitting them out in the examination hall. Ironically, people who have no testing experience have been able to score more than people with years of practical exposure to testing.
I am not saying CAT is the best course out there, but definitely I do not regret doing it. Although , it is a bit over-priced at AUD $3300.00..especially if it goes out from your own pocket.. But then, its the same for all certifications!
Please give your comments if you have done this course or are planning to in future.
Ruma Dak's Blog 
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Hi Ruma,
I found this link –
https://www.istqb.guru/agile-tester-exam-sample-questions/
Do you think these questions are helpful?
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Hi
I did the Certified Agile Tester certification. Their course material is quite comprehensive and the questions are subjective.
The link has questions for ISTQB Agile certification, so I am not very sure!
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Hi Ruma,
I want to do the certification in AGile, but CAT seems to be more pricey, so I want to do ISTQB’s Agile extension certification.
I knew that CAT certification along with the training is a good option, but I have good experience in scrum practice and hence I decided to do AGile extension right away.
Please do comment about your view.
Thanks in advance.
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If you have experience, ISTQB Extension is not a bad option!
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How much it cost in indian RS?
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@Deept, You will need to find it from here:
http://www.veritysoftware.in/#certifications
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Hi,
I am looking to give agile tester exam in aug,2015 in india.Can you please tell me some past questions/material /notes etc…
Thnks.
Ruchi
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Ruchi,
If you are going for CAT, you will need to attend the training and they will provide the study material as well!
You can still google and read online to get a basic idea.
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Hi , i was planning to take ISTQB Agile tester Certification and i dont know the paattern and cost in Idian Rupee. can you help me on that 🙂
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@Surya – It costs Rs 6000/- and can be taken at Pearson test centre
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HI Nitin , Thanks Alot…do you know anyone who took this exam?or any dumps for that
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Thanks Ruma for share your comments, all of them are very helpful for us. I am part of a testing team in Colombia, we want to do this certification. But we want to start preparing by our self in a training group sessions. I am absolutely sure the practical sessions were the best things of that course. So my concern now is how we can build a really good practice training day, I mean how we can build a real case to help us to achieve the CAT goals. We have been working with agile framework for around 2 years. If you can share us, some ideas that would be great. Thanks 🙂
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Hi,
You do need to attend the training in order to write the exam. It focuses mainly on SCRUM, so if you have been using SCRUM, the training will be refresher for you!
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What is the fee of this exam in India
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Adnan,
You can find out the fee and other details from
http://veritysoftware.in/
about the exam in India.
I had seen long ago and I vaguely remember it was about 50K around.
Hope that helps!
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Hi Rumadak,
Have you came across any other alternatives other than this one as it is bit over priced??
Cheers,
Raj Oberoi
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Raj,
ISTQB have also introduced an Agile Certification recently.
http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/agile-tester-extension/agile-tester-extension-in-a-nutshell.html
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Is there any areas you would recommend studying before starting the course so Im clueless on the day, as Im paying for it mysel
When you say subjective, meaning there is no right/wrong answer and we can asswer the question as we feel,
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You dont need to study anything..they give you enough material. Still.. If you are very keen, search online for agile and scrum and get a basic idea.
Subjective means essay type questions!!
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Great post.
I have two questions
1. I only have 12 months testing experience will I be able to pass the course?
2. What is the format of the exams, multiple choice or how does it work? Are you graded day to day
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Thanks Tom!
You do need some testing experience to pass this exam, that’s what I feel because you are actually made to test an application.
You have to sit a written subjective exam followed by a practical exam. I think 10% of the final grading is for the class/ internal communication and rest is for the exam.
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Is exam taken in india? if yes then at what place(city) and where to register for it
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Mayank,
Yes you can write the Exam in India. Pls see the following link:
http://www.veritysoftware.in/
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Verity is originally located in Noida .But, they organize training sessions mostly in every metro city . You can contact them for further details.As i am also planning for coming October in Noida .
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Thanks Laksh !!
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Rumadak,
I have contacted a training provider in India .The training cost is really over priced.Just thinking whether it will give a good ROI.
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Laksh,
I agree it is overpriced.. here as well, especially if it goes from your own pocket!
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Rumadak,
Yup it really count when you paying from your pocket …Although this will add a lot to your CV…..but on the other side i guess only the knowledge matters rather than any certification although i know that i am consoling myself by saying this……. but still i won’t be paying that much until my employer pays me back ….. But still confused whether to under go training or not ………………..!!!
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Hey Rumadak,
I need a very small favor from you.Actually i am looking to give the CAT foundation level examination in India .Can you please recommend me a book or any study material to clear the certification And Is it necessary to undergo any training to clear the examination.
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Hi Laksh!
Yes it is mandatory to do the training to sit the exam. You don’t need any book, they provide you with training material. Unlike ISTQB Certifications, the training material is same for everyone, i.e. it is prepared by IsQI and not the training institute. Still, if you wish to read, there are lot of online resources like blogs, scrum.org website, videos etc. Hope that helps.
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Hey Rumadak,
I need i very small favor for you .Actually i am looking to give CAT foundation level exam in India .Can you please recommend me any book or good study material to clear the examination And is it necessary to undergo any training to clear CAt foundation level examination ?
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Rumadak,
I am little confused regarding the training .Why it is compulsory to undergo training and the training duration is of just 4 days and on the 5 day you are supposed to give the CAT exam . That means the training will be totally CAT oriented rather than giving knowledge .Although i didn’t had any training so i can’t judge but can you please share that what these guys include in the training .
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Laksh,
Training is mandatory from ISQI. Training has focus on Agile Testing. It aims at introduction to Agile Methodolgies, discusses few main ones like SCRUM and XP. But the practical exercises are all based on SCRUM. SCRUM is explained in detail.
They provide you with all study material.
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hi.. u make it sound like International Software Quality Institute is a none profit organoization… Well it just a total nomal limited company who hide beind the word Institute… They are a money making business, not a none-profit org as ISTQB.
CAT is done by a very closed company whu want to milk money out of Agile Testers around the world, becourse ISTQB are too slow.. The content of CAT is critical in my eyes.. if you look at first day, you can find vidoes where you can learn the same in 6-10 minutes.. and the rest look also critical. And jumping around killing ballonns are play with Lego doesnt make you a better Agile tester
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Steen,
I never meant to say that ISQi , or any other organisation for that matter, is a non profit organisation. I disagree with you about your opinion about ISTQB as well! They too are into money making business like everyone else.
As far as what you learn from all these courses/certifications, you can learn the same things on your own ALWAYS. It’s just that employers have become biased towards certifications these days! And BTW, tell me one thing in ISTQB Foundation syllabi that makes you a good practical tester?? Any one who has never tested anything can write the exam and pass with flying colours. That, for me, is enough to question the credibility of these exams. I am not ISTQB Advanced certified yet, but I know how to apply the advanced testing techniques in my day-to-day testing.
For the lego exercise, it’s just a way to do a Sprint and understand the basics of the process.
Having said that, I tend to take neutral approach towards these certification. As long as I learn something new and meet new people , these seem OK to me.
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I never went for any certifications, they just useless exams to certify you that you are not… Learn from experience listen to others experience best way to become good tester.
I never had any problem finding good jobs despite me saying i don’t believe in certificates at the interviews
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I don’t completely agree with what you said in your comment. Certifications are certainly not as important as they are hyped about, but they are not useless.
Anything which gives you new ideas and learning is not useless in my view. The value you get out of depends entirely on yourself. You can just confine urself in a box (that certificate-acquired-knowledge created for you) and not experiment and go beyond. Or you can you can use the knowledge as foundation and explore more.
For interviews, I would say you are lucky and I wish all Employers would know how to test the knowledge rather than counting certificates for an employee.
But there are companies and organisations which explicitly mention that so-an-so certificates are required/preferred. Moreover, some clients also ask the organisation about the skill sets of their Employees.
And if one’s organisation has a training budget, one should use it to go for trainings etc.
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I think a practical test is better and is more a reflection of real life. I sometimes worry that certifications lock us into a prescriptive methodology. Thoughts?
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I agree that practical tests are better from learning point of view.
As for Certifications, I am not against them but I oppose the notion of some organisations that they judge candidates based on certifications alone.
If I spend time on learning something new, I would want to have a certification as a proof of it.
But, it gets ugly when it ends up being a money making business only.
I believe Certifications are for guiding only. A Tester needs to push the boundaries, try new ideas and learn totally different lessons by applying what he already knows.
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Ohh sorry ignore my previous comment , got the price , may be you should put that in Bold hehe 🙂
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How much did it cost Ruma?
Just interested to write that as well.
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