A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending a symposium organized by our company for the first time. It was an incredible experience that inspired me. The day started with our CEO, Jonathan Fletcher, sharing insights on the CFC journey "beyond the mountain", and how we become the best tech organisation in insurance.
Friday, July 5, 2024
Highlights from the Company Symposium 2024
Monday, January 1, 2024
Year in Review : Reflecting on 2023
I've been doing this tradition of reflecting back on a year for the last four years, and it's been great to look back at each year-end review. It's like flipping through the pages of a personal growth journal, seeing the progress, the lessons learned, and the challenges overcome. Here's a snapshot of my 2023 story:
- 2023 kicked off with me joining Ship30for30, a writing course that taught me the importance of consistency, generating ideas, and embracing constructive feedback. Check out my 30-day writing adventure here.
- Throughout the year, I had the pleasure of being a guest on various podcasts, discussing topics like observability for testers, the importance of representation, and the concept of shifting testing left. You can catch some of these conversations π
- My time at Thoughtworks was like a journey through a place where I learned and grew a lot. Working with great co-workers on different projects, making friends forever, and tackling challenges have all contributed to shaping a better version of myself.
- One of the personal milestones of the year was delivering workshops at conferences. From a 99-minute session on continuous testing to an in-person workshop on inclusive cross-functional requirements, the feedback from attendees was incredibly rewarding. You can find more about these workshops here. If any conference is seeking workshops on these topics, feel free to reach out to me as I'm looking to do more of these in 2024. Apart from these workshops, I got an opportunity to be part of a panel discussion on 'Driving a culture of quality' at TestBash Autumn 2023. It was an honour to be part of this alongside Ben Dowen and Calab Grandall.
Cross-functional requirements (CFRs), most commonly referred to as Non-functional Requirements (NFRs), form an integral part of software quality. And testing for them and making them as part of them
— Agile Testing Days (@AgileTD) July 26, 2023
➡️ https://t.co/8AHBT9yWgE@Parveen_Khan10 #AgileTD #SoftwareQuality pic.twitter.com/hMcB0EzJSt
- Said goodbye to Thoughtworks and jumped into a new role as the Quality Practice Lead at CFC. The first month has been a rollercoaster of learning, and I'm excited about what's coming next.
- In response to health challenges stemming from remote work(not taking frequent breaks), I committed to a journey of healthy eating habits. Shedding 12 kgs wasn't just about adopting healthy habits but also about dedication, consistency, and bouncing back after setbacks. This achievement stands out as a personal highlight for me in 2023.
- Mentoring on platforms like ADPList and celebrating 500 minutes of mentorship was a highlight. Mentoring isn't a one-way street; I'm constantly learning with every conversation. I have also joined various platforms like
- ADPlist - Book a session
- MentorCruise - Book a session
- The Mentoring Club - Book a session
- The Test Tribe - Book a session
- Being named a RisingSTAR Finalist was an honor. While my idea on cross-functional requirements didn't take the top spot, standing among brilliant finalists was a win in itself.
- I was humbled to be recognized in the tech community as one of the 100 Women in Tech to Follow and Learn From.
- Additionally, I contributed as part of the program review team for TestΞΌ 2023 by Lambdatest, adding my voice to the testing community as a reviewer. I was also invited to be a Llambdatest Spartan which is a great community to be part of.
We are excited to share @Parveen_Khan10, Senior QA Consultant at ThoughtWorks, as a member of our program review team for #TestMuConf 2023. π️
— LambdaTest (@lambdatesting) June 22, 2023
A quality advocate, Parveen's commitment to cultivating collaboration and refining methodologies has been key in delivering first-class… pic.twitter.com/f8ajyuchUu
As I bid farewell to 2023, I acknowledge its ups and downs. Each challenge has contributed to my growth, and I'm proud of how I've navigated them. Despite falling short on consistent blogging, 2024 holds a simple goal—write at least 5 blogs. Putting it out here for public accountability! π
In closing, I'm grateful for the experiences and lessons of 2023. Here's to growth, resilience, and the untold stories awaiting in 2024! ππ
Stay tuned for more adventures! ✨
Friday, December 31, 2021
A Year in Review - 2021
Another year passed by and its the time of the year to look back and reflect. This year for me was more of trying to recover from year 2020 loss of my loved one and taking care of myself.
Reflecting back to me is all about being grateful and learning from all those experiences and continue to grow. So I wanted to look back at my 2021 journey.
- Networking and making friends was one of the huge advantage of attending in person conferences, I had made some from 2019 conferences that I had attended in person. I had an opportunity to share a short story in colloboration with Niranjani Manohoran for an initiative called as RISE hosted by Synapse QA where we shared how we met at a conference and continued helping each other π
We continue honouring inspirational leaders, join us to celebrate Vijeta Tiwari, @RanjaniRambles
— SYNAPSE QA (@synapse_qa) March 8, 2021
& @Parveen_Khan10, @Laveena_18, @LavanyaMohan210 with π₯ππ¦ππ
A huge thanks to these inspiring leaders for sharing their stories and messages ❤️ #synapseqa #risebysynapse pic.twitter.com/ZTUTihgdQC
- It was an honour to be on the list curated by Angie Jones, top 10 inspiring women in test to follow on techbeacon.
To the newer voices: I see you, celebrate you, and am inspired by you. Thank you for sharing with the world! #IWD2021 https://t.co/4onBPEfgid
— Angie Jones (@techgirl1908) March 8, 2021
- I got an opportunity to pair and collaborate with Maaret PyhΓ€jΓ€rvi to test the application under test to create a course.
We (myself, @irjastraus, @Parveen_Khan10 and @AdharaIT) have collaborated on a teaching concept where we take the same application and a different constraint on how we approach it for #ExploratoryTesting to help people learn to test better.
— Maaret PyhΓ€jΓ€rvi (@maaretp) March 15, 2021
- I joined Thoughtworks in May as a Senior QA Consultant which was one of the most exciting news. I had followed and got inspired by many thoughtworkers, I was very excited to start a new chapter of my journey as a thoughtworker. It's been just 7 months since I joined and I already feel so confident about everything that I have done so far and how much I have learned. There's so much more that I'm looking forward to in 2022 that I have planned for .
- I continued sharing my learnings about Observability with the community, I still consider myself as a newbie in this topic and there's so much more to learn and explore. This topic is one of my favourite and I'm very passionate about it, I'm hoping to learn more about this in 2022 π―. Was part of the panel along with Miss Amy, Shery Brauner, Tiani Jones and Thom Duran which was hosted by LeadDev - Getting your engineers on board with observability. And also contributed on LeadDev where myself including Liz Fong-Jones, Kristie Howard and Lesley Cordero have shared experiences around how the teams been using Observability. I loved sharing and reading about how others have been using it. Interested in reading? Here's the link - How Netflix, Teachers Pay, HoneyComb and more used Observability
Has observability changed the way your engineering teams work? We ask engineering leaders @lizthegrey @lesleyclovesyou @Parveen_Khan10 and Kristie Howard #webdevelopment #techlead #observability https://t.co/ZZVlI3EfYL
— LeadDev (@TheLeadDev) December 24, 2021
- I got invited to be one of the reviewers for Super Reads 2021:Synape QA Global Write-A-Thon. It was great to be part of the awesome panel of reviewers.I loved reading so many stories and articles throught the review process.
- I did speak at few conferences this year including TestFlix 2021, Appium Conference 2021, API Summit 2021, Conf42:Site Reliability Engineering 2021 and Dev Day 2021. I had a privilege to be a host at Agile India 2021 Conference to host Manoj Kumar where he delivered a talk on Tips from the Trenches : Accessibility Testing.
- It was an honour to be on TestGuild Podcast hosted by Joe Colantonio, it was such an awesome experience and enjoyed the conversation sharing all about quality.
Wondering how you can influence your whole team to be excited about quality? Listen to what Parveen Khan @Parveen_Khan10 has to say about the crucial role of influence in helping your team succeed. Check this out! πhttps://t.co/Kg2WqBKY4b #testautomation #automationtesting pic.twitter.com/55xI8VUDwD
— Joe Colantonio (@joecolantonio) December 20, 2021
- This is my first and last blogpost of this year 2021. I did not or shall I say I could not write any blogpost in this year. I did get very anxious about not writing any blog. But slowly I learnt to accept that it's ok, it's ok to not write, it's ok to take a break from something to take care of yourself. Gradually I started feeling less guilty about not being able to write which was a huge relief for my ownself. And I'm looking forward to 2022 to take small steps towards getting back into writing and sharing more πͺπ«π₯.
What a journey and a ride it was, Year 2021. With so many great things, had miserable moments too. Even though I could not do as much as I had thought of, I'm happy and grateful of what I was able to do. All the learnings, experiences, struggles and challenges have given me a lot of strength and confidence. I'm grateful to all those people who were kind, empathetic and encouraging.
While I'm planing and building my goals for next year, this is the tweet that is going to be a reminder and going to be stuck in my mind π
You're never going to know everything there is to know in tech.
— Angie Jones (@techgirl1908) October 20, 2020
Instead, aim for the confidence to know that you can figure it out.
Looking forward for the year 2022 ππ«
Monday, January 4, 2021
Reflecting on Year 2020
⚠️ Content warning: This blog contains mention of death
The year 2020 - A year filled with a lot of uncertainties, learned whole new definition of being adaptable to the changes, surprises which were both good and bad, a year of learning about all new fears. Year 2020 to me has meant all about empathy and humanity. It's been a mixed year which has entirely changed the way I look at life and the impact has been real.
This year had been a real toll in terms of mental health and adapting to the new way of living with a lot of unexpected situations to face. I almost decided not to write anything about reflecting on this year. But I decided to do it. This is my first blog post in the last 6 months.
The year started with a lot of excitement and goals that I wanted to achieve. A lot of planning and passion went in for what I wanted to achieve and learn while I was on my Testing Tour. Setting out on Testing Tour was not just about learning topics and sharing but it was more of getting out of my comfort zone. I am so glad I took the courage to do it and it proved to be worth it. I met known and new people from across the world which was an amazing experience.
I got introduced to the whole new topic of Observability or O11y where Abby Bangser and Shelby Spees has helped me in a way that got me hands-on with so much better understanding and clarity about this topic. Shared my learnings from Testing Tour and Observability at multiple conferences.
I lived in fear since I came to know about Covid-19, fear for my family who live with me and who lived back home in India. I have seen Covid effect really closely. Three of my loved ones caught it one after the other. First my Mom, then my Dad and then my brother. In this battle, I lost my Dad who was my inspiration and role model. This hit me so hard that I'm still trying to recover to come out of that loss and pain π’ which is never going to heal. These were one of the toughest days I have ever faced.
I still wanted to look back and reflect on the good things that happened to me.
- Went on Testing Tour and had 15 different sessions on 15 different topics and blogged about each of those sessions.
- I learned about a lot more new topics and tried my hands-on with new tools. I learned about Observability, Performance testing using Jmeter, Microsoft Azure and lot more.
- I got an opportunity to be part of Observability for testers series organized by Anne-Marie Charrett along with Lisa Crispin and Abby Bangser which was a great opportunity to learn and explore more about observability.
Great session in our Observability for testers series. Today we looked at Kibana and exploring logs. Great explanations from @a_bangser and @shelbyspees thank you both so much! Next week go deep dive into @honeycombio pic.twitter.com/9UtUY0wGUz
— Anne-Marie Charrett (@charrett) June 18, 2020
- Facilitated and organised internal lunch and learn sessions at work where I presented my learnings about observability to my team. This was the first time I was trying to do something like organising internal sessions. I also tried to invite external speakers to share their knowledge at these internal sessions with my team which went very successful.
- Got the opportunity to speak at various conferences, meetups and webinars.
- Women Tech Global Conference
- TestFlix - Global Software Testing Binge by Test Tribe
- Agile Testing Days. Find all tweets related to my talk here - Link
- Hustef 2020
- InflectraCon
- ObservabilityCon
- Open Quality Conference
- Being on a podcast was not on my list or should I say I had never thought of. I got amazing opportunities where I got invited at various podcasts -
- The QA Lead Podcast hosted by Jonathon Wright
- O11yCast Podcast hosted by Charity Majors and Shelby Spees
- Software Crafts Podcasts hosted by JoΓ£o Rosa
- Interviewed by TesterSpeak for one of their episode hosted by Brijesh Deb
- Interviewed by GalTalks where I shared my journey of how I got into tech
- Got nominated as international speaker of the year at Global women tech conference and became a runner up - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/womentech-network_womenintech-womentechnet-wtga2020-activity-6735642372828340224-fljk
- Managed to write and publish 15 blogs given this was my first year of continuous blogging.
- Shared my learnings from my current project in a blog post which was published on TestProject
- Got nominated as a tester of the day by Simon Prior which is such an awesome initiative by Ben Dowen to celebrate software testing community every day by nominating.
Congratulations @Parveen_Khan10 today's #TesterOfTheDay!
— The Full Snack Tester (Ben Dowen) (@FullSnackTester) November 25, 2020
Nominated by @siprior : 'Parveen's testing tour has been inspirational and really proves that you can learn new things. A great asset to the testing and wider software communities'
Hall of Fame:https://t.co/2t44Scdi6I
- I gained 1076 followers crossing 1000k followers on Twitter which for me is a huge number.
- I learned to listen to my mental health and say no to few of the opportunities. I had to prioritise myself over other things which I struggled initially but gradually learned that it's absolutely ok to stop and take a break to take care of yourself.
- When the entire world went remote, initially I was happy that I will get to work from home but gradually it became challenging to work from home with two kids around as they had their virtual school sessions. Throughout this process, I learnt not to feel guilty for not being able to give full attention to both my kids while they are on their virtual school sessions. Learnt to be patient and adapt to each day as it comes.
- Our testing community is not just to learn and share about all things testing but it proved to be supportive during my difficult times which I'm so thankful for.
Reflecting on all these gave me so much happiness, confidence and pleasure π«π. It's always good to look back and see what you have been doing or learning on the way. Looking forward for year 2021 with an attitude of being grateful for what I have. Thanks for your time for stopping by and reading my post π
Tuesday, January 7, 2020
Reflecting back at 2019
- My year 2019 started off with this news -
- I attended my first ever conference and that was TestBash Brighton which couldn't have been possible without the help from Angie Jones and Richard Bradshaw.
- I have presented at 5 different conferences at different locations like London, Manchester, USA, Germany, Budapest and presented my stories. I started my speaking journey in 2018 and presented at an online conference. This was my first year of speaking and I got the opportunity to present at international conferences which was overwhelming and exciting for me. I got a chance to meet so many inspiring people.
Sooo proud of my @spkeazee mentee @Parveen_Khan10 who just landed her first international speaking engagement!!! Congrats, Parveen! πhttps://t.co/1SfuAB64FY— Angie Jones (@techgirl1908) January 30, 2019
Finally the countdown begins πSooo looking forward for my first #testbashbrighton #testbas tomorrow. I'm sooo desperate as I'm going to meet @techgirl1908 @lisihocke @shivani_gaba_ @simon_tomes and many new testbashers.. Thanks @ministryoftest @FriendlyTester @techgirl1908 pic.twitter.com/NW3oLG8wEH— Parveen (@Parveen_Khan10) April 4, 2019
π My mentee just became an international conference speaker! π— Angie Jones (@techgirl1908) June 26, 2019
Soooo proud of @Parveen_Khan10 https://t.co/QUhtUnM4l6 pic.twitter.com/xyPL6mfHgu
- I also presented at 3 online conferences, 1 online meetup and was part of a panel discussion with Lisa Crispin, Simon Prior and Joe Colantonio. It was such an honour to be on this panel and I had a great experience being part of this.
- I gave my first conference talk at Testing Summit London 2019 and I got invited to present again at Test Summit London in 2020.
- I was new to this entire testing community and 2019 was the year of networking. I never used twitter or slack groups but I started being more active since this year. It really helped me in lot of ways. I could share my learnings, my happiness, my achievements, I'd reach out if I had any questions. What's more wonderful was the overwhelming response from the community to help me find my job
July 17th: A panel of leading testing practitioners @joecolantonio, @Parveen_Khan10, @siprior, and @lisacrispin will share their insights about traditional testing and quality processes and the pitfalls to avoid in tech transformations. https://t.co/pGJmWLA5PS— mabl (@mablhq) July 8, 2019
Thank you everyone for helping me πππ.I totally love this community.A very special and Biiig thanks to @DannyDainton for helping me find this job.A very super special thanks to @techgirl1908 πππ for supporting and helping me.YASSSS, I accepted an offer and I got the jobππ https://t.co/4N4rWq1DyQ— Parveen (@Parveen_Khan10) October 10, 2019
- I started sharing my experiences by writing blog post and sharing it on mabl and testingindevops. This was my first time writing a blog post and I managed to write 3 blog posts and willing to write more in 2020.
- Got so inspired by Lisi and Toyer's learning partner journey that I started my learning partner journey with Simon Berner
- I had a goal for 2019 to have my own blog site and I finally have one - - https://www.parveenkhans.com/p/blog.html
- I started my #TestingTour inspired by Lisi to become more confident as a tester by pairing with different people on various topics and started sharing my journey on my blog site. I already had wonderful sessions with Maaret, Amitai Schleier, Mirjana Andovska, Rob Meaney and Tariq King. And also have few sessions booked in for January and February which I'm really looking forward to.
Hey @lisihocke and @tottiLFC I finally found my learning partner. Im so super excited to share this. @alientester thanks for being my learning partner. Thank you @lisihocke and @tottiLFC for this inspiration, I am following your footsteps to learn and start my journey. pic.twitter.com/c88KvSLMts— Parveen (@Parveen_Khan10) November 15, 2019
I was part of @lisihocke starting her #TestingTour and now similarly a part of @Parveen_Khan10 getting started with her #TestingTour. Learning without physical borders, pairing online, allows us all to learn from one another. pic.twitter.com/4t63G5bcKq— Maaret PyhΓ€jΓ€rvi (@maaretp) December 8, 2019
Had the honor of participating in the #TestingTour journey of @Parveen_Khan10. What a great initiative. Kudos. https://t.co/inK2SwvUvZ— Tariq M. King (@tariq_king) December 17, 2019
- The pattern for me in 2019 was all about coming out of comfort zone, doing things which I have never done before, being brave and courageous, had ups and downs and still trying to learn to deal with those things, learning new topics. Overall it was an awesome year for me and really looking forward to continuing learning and sharing more in 2020.