Choose 1 background... the team members as well.

Stage 1 – Understanding Budget Limits Every company, especially a startup, begins with limited resources. Testing often competes for a share of that small budget.
Realizing that “there’s only so much budget for testing” is the first step — small company, small profits, small budget for test matters. It’s not ideal, but it’s reality.

🚩indicators stage 1: We don't have a software tester yet.
We don't have a dedicated software tester on paper yet.

Stage 2 – Understanding What’s Always Needed. Regardless of budget, some testing should never stop.
Security, reliability, and quality are non-negotiable.
Budget may limit depth, but cutting essential areas like Security Testing? That’s never a smart choice.

Yet here’s the paradox:
No budget — yet everything is always needed.

🚩Indicators stage 2: PieterJan does all the testing.
He complains a lot that he has too little time.

Stage 3 – Understanding Specialisation. Testing is not a one-size-fits-all job.
Just like you wouldn’t want an eye doctor performing heart surgery, you shouldn’t expect a single tester to cover every specialist area.
Recognizing and respecting job specialisation can lead to stronger quality overall.

🚩Indicators stage 3: Performance is low.
​We have a big security issue. PieterJan doesn't know how to test that.

Stage 4 – When Money and Expertise Meet. Once budget and specialisation are in place, new challenges appear.
How do you organize everything?
How do you align team, disciplines, and goals?
That’s where coordination and strategy start to matter just as much as technical skill.

🚩Indicators stage 4: What do you mean if we have a test policy?
We don't have a test manager, isn't that something of the Waterfall era?

Stage 5 – The Multi-Aspect Reality. In large setups — especially under Agile SAFe — testing isn’t just one system or one focus.
Each project combines budget considerations, job diversification, and planning complexity.
You might dream of “one system under test,” but in reality, there are five — plus third-party connections (like DMW (Dutch: RDW) or IRS (Dutch: KVK)). -PER TEAM!
That’s the real Agile landscape: multi-aspect, multi-system, and always evolving.

🚩Indicators stage 5: We don't test with the 3th party.
Team 1 doesn't know how Team 2 is progressing, there is too little communication between the teams.
There are E2E bugs, and we should do more system testing.
other indicators: There is NO uniformity (the one team tests like so, the other like so, the one uses this tool, the other that tool, The one team this methodology, the other that methodology. I can't compare why testing is going well in Team A and bad in Team B.)

Wow, that was impressive — it really made me want to keep reading!

I can imagine.

So why is understanding these five concepts so important?
And how will it help me become the best recruiter for software testers?

​Companies often tend to be vague or unclear about what they’re truly looking for.
For instance, you might come across a job description that sits somewhere between a Functional Tester and a Test Manager — leaning slightly toward the management side — but you also notice that they already have a team with multiple testing specializations, such as security testing, performance testing, and another functional tester.
That could indicate they’re actually looking for someone with strong test management experience — a hands-on Test Manager.
Once you recognize that, you can target your search much more accurately.
See where this is going? It gives you a clear edge in identifying the right candidate.

(revised)
In the domain of software testing, it is crucial to recognise that a modification in one part of a system may introduce defects elsewhere. The image of a Newton’s cradle often comes to mind: one action triggering another.
Recently, I viewed two presentations on the UK Post Office Horizon scandal. These videos prompted several reflections.
We live in a digital world where extensive monitoring and control are increasingly common: for example, airports scan baggage as part of their security processes. This level of oversight is widely accepted.
However, in the digital realm, some systems may operate with limited visibility to end-users or even to some team members—yet they must still be thoroughly tested.
This raises important questions for software test professionals:

• Are you always aware of all the code and all the functionalities present in the system you are testing?
• Could there be portions of code or functionality that are restricted, hidden, or only partially accessible to certain developers, testers or stakeholders?