We live in an age where smartphones and software applications have become a crucial part of our lives. But while you are using them, have you ever wondered who ensures to give the best in its interface, functionality, user experience, and other aspects? Yes, they are Software testers who act behind the process. To withstand the market as a competitive brand, it has become imperial for the businesses to maintain their product quality in check.
Once a product or software is developed, it should be tested error-free before delivering it to the customers. Software testing acquires the fifth place in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) that makes every piece of it pass through several rounds of rigorous testing, which gives the assurance on its quality, ensuring product reliability and customer satisfaction, the top advantages of testing.
What Is A Software Tester?
Software testers are the part of quality assurance experts or QA testers; who have an integral role in the application development. A software tester's responsibility is to ensure that newly developed software and applications comply with the benchmark standard and the expected purpose without any bugs to get the desired results.
What Does A Software Tester Do?
While the job profile of a software tester is a varied one, the primary role is to continually test the software to detect any errors, that is, the presence of bugs, and report them to eliminate poor performance and interface issues. They have to perform multiple tests at different stages of the software development life cycle to do this. Some aspects that would be included in the test are performance, functional scalability, and user performance.
Here are some basic responsibilities for the role:
- Collecting and documenting both manual testing and automation testing procedures
- Executing tests, analysis results, and reporting on any issues and anomalies.
- Ensure to perform testing in all phases of SDLC – Design, Develop, Test, Release and Maintain.
- Analyzing and reviewing system specifications
- Reporting of technical issues and errors found during the exploratory testing.
- Executing regression testing whenever there are any changes made to the code.
- Collaborate with Developers and other team members and organize review meetings
- Assuring the overall software quality.
How To Become A Software Tester
A software tester is regarded as one of the tech industry's lucrative and highly sought-after career options. To become a successful software tester, they should meet some basic requirements, including the right education and training as mentioned below.
An aspiring software tester should begin their journey by ensuring they have a Bachelor's or Master's degree in the relevant field – Computer Science, Computer information systems, electrical engineering, business management, or Information Technology. However, it is not mandatory to have some standard degree, but it will help you to spread your wings in the software testing field.
Acquire The Necessary Skills
An ideal candidate for software tester should have a keen eye for details along with a basic knowledge of coding and programming languages with their concepts, including architecture algorithms, object-oriented programming, and more. Bolstering the technical skills, including Linux, SQL, and test management tools, along with non-technical skills – Analytical, time management, and communication skills will make one more desirable among employers.
Acquiring some industrial experience will be your next step on how to become a software tester since it will make your CV more noticeable as a competitive candidate to potential employees. The industrial experience is solely depending on your field of choice. For instance, if you have an engineering degree, you can gain relevant experience in quality assurance positions, which will aid you in developing your skills.
Even though you don't have a relevant degree, it is still possible to make a career switch by having the right certification course. There are many software testing classes available to groom your software skills and will help you land your dream job. Taking up one or a combination of software testing certifications will help you to pursue a career, even with no degree in computer science.
Software Tester Skills
A software tester requires proper technical knowledge about all the related processes and products to be a streamlined and technical profile. Here we have composed the list of skills that are necessary for the software tester.
Software systems have a substantial amount of data in the background stored in the form of MySQL and others. Hence having an elementary knowledge of SQL/Database is essential to verify the data, checking whether proper data is stored in the backend.
Fundamentals Of Linux and other OS
The understanding of Operating systems is mandatory for software testers. They will be required to create a test environment and execute the test cases; hence having the relevant knowledge will make the task easier. Moreover, most of the applications and projects are made in the Linux atmosphere, so it's highly advisable to get familiar with the fundamentals of Linux commands and operations along with installing testing, performance testing procedures, etc.
Hands-on Experience with Test Management, Defect Tracking, And Automation Tools
Knowledge and Hands-on Experience in test management tools is another major aspect of becoming a software tester. Getting equipped with proper test management techniques and tools will help you manage your testing-related artifacts by reducing the chance of fail rates. For instance, learning to use test management tools will enable you to detect and track all the test cases made by the team.
After working as a manual tester, you need to master some automation tools to become a potential automation tester. Furthermore, automation testing courses will help prepare the best test automation strategy and achieve mastery in the most efficient way possible.
Defect tracking and lifecycle are other key aspects of software testing. Without proper knowledge and the right tools, it will be difficult to properly detect and manage the defects. That's why it is critical to be aware of the tools to eliminate defects, such as Jira or Bugzilla.
Besides these technical skills, a software tester should primarily have some non-technical skills such as,
- Logical and Analytical Skills to understand things better and gain in-depth insights.
- Proper Communication Skills to effectively interact with the clients and collaborate with the team member for proper functioning.
- Time Management Skills to organize your work plan ahead and improve the overall performance and value to the organization.
- Attitude makes you proactive, which should reflect in work, allowing you to stand forefront to address the issues.
- Passion allows one to achieve great things by stimulating their curiosity for innovation and ground-breaking discoveries.
Software Tester Salary
With the predominance of technology and artificial intelligence in the digital world, software testers' demand and market size have been steadily blooming and will have a steady and bright future. Currently, the software tester's salary ranges between 2 to 7.8 lakhs and varies depending on Different factors, including the location of the job, years of experience, skills, type of organization, and more. The average salary for a software tester is 3.5 Lakhs per Annum.
Software Tester Job Outlook
The ever-evolving digital realm offers bountiful opportunities for software testers to flourish in their career. According to the recent survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for computer system analysts, including software testers and QA Engineers, has reached $40 million and is anticipated to increase by around 9% than the average rate by the year 2026.
Similar to the different types of software, there are many options in the software tester jobs. You can choose your specialization in your interested field, which could be either 3D printing or financial software. The more technical the professional, the better will be your pay, and the greater will be your chance to advance your position.
This career option is also preferred by people who want to change their professional path in the IT field. Learning the fundamentals from KnowledgeHut software testing classes would be a savvy place to start. Here's how one's career as a software test will move,
- QA Analyst /QA tester (Fresher)
- Senior QA analyst or Test Analyst (1 to 3 years)
- QA Team Coordinator/ Test Lead (5 to 6 years)
- Test Manager/Test Architect (7 to 10 years)
- Senior Test Manager/ Quality or Delivery Head ( More than ten years)
Moreover, the scope for software testers expands to Automation Tester, QA engineers, Performance Testers, Developers, or Business Analysts.
Bottom Line
Amidst the growing influx of technologies in the digital era, the need to test their applications, software, and websites has become a mandatory process. It means as long as there is a need to ensure the quality output, there will be a service provider who is looking for an expert software tester.
The more you invest in your skills, the better your career as a software tester will be. If you want to learn more about becoming a QA tester and want to move up the career ladder, dive into our Selenium Essentials Training course, which will help you explore the software testing techniques and tools you need to attain a successful growth in this enticing profession.
