What Is The Average QA Engineer Salary?

Introduction

A software test engineer is a part of an elaborate team of software engineers who create complex product solutions in addition to maintaining the manual or automated testing of products. Usually, a minimum bachelor's degree is required in computer science, engineering or other similar fields to become a software tester. Regular working hours and fixed schedule are expected for test engineers. Travel is optional but experience in latest technologies is essential to move ahead in the testing field. But before deciding to jump into this field, there is the question of the average QA engineer salary! Here, in this article, we will discuss a software test engineer’s job and the average testing engineer salary!

Important Facts about the Software Test Engineer Profile- Software Test Engineer Salary

Education Background	Bachelor degree, training or diploma in the similar program
Key Skills	Critical Thinking, programming skills, active listener, comprehension reading skills
Work Environment	Basic knowledge of computer servers, operating systems, long sitting hours etc.
Job Titles	QA Analyst, QA director, Software Quality Engineer, Product quality engineer, Test Manager etc.

The average testing engineer salary is estimated to be $85,594 per year in the USA in March 2019. The average software testing engineer salary range between $68,000 to $104,000 and it varies because of multiple factors like location, experience, knowledge base, etc. Based on a recent survey, the job market for software engineers is quite active in India and the United States.

Software Test Engineer (STE) Job Description

A software test engineer develops test cases, test automation scripts for testing software products. The other duties of a software engineer involve effective communication with customers to cater to varied software demands, and developing automated tests using programming languages like Java, Visual Basics, and so on.

Software test engineers should give strong attention to details through writing diagrams, flow charts, graphs etc. Confidentiality is the must requirement for most of the testing operations. Another important responsibility of a test engineer involves creating test reports and managing all result sets.

Read: Manual vs Automation Testing - Your Complete Guide!

The major tasks of a software test engineer:

• Developing manual and program automated test software using diverse tools or source documentation.
• Modify the requirements and design product reviews.
• Documenting, resolving, or tracking bugs with the help of the programming team.
• Designing test cases, benchmarks, testing frameworks etc.

Automation Tester Salary- Pay by Experience for Software Test Engineer

The average software test engineer salary on the basis of experience shows a positive trend for software test engineers.

• The salary for 2 years of experience in manual testing is somewhere around $76,000
• The salary for 4 years experience in testing is around $66,000. The average software testing engineer salary includes tips, bonuses, and overtime pay.
• The average software testing engineer salary of a software test engineer in the mid-career with an experience of 5 to 10 years is $84,000.
• A software test engineer at the experienced-level with an experience of 10 to 20 years is expected to earn average compensation of $94,000.
• A software test engineer in the late-career includes an experience of more than 20 years is expected to earn average compensation of $100,000.

Popular Skills Required for Software Test Engineer

Most notably, Python, Selenium testing tool and Linux are correlated to pay significantly above average respectively. Skills that pay little low as compared to the above-mentioned skills include Microsoft Word and Dotnet. Engineers having good experience in Java tends to be well versed in Microsoft Word. For a newbie, here is our testing approach to learning.

Non-Technical Skills to become a Software Tester

The following skills are required to become a good software tester. And for a high software test engineer salary, these are of pivotal importance. Compare these skills with your skills set and determine whether software testing is a reality for you.

• Analytical Skills: A good software tester should have sharp analytical skills that will break up a complex software system into smaller units to gain an in-depth understanding of test cases.
• Communication Skills: A good software tester should have excellent verbal or written skills. Testing artifacts like test cases, test plans, test strategies, and bug reports created by software testers should be easy to read and understand.
• Time Management Skills: Each software product has a delivery data and testers should strictly follow the timelines for effective release of code on time.
• Organization Skills: A software tester should be able to manage workloads effectively with maximum productivity, time management, and organization skills.
• Positive Attitude: Every software tester should have a positive attitude. An attitude to detailed orientation, willingness to learn new things, grasping new technologies with overwhelming speed, suggest necessary product improvements too. A good software tester should have a certain degree of independence where you take ownership of the task allotted and completing the same on time with direct supervision.
• Passion: To succeed in any professional job, you should have the right passion for it. A software tester should know how to perform the testing and he should have the passion to learn things that hold his interest.

Technical Skills to become a Software Tester

Following technical skills are required to become a good software tester. Compare these skills with your existing skills set and determine whether software testing is a reality for you.

• Database Knowledge: Software systems store a large amount of data in the background using different operating systems like Oracle, MySQL etc. There comes a situation when data needs to be validated. Here, simple SQL queries can be used to check either data is stored properly in backend databases or not.
• Linux OS Knowledge: Most of the software apps, web services, application servers are deployed on Linux machines for safety reasons. So, it is critical for testers to learn Linux commands to succeed in their field.
• Defect Tracking tools: Defect tracking tools are considered key aspects of software testing. It is highly critical to managing defects properly in a systematic manner. This is the reason why the testing team should know about defect management tools in depth that includes Bugzilla, Jira, QC etc.
• Test Management tools: Test management tools are another important aspect of software testing. If test management techniques are not proper then the software testing process may fail. The test management process is nothing but tracking defects against artifacts. One of the popular test management tools includes TestLink for tracking all test cases written by your team. The list is long, so you should focus on the latest tools only that are highly demanded by Companies. The working knowledge is quite recommended here to get selected by top MNCs and gain attractive testing engineer salary packages too.
• Automation tools: if you wanted to get into the automation testing field then you should master two-three tools in depth and get hands-on experience to become a good tester.
• Scripting Programming Languages: The working knowledge of test management tools, automation tools, or performance testing tools is not enough but you should know about scripting programming languages too like VB, JavaScript, or C# etc. These programming languages are more helpful if you wanted to get into automation testing domain. The average automation tester salary ranges from approximately $58,764 per year for Quality Assurance Tester to $100,593 per year for Software Test Engineer. Again, it depends on the Company which tools it is using.

This is all about the technical skills required to become a good tester but all of them are not needed for getting hired by Companies. The technical skills requirements generally depend on the job role and Company processes.

Software Tester Career Path

Your career progression in the software testing field generally looks like this but it may vary from Company to Company.

• QA Analyst (Fresher)
• QA Analyst (2-3 years' experience)
• QA Team Coordinator (5-6 years' experience)
• Test Manager (8-11 years' experience)
• Senior Test Manager (14+ experience)

Once you get your hands dirty in manual testing, other testing options include:

Read: All you need to know about Performance Testing Tutorial for Beginners!

• Automation Testing
• Performance Testing
• Business Analyst

Final Words:

We hope that, through this article, you got in-depth knowledge of a QA tester’s job and the average QA engineer salary. Being a software tester, when you apply for permanent testing jobs, you should have the relevant skills and practical experience that will increase your overall chances of being selected by top Companies. Further, certifications are also considered good and certified software testers are given more priority as compared to others. You can pursue certification of your choice.

Automation tester salaries are increasing year after year. It is a great career option to go for. Many individuals are inclined towards making a career in the testing field. “Manual testing salary” is seemingly one of the most searched words recently.

To know more, you should join the QA certification course at the JanBask Training and learn testing tools and more concepts in depth that are used in a job environment.

Read: Top 110 Behavioral Interview Questions for QA Roles

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