Role of a Software QA Tester: Responsibilities and Career Path

Introduction

With growing digitalization, software development for mobile devices, cloud computing, and business management will remain in high demand for many years to come, and part of that demand will include the need for software quality assurance testing.

Software is a generic term that is used for the numerous kinds of programs used to maneuver computers and other interrelated devices. So what ensures that programs of software applications will run without any failures and meet all the requirements for it is being developed? Yes, it's the software testing performed by software testers during the software development lifecycle.

Quality assurance (abbreviated as QA) is a system of avoiding errors or defects in manufacturing products and circumventing glitches when transporting solutions or services to its clientele. The ISO 9000 defines it as "part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled".This article will take you through the course of the various aspects of a QA software tester, QA tester description of job roles, QA tester responsibilities, etc.

In this Software Testing tutorial, I will tell you everything you need to know about a software testing career including- 

• Who is a Software Tester?
• How to Become a Software Tester?
• What are the qualifications required?
• Software QA tester’s responsibilities?
• Most Demanding QA Testing Skills
• Software QA Testers Job Description
• Career and scope
• Software test engineer salary

Let’s begin by understanding what is software testing & its types.

What is Software Testing?

Software testing is the process of evaluating and verifying that a software product or application, does exactly what it is supposed to do. The basic purpose of testing is to ensure that the developed application is free from technical glitches & bugs, met the specified requirements to achieve a quality product. It is basically the process of executing a system to identify any gaps, errors, or missing requirements contrary to the expected requirements.

Types of Software Testing

Software testing is a huge domain but it can be broadly categorized into two main categories:

Manual Testing – Manual testing is a software testing process in which test cases are executed manually by software testers without using any automated tool. 

Automated Testing – Automation Testing is a software testing technique that performs testing by Automatic technique where the software testers write testing scripts their own and use suitable software to test the software using the testing automation tool. It is basically an automation process of manual testing. It allows you to execute repetitive tasks without the intervention of a manual tester.

Let’s move on to discuss different aspects of a software tester career.

Software Testing Roles & Responsibilities

QA tester job responsibilities include making a conclusion-to-end test design; executing the said plan and dealing with all the exercises involved in the proper execution of that plan to guarantee that every one of the targets is met and that the plan functions not surprisingly. The plan that has been formulated ought to be tried regarding its usefulness, execution, dependability, soundness and similarity with other heritage and/or outer frameworks.

Read More: Software Testing Engineer Career Path

Software tester responsibilities also include the critical task of ensuring that testing is all around characterized, arranged, and executed. The QA tester does this by guaranteeing that each stage and focus of the software design is tried and that any potential issue is distinguished and settled before the item goes live in the market.

This is just a bird’s eye view of the software tester’s responsibilities. There is much more to it however, these are the primary things that come under the umbrella of software tester responsibilities.

Here Is a List of few other software testing roles & responsibilities:

• To Proofread all the documents related to software and understand what in particular needs to be tested.
• Established on the statistics acquired in the previous step, decide as to how it is to be tested.
• Apprise the test lead about what all assets will be requisite for the software’s perfect testing.
• Improve test cases and prioritize the various testing activities.
• Implement all the test cases and report flaws, describe rigorousness and importance for each defect.
• Carry out reversion testing every single time when some deviations are made to the primary code in order to fix defects.

Read: Alpha Vs. Beta Software Testing: What Is the Difference

What Is Qualification Requirement to Become a Software Tester?

There is no particular license or any certification, which is required for getting a job in this field. However, it typically prerequisites at least a bachelor level degree in either software design or engineering, computer science, other than a significant prior practical experience. It sounds like a catch-22 theory; you need a good amount of experience to get a job. The way out of the deadlock is to work through a rigorous series of training periods while in college. It is also imperative to remain aufait about the recent trends and latest developments in the field.

Read: Sanity Testing Tutorial Guide for Beginner 

Let’s see the tester job description to understand the QA tester job requirements and software testing roles.

How to Become Software Tester?

Here are the steps to follow, to become a software tester:

Software Testing Career Guide - Who is a QA Software Tester?

A Software QA Tester is somebody who screens each period of the software advancement process to guarantee outline quality, ensuring that the product clings to the guidelines set by the testing teams or the development teams. Programming quality affirmation testers ensure that new items work properly before they are discharged to people in general.

Read More: How to Start a Career in Software Testing?

Programming delays are expensive for an organization, so it is imperative for companies that are into programming to meet the deadlines and remain within their budget plan. A product quality tester helps meet discharge due dates by separating the advancement procedure into achievable testing objectives and transferring any issues back to the improvement and item groups or pioneers

QA Software Testers Job Description

SQA engineers utilize their program coding and testing abilities to enable programming designers to upgrade item execution. Architects commonly work for programming organizations, gear makers and wholesalers, among different businesses. As per the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics (BLS), the work of programming designers, the more extensive classification that incorporates SQA engineers, was relied upon to increase by 17% in the vicinity of 2014 and 2024. The BLS additionally noticed that as of late as May 2015 programming designers chipping away at applications earned a normal yearly pay of $102,160, while those taking a shot at frameworks programming earned a normal of $108,760.

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Now let’s move on to the next section of this software tester guide to see the QA roles and responsibilities in software testing.

What Are the Requirements to Be a QA Tester?

There Are Certain Requirements Required to Be a QA Tester Such As:

• To be a QA tester you should have a proven experience as a Quality Assurance Tester or similar role
• You should have an experience in project management and QA methodology
• Be familiar with Agile frameworks and regression testing is a plus
• To be a QA tester you should have the ability to document and troubleshoot errors
• You should have the working knowledge of test management software and SQL
• You should have an excellent communication skills
• You should have an analytical mind and problem-solving aptitude
• You should have a strong organizational skills
• Own a degree of BSc/BA in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field

QA Software Tester Core Skills:

Here are the Skills required to become a Software Tester:

Soft QA Testing Skills That Match QA Tester Job Requirements

• Problem-solving
• Attention to detail
• Teamwork
• Autonomous work
• Continuous learning
• Time management
• Creative and concise writing
• Flexibility
• Critical thinking skills
• Understanding of User Experience

Technical QA Testing Skills That Match QA Tester Job Requirements

• knowledge of Database/ SQL
• knowledge of Linux commands
• Knowledge Test Management Tool
• Knowledge Defect Tracking tool
• Knowledge Automation tool

Career and Scope QA Software tester

You can see the hierarchy given here of a Software tester’s career.

Generally speaking, testing is looked for as a decent expert profession for a considerable bunch of trying young professionals. As specified above, from being test build one can move to senior test design, test prompt test director; else can progress toward becoming QA lead or a QA Manager. With proper understanding and execution of software tester roles and responsibilities, you can easily reach the top! The alternatives accessible on the testing apparatuses side are gigantic. There are quantities of utilitarian, execution, security testing apparatuses other than test administration instruments like Quality Center from HP, CQTM from IBM and so on.

Read More: List of Software Testing Tools

The interest in specialty abilities like SOA analyzers, Security analyzers are on the increase. There is a deficiency of abilities in test mechanization territories – scripting aptitudes in the apparatuses dialects like VB, Java and other scripting dialects like Perl, Shell, Python and so on., Technical assets with capacities to assess computerization devices, make the robotization system and reusable segments are on request. Continuously there is interest for good execution analyzers who can break down when the execution test comes about, recognize the bottlenecks and propose tuning strategies.

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Final Thought on Software Tester Career

The reason for Software Testing and Quality Assurance is to give the methods and furthermore the measures for testing every one of the parts of a product arrangement, both practically and actually, with a specific end goal to meet the prerequisites and general nature of the planned arrangement. 

You have now learned about how to become a Software Tester has given you great insights about qa roles and responsibilities in software testing, tester job description, must have QA testing skills and helps you get a better idea of software test engineer salary and complete career I outlook.

From this blog, you also learned about the prerequisites to software tester, career growth opportunities after having a rewarding career in this domain. Get yourself started with  QA Training Course, get prepared for certification & interview with QA interview questions, and land your dream job as a Software Tester.