What skills should an SDET master to advance their career in software testing?

To thrive in software testing, SDETs must master essential skills like programming languages, test automation, version control, CI/CD tools, web technologies, API testing, databases, and security principles. They also need problem-solving, debugging, effective communication, and Agile/Scrum expertise. Soft skills such as collaboration, adaptability, and proactivity are crucial. Continuous learning is key for staying current in the industry, ensuring sustained success. Acquiring these skills empowers SDETs to contribute effectively to testing and development, paving the way for career progression and development.

Coding and debugging is the primary skill to be an SDET. Writing optimized code isn't easy. It needs to be written concise, readable and easy to understand by others even sometimes by ours LOL! We should follow best practice by collaborating other people in the team as well as other team to ensure the quality of the code which we have written.

For optimal success in software testing, SDETs should focus on honing key skills, including proficiency in programming languages, mastery of test automation, adept use of version control, familiarity with CI/CD tools, and a solid grasp of web technologies, API testing, databases, and security principles. Beyond technical expertise, cultivating problem-solving and debugging skills is essential. Embracing continuous learning is paramount to staying abreast of industry advancements. By acquiring and refining these skills, SDETs empower themselves to make meaningful contributions to testing and development, opening avenues for career advancement and personal growth.

SDET requires a unique blend of technical, coding, and testing skills to advance in the field of software testing and development. Here are key skills an SDET should focus on mastering: Programming: Python, Java, or JavaScript for test automation, Test Automation: Selenium, Appium, or Cypress for suites, API Testing: Validate web services with tools like Postman, CI/CD & DevOps, Version Control: like Git or GitLab, Problem-Solving: Swift troubleshooting for top-notch quality, Soft Skills: Collaborate effectively in cross-functional teams, Performance & Security, Agile Methodologies, Continuous Learning: Stay updated with tech advancements. Mastering these skills empowers SDETs to advance their career in software testing.

As test automation engineer or SDET coding is the main skills for test script development. you should be able to have the bases of coding such as java, python, c#...., even if you faced some difficult situation you can use help from various websites like stackoverflow.

Testing comes before SDET, Without knowing what is Testing, doing automation will not help. If you are strong in Testing, your automation framework will be more robust and can handle edge cases.

In the dynamic ecosystem of software development, Test (SDETs) stand as champions of quality, armed with a strategic arsenal of testing prowess. Their mastery extends beyond mere bug detection, encompassing a diverse spectrum of testing methodologies. Functional, performance, security, and accessibility testing become their tools of choice, meticulously wielded to ensure software excellence. Automation prowess elevates the SDET's impact, leveraging frameworks like Selenium to streamline repetitive tasks and empower strategic analysis. But their value transcends technical expertise. Effective communication bridges the gap between test insights and actionable improvements, Fostering collaboration and propelling development cycles forward.

In addition to technical proficiency, a vital aspect of an SDET's toolkit is their proficiency in testing. This encompasses the application of various testing techniques and methodologies, ranging from functional and performance testing to security testing and exploratory testing. Beyond this, an SDET should possess the capability to meticulously design and execute test cases, scenarios, and plans, coupled with the ability to analyze and report test results effectively. These testing skills are integral not only for upholding software quality and reliability but also for furnishing valuable insights and recommendations to the development team, thereby fostering a collaborative and iterative approach to software enhancement.

In the competitive realm of software testing, an SDET's career trajectory hinges on the mastery of testing skills. Beyond mere bug detection, proficiency in diverse testing types, automation, and effective communication positions them as pivotal contributors to software quality. Embracing exploratory testing and staying abreast of industry trends are essential for thorough software evaluation. In this ever-evolving landscape, an SDET armed with comprehensive testing expertise becomes indispensable, paving the way for career advancement and sustained success. Invest in mastering testing skills to not only detect issues but to drive excellence and innovation in software testing.

As an SDET, one should possess proper testing skills, be able to differentiate between Shift-left and Shift-right testing approaches, and employ a test pyramid approach to achieve more accurate results

Hands down no arguments needed. Automation skills are must to bring out the innovation in software testing techniques. Selenium, cypress, rest assured, playwright, jmeter, appium are few of the top trending automation tools to learn in the current market

Certainly, an SDET should possess the capability to design and enhance (by adding more features) an automation framework that can be utilized across teams. Automation significantly aids in reducing execution time and completing repetitive tasks, including regression test cases. In the current market, various tools and frameworks such as Selenium, TestNG, Cucumber, JMeter, and RestAssured are available.

Automation skills are a must for SDET role, hence strong knowledge on DSA will make the test engineer's life easy. It'll help in making decisions during designing and implementation of testing frameworks. Along with programming languages, it's important to have knowledge on various tools in the market which will be majorly used for performing different types of testing

One of the most important automation skills is creating a test automation architecture. in this case, the SDET or test automation engineer must be a senior with an advanced level. The point here is that when starting a test automation project from scratch, a junior tester starts without a clear architecture, and after a long time, errors start to increase, accumulate codes and functions, reiterate, etc. In this case we need a senior test automation in every group which contains many junior resources.

Automation Is such a critical skill in today's time and the best way to approach it is to learn in depth framework design, coding and one sample project from scratch ( if not getting the opportunity to work in a company project from scratch). In the start idea should be to just mast any one framework with one language be it api, hi or app. Once you know in and out of one , all others will become easy to understand and learn.

Communication skills are very important for SDET roles. It helps to better communication with all stakeholders and to resolve any conflicts if there are any. Communication also helps if you want to improve the product by suggesting better ideas for your application.

Communication is very important for a test engineer. Through my experience I worked with different clients from various countries and I noticed that English is the only language we could use to understand each other in Microsoft teams meetings, bugs creation and description, writing emails...as a tester you should have a good knowledge I didn't say good accent, a good knowledge in English and try not to use Google traduction sometimes the traduction goes in a wrong way.

Effective communication is vital for an SDET, enabling clear interactions with developers, testers, managers, and customers. Strong communication skills facilitate the sharing of information and ideas, resolving conflicts, and building trust. Proficiency in using various communication tools and channels, such as email, chat, video calls, and documentation, is essential for successful collaboration and ensuring alignment across all stakeholders.

Proficient communication abilities hold significant importance in SDET roles. They enable seamless interaction with diverse stakeholders and play a pivotal role in addressing any conflicts that may arise. Additionally, effective communication is instrumental when proposing and implementing enhanced ideas to elevate the product.

Mastering communication skills is paramount for an Software Development Engineer in Test to advance their career in software testing. Effective communication ensures clear articulation of testing objectives, results, and potential issues to diverse stakeholders. It facilitates collaboration with developers, testers, and other team members, fostering a shared understanding of testing requirements. Strong communication also enables SDETs to document test cases, report bugs comprehensively, and convey complex technical information in a clear manner. Beyond technical proficiency, the ability to communicate efficiently enhances teamwork, accelerates project timelines, and positions SDETs as valuable contributors in the software testing domain.

Once you have your basics of testing and coding skills, problem solving skill is the major skill which you should develop to work efficiently without burning more of your time and energy. Learn more about the product, previous bug fixes and debug the existing code base. Solving a problem will be much easier when you have enough knowledge about the product, the logic behind how you are gonna fix it.

Sometimes code isn't easy to unit test. Sometimes there is a bug that is only reproducible through a Jenkins run but not locally. You are always going to come across issues and tasks that have little to no documentation or guidance. It's so important to be able to investigate the issue, using the knowledge you've gained, to solve these problems. A lot of this will come from experience with the code, the project, and the tooling.

This is mandatory it is highly imperative to bring out solution to problem creatively through your own technical skills.If you don’t possess good technical skills it would be tough to provide solutions to problem as solutions usually emerge from set of ideas which comes from continuous learning.

During your SDET journey, you will find many challenges like code not working as expected, and bugs/errors in the automation framework. Problem-solving skills will help you to solve your issue faster. With this skill, you can break down problems into smaller parts

No matter how much experience is one should never stop learning as there is always more to learn Always keep your hunger alive for learning as that is really going to help you in long run as person with more knowledge always get more visibility among peers.

Learning never ends, learn from your peers, seniors/ juniors. With learning if you apply the same in your daily tasks, you can save a lot of time. Learning always helps in the long term. It also helps with the latest trends in software technology.

Continuos learning is something is very much needed for anyone and so to SDET as well. They need toearn that automation testing is not something just about coding. Having of knowledge on testing skills and coding skills learning will be the key

In my experience, the importance of dedicating time to learning cannot be overstated in the field of software testing, regardless of one's level of experience. This is particularly true with the advent of AI-driven tools like Sealights, which revolutionize how we approach test analytics and strategies. The ability to continuously learn and adeptly utilize such evolving technologies is crucial. It ensures that we remain at the forefront of our field, keeping our methodologies both effective and innovative. Thus, regularly investing time in learning is vital for staying relevant and proficient, no matter how experienced one might be in software testing.

Always stay updated with the changes coming up in the release and prioritise test execution accordingly to detect defects at early-stage. Should not shy in putting some effort into modifying the sequence of regression test suite as it will not only help in achieving timelines early, but also will be less stressful during the end of cycle.

If I were to mention only few things about SDET, I would say that they are open to learning every time( Lifelong Learner ) and to be helpful.

Something that we always take for granted, yet still in this day and age is quite forgotten. Setting up proper quality gate, with modeling the quality path of the verification is more crucial than any way of execution or type of testing or tooling. Having the team understands, accept and work in a way of knowing what verification will produce, and what the tester need to do to shape that up, is the main thing, in order a real QA engineer to become a true QAer, thus really grow.

An SDET can advance their career by mastering skills such as automation testing, proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Python, Java), continuous integration tools, API testing, performance testing, and staying updated on industry trends and testing methodologies. Additionally, strong collaboration, problem-solving, and communication skills are crucial for success in this role.

CI/CD Tools - Learn and Develop the knowledge in continuous integration and continuous deployment tools like Jenkins, Azure Pipelines, GitLab CI/CD, etc. which helps in automating the testing process am immediately after the development pipelines.