Software Tester – The First Step in The Career Path

More than 40% of the time and effort of the software development life cycle is spent on various forms of testing. It is a high percentage because the world is getting revolutionized around ‘quality’ more than ‘Quantity’. With the constant technological progression in testing, this is envisioned that one software engineer has a variety of testing career paths to become a qualified tester. This blog series explains who the software testers are and what career paths are available for them, describes how to be a certified software tester and what skills are needed, and more…

Who is the Software Tester and what does he/she do?

A software tester is a person who tests software for bugs, errors, or any problem that can affect the quality and performance of computer software or an application. Software testers are part of a software development team. They ensure that the software performs as expected both functionally and non-functionally using manual and automated software testing techniques.

The software tester should demonstrate up-to-date knowledge of software testing methodologies. They design and implement tests, analyze the results, then report them to the production team. A software tester is also known as a software test engineer or a quality assurance (QA) tester.

Skills Needed for a Career in Software Testing

Listed below are the top skills that every tester needs to know and employers always look for in their potential candidates. The skills are categorized as technical skills and non-technical skills:

2.1 Technical Skills

Automation Testing:

It requires programming and coding skills. We can have higher accuracy in testing code with a lower cost once the automation testing is implemented.

Awareness of SDLC skills:

SDLC stands for Software Development Life Cycle. It is a framework that defines tasks to be implemented at each step of the software development process. For testers and quality analysts, it is advisable to learn product lifecycle management abilities. This will help them to comprehend the application and plan testing cycles effectively. In addition, software testers should also know some development methodologies that pertain to SDLC such as Scrum, Agile, Waterfall, and V-shaped model.

Testing Tools & Techniques:

Today, there is a huge demand for testers who have hands-on experience with different testing tools. The most common testing techniques needed in the testing process are black-box testing, penetration testing, regression testing, server-based testing and data warehouse testing. With these testing techniques, testers become more versatile and can handle every task.

Knowledge of different Bug Reporting Tools:

Bug reporting is one of the basic responsibilities of every software tester. It is essential to have awareness of various testing techniques and the application of testing tools. A large number of bug reporting tools are available in the market such as bug tracking tools, GUI testing tools, test management tools, and automation tools. Some of the best bug-reporting tools are Bugzilla, Redmine, Trac, Mantis, Request Tracker, BugNet, BugHerd, and FogBugz.

Linux commands:

Several software applications like Web-Services, Databases, and Application Servers are deployed on Linux machines. So it is important for testers to have knowledge about Linux commands.

Attentiveness to STLC skills:

STLC stands for software testing lifecycle. It is a grouping of exercises carried out by the team of software testers from the starting point of the project to the end of the project. STLC has various steps such as analysis of requirements, test planning, developing test cases, execution tests, and closing the test cycle.

Basic knowledge of Database/ SQL:

Software Systems have a large amount of data that is stored in different types of databases like Oracle, MySQL, etc.

2.2 Non-Technical Skills

Communication skills:

Effective communication skills refer to verbal and written skills. Good communication helps to show a high degree of comprehension which assists in conveying insights and providing feedback to other people.

Critical thinking:

The testing process needs a high level of logical thinking and strategic analysis. Critical thinking helps you evaluate ideas, identify errors, and determine what to test.

Analytical skills:

Analytical skills will help the tester to break up a complex software system into smaller units to get a better understanding and also create test cases.

Project Management:

It is a crucial skill for any tester who wants to keep in their career. With this skill mastered, test leads can be responsible for their team’s work. This also helps them in team management and team assessment.

Self-explanatory Reporting skills:

An ideal software tester must have good reporting skills. High-quality reporting skills provide the precise status of the test project. It also gives transparency to the top management in terms of test cases executed, bugs encountered, and release timelines, which eventually helps in making the right decisions.

TestCrew – Your Best Software Quality Partner

TestCrew is keen to implement quality tests regularly as well as provide international standards software-testing training. TestCrew also provides all technical, functional, and non-functional software quality test services related to user experience, which ensure the security and protection of end products from vulnerabilities and the risks of penetration, as per the standards of ISTQB and Test Maturity Model Integration Professional certification (TMMi).

In addition to that, TestCrew also offers software quality consulting services, you can also know more about what we do by visiting the various communication channels mentioned on our page, LinkedIn, email, or through our unified number.