QA Tester Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a QA tester. Feel free to use our QA tester job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a QA tester.
Who is a QA Tester?
Quality assurance testers (or QA testers) are responsible for maintaining and establishing standards in various fields like software production, digital products, and video games. They can also be responsible for finding flaws, tracing error sources, and problem-solving in their own QA teams. In this capacity, they work closely with developers to improve the functionality, effectiveness, and productivity of the workplace, as well as the product’s quality.
Quality assurance is the process by which a product’s ability to meet specified requirements is evaluated. Together, quality assurance professionals create and test products before they are released or put into production. QA’s purpose is to make sure that each product or service a company creates meets specified standards.
Quality assurance in software development refers to the supervision of the entire creation process. Software quality assurance is often referred to by SQA. It determines the quality and application of software to its intended purpose.
SQA is an important part of software development. QA testers are responsible for assessing the viability of any product or service. They verify that the code is error-free and does not affect the software’s performance. SQA records any issues that they find during the SDLC.
Depending upon the company’s size and the number of products, there may be only one person filling the QA position. To produce a quality product, there could be QA testers and analysts as well as managers.
Sometimes quality assurance testing is confused with quality inspection testing. However, the two are vastly different. Quality control refers to the process of identifying flaws in products or services before they are made available to customers. Quality assurance is, by contrast, the internal development of products and services before their release to the general public.
QA Tester Job Description
Below are the QA tester job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a QA tester job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a QA tester include the following:
- Executing test cases for varying conditions
- Documenting and evaluating the test results
- Helping to troubleshoot problems and track defects
- Reviewing test procedures and creating test scripts
- Partnering with engineers to accelerate QA efforts
- Designing test plans, scenarios, and scripts.
- Executing tests against source code
- Analyzing test data and reporting back to the development team.
- Correcting bugs, errors, and working with the development group.
- Correcting mistakes and participating in product testing
- Working together with the developer’s team
- Testing and running new apps and software.
- Executing all levels of QA tests, and systems
- Testing design, data, automation, test cases, and test process development.
- Analyzing and aligning the test strategy with the requirements for the development process.
- Executing and documenting test plans for the module.
- Identifying and creating reports to highlight all modules’ status.
- Updating all bug databases with complete and accurate information.
- Running debug software to fix the problems
- Making improvements to your system during the software development phase
- Maintaining test environments.
- Reviewing and analyzing the specifications of the provided system
- Analyzing the results of both manual and automatized test cases, as well as their execution
- Working with Quality assurance engineers to create effective test plans and strategies
- Evaluating the product code in compliance with the specifications
- Conducting post-release/post-implementation testing
- Identifying and troubleshooting the bugs.
- Creating logs to document testing phases and deficiencies
Other important tasks are:
Running tests on new software & apps
First, QA testers need to test the product. Software products will require the tester to run several tests to make sure that it meets all specifications.
All issues should be reported and can be fixed using debugging programs. This process is repeated until all issues are resolved.
This is called video game testing. You will need to repeat every aspect of the game, and maybe adapt to other play styles for everything to work.
A QA tester should think outside of the box and try to break the game.
Issue Reports and Record Defects
A QA tester should record every detail when they come across bugs or issues. QA testers need to provide an overview of all issues and steps taken to fix them.
This information can be stored and used for future reference. This allows them to quickly solve similar problems in the future.
It is also the case with video games testing. This involves noting errors codes and reporting them on bug tracking software. This is the most challenging part of the job if you are just starting at entry-level. But it’s easy to learn how to manage it.
Assisting Software Developers in Design Processes
When it comes to software development, QA testers with experience can be a valuable asset. It is important to work with developers to alert them of potential risks and issues. This can be of help to identify these issues and risks before they become more serious.
Qualifications
It depends on the role you play in quality assurance. You might need to have other qualifications specific to your industry. These are some of the requirements you will need to fulfill to get into this field.
Education
While a bachelor’s degree in most cases is required, there are instances when employers will consider relevant work experience to be a good qualification for a QA role. A bachelor’s degree in computer science is necessary to be able to work as a quality assurance analyst.
Experience
Many training happens on the job. An internship can be a great opportunity to get more information about the role and make yourself more competitive. Although there are many quality assurance positions available, certain QA roles require previous experience in a comparable or related role.
Essential Skills
Technical skills and the ability to communicate with engineers are essential, but soft skills are equally important. These soft skills are often overlooked by QA testing professionals as well as hiring managers. They can either make a team stand out or make it impossible to work with other qualified and skilled professionals.
Here’s a shortlist of some of the most important and overlooked skills within the QA profession.
- Be inquisitive
You should know how to ask the right question and when to ask them
There are no two projects in QA the same. It helps to begin with questions.
How will this application be used?
Who are the customers?
What is the peak usage time?
What are the most commonly used browser/hardware/OS settings?
If you fail to ask these basic questions, your QA efforts will likely create more risk for an application. If the system being tested is used to store holiday shopping traffic, you should focus on stress and performance testing.
Security testing is necessary if sensitive data is stored in your application. You will save a lot of time if your customers only use one browser to access your app.
Communication skills such as the ability to ask the right question, to know when you should leave them open-ended, and when you should zoom in on specifics are vital for anyone working in QA. This is especially important as you move up to a managerial or liaison position, where your decisions directly impact application quality.
- Listening Skills
All people have opinions. We love to communicate. Sometimes we will jump in and offer solutions even before the other person finishes speaking. These solutions may be useful and well-intentioned but they aren’t always appreciated.
Listening is a skill. Technical expertise combined with exceptional listening skills gave a QA tester the rare ability to spot defects and identify high-risk areas by simply listening to engineers talk about their design and development process.
- Understanding and Concentration
Meetings are something everyone hates, but QA meetings can be very unpleasant. I understand the desire of a testing manager to update the executive group on the progress of their efforts and how productive they have been. However, business stakeholders do not want to hear lengthy speeches about bugs discovered or the coverage of requirements.
As a QA manager, it is crucial to understand how to translate QA-speak into relevant information for the business. It is advisable not to give your clients a 30-slide presentation with all the defect conversion charts. Instead, show them one slide which discusses business risks and delivery times. You will not only communicate your message in a language business owners can understand, but your team will also appreciate their hard work and accomplishments.
- Learning from others
Interpersonal skills among your team members are essential to success. It is far more important to have a team member who is friendly, approachable, and easy to meet up at the water fountain or for lunch. It is possible to gain deeper insights into an application by simply chatting with a developer at the cafeteria, and not having to read a lot of documentation or attend hours of meetings.
- Time management
Testers often struggle to stay on top of the most urgent tasks these days because it’s all about speed to market. In their efforts to keep up with the pace, testers may forget to complete other tasks such as updating regression test results and building test scenarios.
Planning and being organized will save you weeks during a project’s life cycle. You can find many great books on the subject. Pick one up if you are having trouble.
How to Become a QA Tester
These are the steps you need to follow to become a quality control tester.
- Get into the college
You should consider the industry in which you are interested to work to determine the type of certification or degree you will need. A minimum of an associate degree is required for most software quality assurance tester jobs. Most recommend that candidates have a bachelor’s degree to be competitive. You should research the accreditation institutions that are closest to you. Many institutions provide statistics on graduation rates and employment rates that can be used to help you decide where to go.
- Complete your education
You must choose a relevant major if your goal is to become a QA tester. Make sure you consider which industry you wish to work in before choosing a major. You might want to be a software tester. For this reason, you should consider getting a bachelor’s degree in math, engineering, and computer science.
You can network and earn certifications while you are in school. It is vital to build relationships with your teachers and classmates to find future employment opportunities and collaborate.
- Take a look at internships
An internship program is designed to provide students and recent graduates with professional learning experiences with employers in their area. There are a variety of positions that can be paid and others that may not. They can last for anywhere from one to twelve months. Internships provide QA testers with a great opportunity to improve their resumes and test their skills in a particular industry.
- Apply for jobs
Find job opportunities in the industry you are interested in that match your qualifications. Make sure you interact with your professional network to find open positions and get professional recommendations. If you get multiple job offers, it is possible to narrow them down by where you live and what each employer offers regarding salary and benefits.
Where to Work
You can use the internet to search for jobs. To ensure that you get notified about new jobs, setting up a LinkedIn profile is the first step. LinkedIn communities and forums are great places to meet people.
Many people want to either get into the testing industry like you or help others. You should reach out to any industry acquaintances or friends that have worked in the field.
Use Indeed and Glassdoor as your first search engine to narrow down what you’re looking for. Is it better to have some experience with testing or be realistic and try to get a job as a QA tester? Do you wish to search for remote QA tester jobs, or are you looking to travel to get a job? You can easily get into the industry by working remotely as a QA tester.
Pay attention to each job description for QA testers and make sure you read it carefully. Each company’s role is likely to be slightly different.
QA Tester Salary Scale
The salaries of QA testers vary depending on education and experience. The location of your business and the industry you work in will also affect how much you get paid. Security software QA testers make more than quality assurance testers for video games.
The average annual salary for quality assurance technicians in the United States is $53,688. This position may offer you some benefits, such as health insurance, paid time off, and remote work options.