A website is the brand’s face, which creates the first appearance for the customer. However, website crashes can come so unexpectedly, then all of a sudden, visitors witness the software glitches.
Who can solve such kind of a problem? The person is a QA tester. LC Work has overviewed the job, its responsibilities, and the basic skills pack.
The IT industry has constantly been growing and going through different stages of reformation in various aspects. This market includes thousands of jobs and specialties that work both on technical and visual things. This article will tell you more about the job that plays an extremely essential role in the development stage.
Quality assurance or QA tester is probably one of the most important specialists for the website run. This job may be also described as multi-tasking and highly responsible. So who exactly the QA tester is in 2023?
Basically, a QA tester is a specialist, who works with software or a website.
The main task of the testers is to provide the site to run properly with no glitches, or any other sort of errors.
Taking about the tools that QA testers use, there is a great variety of automated tests while the product is in the process of development.
If you wonder what the testing process is, the QA testers are trying to break the website in every possible way. The results of the testing will be an essential guide for the developers in further.
In other words, a QA tester helps the website developers to see where any problem can be or what technical errors should be expected from it. Without QA testers, the websites would be constantly laying down. So let’s now dig deeper down to the actual work of the QA tester.
The work of the QA tester is an assurance of the highest quality of the product. We collected all the main benefits that a QA tester can contribute to the company.
The website testing really allows developers to figure out all the technical problems in the product. Therefore, developers have a chance to solve all the errors and improve the quality of the website of software before introducing it to the users. Moreover, developers can easily change the code to make it better.
A perfect website means a trustworthy reputation in the market. QA testers basically use their skills to prove a brand’s reputation as the provider of the best products that have no failures or shortcomings.
Undoubtedly, constant testing and analyzing contribute to safe development and growth. Once a company decides to work on a new higher level, it’s very important to take each step seriously and attentively. QA testers put their efforts to improve the UX of the product, which allows them to scale it later.
Can you imagine how much would a company spend on the failure, if there was no specialist who could not tell the perfect way to launch the product? Through the QA testers’ work, developers can be sure about their next steps and decisions based on the reports and researched data.
Before answering the question of what is QA tester's salary these days, it’s significant to mention that there are different salary levels for the different QA testing field job titles. The salary for alternative QA tester jobs may be:
Considering the average salary level for general QA testers, the sum may reach up to $72 662 per year. This amount of money includes two parts salary and median reported additional pay. When it comes to the financial aspect, it’s important to mention that a QA tester will also get s bonus commission and profit sharing.
It is not a secret that QA testing is one job that implies computer study in the process. Therefore, degrees related to information technology computer science, and business would be very helpful. But still, a degree is not an obligate aspect to start working as a QA tester from scratch. Here are the most common certifications that can be helpful in the career building of a QA tester.
This study course includes full diving into Python scripts. Beginners will easily make the first IT steps by solving all the possible problems. Among the main skills that you can get from this course are:
The University of Virginia has always been famous for being the top-rated study for students from all over the world. At this time, an educational establishment launched a course for QA testers, who just started their path.
Beginners will learn:
With more than 500 000 students, ISTQB proved how effective its courses are. With this exact learning course, beginners will learn the most common strategies for QA testing and programming languages.
Over 40 000 students have already signed up for this course to get the skills and knowledge from the top-rated specialists in the industry. Intermediate QA testers will learn:
Thanks to this course, IT specialists will get the skills and knowledge provided through the latest education methods. It is also important to mention that at the end of the course, each student has to pass an exam to prove their skills.
The CMSQ certificate is probably one of the most trustworthy proofs of your skills in the market. At the end of the course, you will also have to pass an exam, to sum up, all the knowledge and get an official certificate.
If your goal is to become one of the high-paid QA testers in the market, then this course is definitely for you. The CSTE certificate will prove to your employers how qualified and hard-skilled you are.
Hopefully, you already found an answer to the question of where to start a QA tester career. Below, you will find the most common requirements so you know what skills to focus on while studying.
As was already mentioned, computer skills are your priority. However, there also can be highlighted some specific skills like software testing. Here are the most important software testing models to know for QA testers in 2023.
1. Waterfall
Waterfall implies the most classic and basic Software Development Life Circle (SDLC). To conquer these skills you must be good at analysis and specification determination. To achieve the next level of the waterfall and become a professional – in design, coding, and unit testing. To make it even easier, you should pay attention to integration and system testing.
2. Iterative Development
The SDLC model is special because of the more cyclical approach. One of the main benefits of iterative development is the ability to improve the next iteration faster. Moreover, you have to repeat all of the process stages all over again and again: analysis, design, and testing.
3. Agile
The Agile model implies a team approach to work. However, it also implies the individual contribution of each team member. Everybody works in short sprints to adapt to reformation in software development.
The main benefit of this model is the ability to look at the software from different angles and reach a common goal together.
4. Extreme Programming
Extreme programming is one of the favorites among clients because of the guaranteed satisfying outcome at the end of the project. Extreme programming guarantees the most effective and suitable solution. Therefore, most of the time, the project is ready before the deadline. Fast testing and great outcome – what can be even more perfect?
The job of a QA tester is one of the most demanding in terms of knowledge, skills, and abilities in the IT market. Companies most of the time search for a universal and flexible specialist, who also can provide multitasking work on the top level.
Before starting your career as a QA tester, you should understand that it won’t be easy. But hopefully, this article will help you to identify your strengths and weaknesses in order to work them out to the maximum. Also, be mindful of companies and requirements, and make sure your to-do list doesn't include overtime tasks that aren't related to your line of work.
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