Software testing engineer professionals play a very crucial role in developing applications. These engineers are experts in rooting out the interface issues, performance issues, and bugs in the application developed. To accomplish this, they do a set of tests, which includes user acceptance, scalability, performance, stress test throughout the development of the software. Thus, to obtain a quality final product, it has become to have a testing expert to provide the client a bug-free software.
With the advent of Agile and DevOps development technologies, the software testing domain has been undergoing many major disruptions. This paved the way for developing many new testing approaches in the market.
Are you interested to be a part of the software testing arena? Then note down the list of essential skills required to equip yourself to be the best professional.
Essential skill sets required by Software Testing Engineer:
Let us discuss the Technical and Non Technical skills required to become a Software Testing Engineer.
Non Technical Skills:
To check if the software testing is a reality for you, compare your knowledge against the following checklist.
Analytical Skills:
A professional software testing Engineer needs to be sound in analytical reasoning. The reason is the analytical skills helps them break the complex problem into smaller units to create better test cases.
Communication Skills:
The best software Test engineer should possess good verbal and written communication skills. Test cases, test strategies, plans, strategies, bug reports, etc generated by the test engineer should be jargon-free and easy to comprehend. They also need to deal with developers if there are any bugs in the code with discreteness and diplomacy.
Managerial Skills:
During the release of code, testing sometimes becomes a demanding job. A software testing Engineer should be efficient enough to handle the workload, reproduce higher productivity, work and exhibit time management, and also they should have hands-on organization skills.
Broad Attitude:
A software Test Engineer should have a great attitude for willingness to learn new concepts, the detailed orientation of the project, providing suggestions for process improvement, etc. With changing technologies, the software test engineer should be able to update with the new trends in the software market.
Passion towards Work:
Shining in any industry is not that easy. It needs the utmost passion for the field. The software test engineer needs a passion for his/her field to become successful in their field.
Technical Skills:
- Fundamental knowledge of Database/SQL to check data stored in the databases.
- Basic knowledge in Linux as many of the software applications are deployed in Linux machines.
- Hands-on experience of a test management tool to check for the bugs in the software developed.
- A software test engineer should have knowledge in defect tracking tool to make the entire team like managers, developers, and testers to know about the defect.
- Expertise in any automation tool.
Are you perplexed seeing the long list of the technical skills? Don’t worry, you do not need all the above mentioned technical skills. Again it depends on the company you are going to work.
Academic Background:
The Alma matter of any Software Test Engineer need not only a computer science engineer, A BTech/B.E of any engineering domain with a little knowledge in computers, MCA, BCA, but BSC-Computers will also land you with a software testing engineer job easily.
If you do not hold any of the above degrees, you may very well complete the certifications like ISTQB and CSTE which makes you learn software development / Test life cycle and many other testing methodologies.
Steps to become a successful Software Testing Engineer:
To make the code bug free during software release, Software Testing Engineers will always rescue you to earn your potential clients.
To become an efficient software engineer, pay attention to all the following steps.
1. Gain knowledge in Manual Testing:
You might be thinking what is the purpose of manual testing when the companies are transforming to automation?
But yeah, there is a necessity to know manual testing since automation is just the replacement of manual testing and you can o where avoid codes.
Obtain the knowledge in manual testing initially before you make a leap towards automation.
2. Grab excellent programming skills:
Many may think that only developers should require coding knowledge. But the common ideology is wrong since no automation and manual testing is done without coding.
To be a successful Software Test Engineer in the market, you need to have the basic knowledge in C/C++, Java, Perl, Python, Python, XML, HTML, SQL. Again I remind you that the technical skills vary depending on the company you work.
3. Comprehending the Application:
Software Test Engineer should have the capacity to understand the software application top to bottom. Know about
- the language the developers have used to develop the software.
- the platform the application is built.
- the databases involved
- the web services, APIs connected to the system
- objectives of the project
- what type of testing is applied in the software
- the expected delivery date of the software.
Have hands-on experience in automation tools:
To gain more knowledge about the software such as its architecture, environment it runs, the feasibility of the applications, etc. This helps you to identify the best tool which fulfills most of the testing needs of the application.
Identify ATLC methodology:
Determine the Automation Test Life cycle to have a better bug-free code. The software testing engineer must have expertise in the following
- Decision making in automation testing
- Know about test automation tools
- Process of automation testing
- Planning, Design, and development of test
- Test script execution and management phase
- Reviewing the test program
Crafting Strategy for Automation Testing:
While you are ready with the ATLC methodology and automation testing tools, you can now prepare a test automation strategy for your clients. You should be able to decide the tools, estimated time of delivery and overall cost for the project.
Have a thirst for updating yourself:
Always update and equip yourself with the new technology and trends in the market regarding software testing. Come with an optimized solution for designing your automation strategy to please your potential employers.
Choosing Software Testing as a career path:
Your progress as a Software testing engineer in the level 5 company will look in a below-mentioned way.
-
- QA Analyst (fresher)
- Sr. QA Analyst( 2-3 yrs experience)
- QA Team Coordinator (5-6 yrs experience)
- Test Manager (8-11 yrs experience)
- Senior Test Manager (14+ yrs of experience)
Once you have got a thorough knowledge in manual testing and had a good year of experience in it, now soak your hands in these specializations.
Automation Testing:
Having a designation of Automation Test Engineer, you would be in a position to automate the whole of the testing process which eventually optimizes the time efficiency.
Performance Testing:
To check the application responsiveness like load time, maximum load application it can handle, you as a performance teat engineer plays a vital role.
Business Analyst:
As a business analyst, you need to assess and analyze the business model of your company and the workflow they maintain for the application development.
Interested to learn Software Testing?
Now that you know about the software testing skills, academic qualifications, career scope, I hope that you are curious and excited to learn Software Testing in a reputed Institute. We at Courseinn Academy, impart you with immense knowledge in Software Testing skills and tools. Guaranteeing you 100% placement after the course completion, we offer you lab sessions with industry experts. Any queries regarding the class can be clarified at any time with your mentor.
Why hesitate? Take your mobile and reach us to attain great heights in your career as a software testing engineer.
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