Software Testing as a Career

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Overview

Software Testing:

Software testing is a process to verify and confirm if the application developed is as per the client requirements or not? If the developed software working properly without any issue or not? Overall, the main purpose of software testing process is to improve the quality of software and test its all functionality, design before handover to client.

Main responsibilities of a software tester:

Study and understanding the software requirement specification document
Go through all the designs to understand the design requirement of software
Prepare a test plan
Prepare the test cases to verify each functionality
Do testing with each test case and report issue if any
Retesting of software after bug/issue fixed
Give suggestion to improve the quality of software
Communicate with the other teams like design team, developer team and the managers

The Key skills required for a software tester:

Analytical skills:

Good analytical skills will help you in understanding requirements, breaks down the complex system into smaller units and create corresponding test cases.

Communication skill:

As you have to communicate with different teams and sometimes with clients too, so strong communication skills is a must. Not only verbal, but you need a strong written communication skills also as you have to write test cases, testing plan, bug reports etc.

Technical Skills:

Nowadays, automation testing is required everywhere and you need technical skills to become handy in automation testing. Technical skills include different automation testing tools like QTP, Loadrunner etc. and also other tools like MS-office, open office, test case writing tools to prepare documents. Knowledge of different type of testing like functional testing, load testing, UI Testing, DB Testing etc. and related testing tools is a must.

Time Management Skills:

Time management is a crucial skill as sometimes, especially when you have to release the code, you need to do everything on time or before time.

Passion:

To become a successful tester you need passion for it. If software testing doesn't excite you then you can't do in depth testing that is must to make quality software and it affects your growth in career also.

Eligibility

You need a bachelor or master degree in computer science like B.Tech, M.Tech, BCA or MCA. Master degree is preferred by all.

How to be there?

If you want to join the software industry as a software tester, then as mentioned above, get a degree in computer science. Get some training for software testing and join any company as a junior testing engineer. In the beginning, you don't need to be an expert or knowledge of automation testing and tools, manual testing knowledge is enough.
After joining, start gaining your skills and learn automation testing tools. It'll help you in quick career growth.

Work Hours

Working hours in the software field are uncertain. Sometimes you have to be ready to work late hours also especially at the time of product release or any production issue occurred.

Salary

The average salary of a tester can be between 2 lakh to 5 lakh yearly. But it depends on your experience and your skills in the end.

For beginners it can be 15k to 25 k PM

For mid-level experience it can be 25k to 40 k PM

For higher experience it can be more than 40 K.

Scope

As the software industry is growing, the demand for software testing engineers also growing. But most of the jobs in this sector are private. You can work as a freelancer also after having a good experience and handy in testing tools. After having good experience in this field, you can become a business analyst also.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

High Salary

Good Job growth

Variety of jobs possibilities

Cons:

Repetitive tasks make it a little bit boring

Continue learning new skills

Long working hours