Introduction
Software Testing is an activity to check for any defects in a product which in turn improves quality and reduce its failure in operation. Software testing also saves money and improves user experience. Software testers are responsible for ensuring product quality. Analysing requirements, collaborating with stakeholders, creating tests, executing them, writing automated test scripts, detecting bugs and tracking them are the main tasks of a Software tester. A software tester needs have a thorough understanding of the testing technique and knowledge about the product. A sharp attitude, attention to detail, communication skills and passion for the software are some of the key skills of a tester.
Let us see what the benefits of being a Software tester are:
Great Opportunities
Every industry is going digital be it education, healthcare or banking. Customer satisfaction and developing high quality software applications are of utmost importance. Hence, there are a lot of opportunities for testing as demand of testing and automation has tremendously increased over the years.
Creativity
A software tester has to check a product from different perspective to find defects. One needs to think out of the box when examining. For example, a tester has to think like an end- user to evaluate user experience of an application. He has to think from different angles to generate test ideas.
Continuous Learning
Software testing is constantly evolving field. Tester’s gets chance to learn new tools and constantly update their skills. You could be testing websites, mobile or any desktop application. You could be testing API’s or perform security testing or automating. Initially you would have to undergo training or learn online and complete ISTQB certification. Then you can progress to learning Selenium or Cucumber as these are popular tools used in test automation. After gaining a certain level of experience, you can choose to learn other tools or advance your career in manual testing. There is no dearth of learning in testing.
Collaboration
A software tester has to interact with different stakeholders, developers, business analyst to improve the product delivery. You will be able to work from start to the end and influence the team’s ideas. You need to posses good communication skills for this.
Good Pay
Software Testers are paid well. As a fresher, the basic pay for both developer and tester is the same. It is based on your performance and experience that a company provides hike.
Flexibility
Testing is a good starting point if you want to work in IT industry. There are endless opportunities for career progression. You can start with being a functional tester and progress to Test Management. You can also specialise in being a non functional tester such as cyber security tester or performance tester. To begin with you would be appointed as a Test Analyst or Functional tester. The main task of a Test Analyst is to detect bugs in the software. You can get promoted as a Senior Analyst. If you have interest in coding, you can become an Automation or Test Engineer. You would get the opportunity to write test scripts which test the software. After some experience, you can move to become a Test Lead or a Test Manager. The Test Lead/Manager manages the entire team of QA. Career change from a Test Analyst to a Business Analyst is also possible.
Summary
Software testing is an excellent career choice if you want to work in IT. Software testing is extremely essential for a company as it leads to high quality products. The benefits of being a software tester are many. One needs to analyse the pros and cons before choosing a career.
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