A tester is a person who tests software(software) in order to identify errors in its work and their subsequent correction. However, there is a slightly different name for this profession - QA Tester (or QA Manager, Engineer), which usually includes a wider range of responsibilities. The tester controls the quality of the product after its development, while the task of the QA tester is to ensure product quality at all stages of software development, release and operation.
Places of work
The profession of a tester is primarily in demand in IT companies that develop software, computer games and Internet sites.
Tester Responsibilities
Main official duties tester:
- Quality control of developed products.
- Identification and analysis of errors and problems that users encounter when working with software products.
- Development of autotests and their regular run.
- Development of test scenarios.
- Documentation of found defects.
Also, the position of a tester may involve the preparation of technical documentation in Russian and foreign (more often English) languages.
Requirements for a tester
Main requirements for a tester:
- Experience in organizing and conducting various kinds testing.
- Knowledge of programming languages.
- Knowledge of tools and libraries for autotesting.
- Experience in writing automated tests.
- Higher education.
- Analytic skills.
Additional requirements:
- Ability to test web applications.
- Knowledge of mobile platforms (iOS, Android).
- Knowledge in English at a level sufficient for reading and writing technical texts.
tester resume sample
How to become a tester
There are no universities in Russia that teach this profession, so the functions of a tester can be successfully performed by people with an analytical mindset and higher technical or secondary specialized education.
The best way to become a tester is to go learn programming and understand in practice how software is created, what difficulties programmers face and how software debugging works.
Tester salary
The salary of a tester varies from 30 to 130 thousand rubles per month. High earnings, most often, can be found in Moscow or other million-plus cities. The average salary of a tester is 70 rubles per month.
In this article, we will introduce you to such a profession as a software tester (or tester). Let's talk about the relevance of this profession, about the knowledge that you need to have in order to become a tester. Also about ways of learning, if such knowledge is not enough. And, of course, about the very specifics of the work. So, if this interests you, let's move on.
Who is a Software Tester?
Now the IT-sphere is rapidly developing, gaining momentum. People going to work in this area do not always reasonably assess their capabilities. Still, this is also work, and special skills are also needed here. So, before you frantically search for vacancies, let's figure out what a tester does in general and what you need to know.
A tester is a specialist who must check newly developed programs for their performance, identify errors and pass them on to programmers for correction.
Depending on the company in which the tester works, the duties of an employee may include various tasks. The wider the range of skills, the more highly paid job a tester can find. Consider its main responsibilities.
- development of plans and testing methods;
- simulation of situations that may be encountered during the operation of the software
- direct testing of the developed software;
- filling out documentation based on testing;
- analysis and classification of identified errors;
- control of the error correction process;
- compilation of a report;
- communication with the developer;
- counseling clients.
- he must be able to organize his work in accordance with the requirements;
- the tester must confidently work with a PC;
- The skill of working with documentation will not be superfluous, since it will need to be filled out on the basis of each test;
- you need to be able to write so-called bug or defect reports - documents that describe the situation that led to an error in the program, indicate the reasons and the expected result;
- you also need to be able to describe the verification process itself or, in other words, the steps necessary for verification, that is, create test cases;
- knowledge of the English language will positively affect the job search;
This factor plays an important role in many professions today. - the tester should preferably be able to work with HTML (Internet Markup Language) / CSS (Description Language appearance document), XML (also a document markup language along with HTML), and SQL (a programming language used to manage databases);
- specialist must at least basic level be able to work with test automation, with such Silk Test or Rational Robot programs.
- curiosity, meticulousness;
- creative thinking, good imagination;
- flexibility, the ability to quickly respond to changes;
- desire and readiness to develop;
- attentiveness;
- sociability;
- stress resistance;
- efficiency;
- responsibility for the work done;
- literacy in the preparation of documentation;
- the ability to accurately and clearly express one's point of view.
Although the profession is this moment is very relevant, you will not be able to find a single university where they would train specifically as a software tester. Therefore, the most basic education for a tester is self-education.
It’s good if you already have a completed technical institute with the specialty “Applied Mathematics”, “ Information Technology" or something similar. But if you studied at a humanitarian university, it is not necessary to go to get a second higher technical education. This will take a lot of time and, in principle, is not justified.
You can learn all the subtleties of testing yourself in online courses, here are some examples:
- "Rapid testing" (R. Culbertson, K. Brown, G. Kob)
- "Software Testing" (S. Kaner, D. Falk, E. Kek Nguyen)
What makes software tester training different? You can study the theory, understand the basics of testing, and even start practicing without leaving your home. Everything is online.
Having studied the base of the tester profession, you can choose one of several profiles and specifically specialize in it:
- testing mobile applications;
- test automation;
- testing more complex systems, which are characterized by a high degree of loading.
So, here you are trained as a software tester. Where to start? Of course, with a job search. The very first thing that comes to mind is a job search on platforms such as:
You can also study freelance exchanges. Here are some of them:
In almost any vacancy you will find such a requirement as work experience. But what should a software tester do without experience? Vicious circle: to find a job, you need experience; To gain experience, you need to go to work. But still there is a way out. In the following, several ways of obtaining this experience will be presented.
- You can get a job for free on a small project. There you will be trained, which is very useful, you will try yourself in practice. Such projects usually do not require a lot of time from a specialist (about 1 hour a day), but they provide the necessary experience.
- We ourselves every day sit on the Internet on different sites. So what's stopping you from testing these very sites? No one talks about load testing, but functional and usability testing can be done. Especially if you visit this site often, it should be easier to test it.
If you find errors during testing, right decision will write about it to the creators of the site. Clearly and clearly describe the problems found, and put the most important ones at the beginning, ask the addressee whether you did it correctly, whether he had any questions or not. Write a letter respectfully, criticism should be constructive and directed at the site, and not at the creator.
You might even be able to find a job this way! - In addition to websites, you can test mobile applications. Again, take the ones you use and look for errors, flaws. You can also send constructive feedback to app developers. If you describe everything correctly, without raids, then perhaps your feedback will be taken into account and some shortcomings will be corrected.
- If you're having trouble finding bugs on your favorite sites, you can visit dedicated public tester sites.
To finally understand whether to start working in this area or not, consider the main advantages and disadvantages of the software tester profession.
Advantages:
- Fast and convenient development of the specialty. It is also possible to find training with employment in the company where you want to take the position of a tester.
- The ability for the tester to work remotely. It is more suitable for more experienced professionals who no longer need help.
- This job is a good start in the field of IT, which will allow you to further develop in other specialties.
- It is impossible not to say about the demand for software testers. You definitely won't be left without a job!
- Pretty good salary and growth opportunities.
- Specialists in this field are not classified and selected by age, the existing skills and work experience are much more important here.
- This is a fascinating and interesting profession that combines both creative and analytical abilities of a person.
Flaws:
- Work, especially limited by your skills and capabilities, can be monotonous and monotonous.
- Mostly sedentary lifestyle. So testers, and all other specialists working at a computer, should think about the active component of their lives.
- There is a small risk of remaining a narrow specialist, but this problem can be easily solved only by your desire to develop.
Testers are primarily in demand in large companies involved in the creation and development of software (1C, for example), computer games, mobile applications or any websites.
Such work as an android application tester is in no way inferior in terms of complexity to testing more complex systems. Everywhere has its own nuances, its own requirements.
So we got to the most pleasant. What is the salary of a software tester?
The salary of a tester directly depends on his knowledge and skills, on successfully implemented products, and on work experience. Each year of work can add about 10,000 rubles to the salary of a specialist.
A novice specialist can count on a salary of 25 to 45 thousand rubles. So, after working for 2-3 years and gaining experience, a tester can safely look for vacancies with a salary of about 60,000 rubles. 5 years of successful work will be able to generate income up to 150,000 rubles. per month. The main thing is the desire and willingness to learn and develop!
What conclusion can be drawn? A tester is a very popular profession that brings a good income. Yes, testing as the main task of a tester requires the necessary skills, but learning them is not so difficult. You can get training both independently in online courses, and in the company itself, first getting a job there as a tester as an intern, and then becoming the main employee.
"All professions are needed, all professions are important." These words of Vladimir Mayakovsky have remained relevant for more than a decade. Today we will talk about the profession of a software tester (or just a tester). You will find out whether the profession of a tester is relevant, how much you can earn with it, and how this specialty can be mastered.
The relevance of the profession
In the world of development, many put the profession of a tester at the lowest level of the hierarchy, but in vain. It is thanks to the testers that there are relatively few errors in the existing software - and after all, after the software came out “from the pen” of the programmer, there were hundreds of times more errors. And this is not just speculation or fiction. In my life I have tried many professions - up to the head of the company. I had to be a tester as well.
September 9th is Software Tester Day. Although the holiday is unofficial, testers still have their own holiday and this indicates how important this profession is in the world. It is all over the world, not just in the world of software development. your multicooker or washing machine also tested by specially trained testers. I’m even afraid to imagine what would have happened if these devices had not been tested before they were put into production.
Why September 9th? It was on this very day more than 70 years ago that scientists from Harvard were testing a computing monster called the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator. Do not be confused by the word "Calculator" in the title: the weight of the first "Mark" is known exactly and was 35 tons. The weight of the second, I think, was not much less.
The word tester, you guessed it, comes from the English tester - a person who checks something.
How much do testers earn?
Some five years ago, it was believed that any 1st or 2nd year student could be a tester. Testers were treated lightly - as "underprogrammers". The format of such work meant only a part-time job while studying at a university, and few people managed to earn serious money as a tester.
So how much do testers earn? I bet that the answer to this question interested you the most, since you started reading this article. Testers with 2-3 years of experience can easily earn about 100,000 rubles per month. The minimum wage is from 30 thousand rubles, the average is about 50-60 thousand rubles. I will not give beautiful graphs, I will give two vacancies that I found in 5 seconds on the Yandex.Job website: in the first case, they offer up to 90 tr. (which is quite normal), in the second - from 30 to 45 thousand rubles.
In general, if you search, you can find vacancies up to 120 thousand rubles, which even exceeds the amounts I promised.
As you can see, the profession is quite relevant and if you have the desire and certain skills, you can easily find a fairly well-paid job. Yes, this is not Gazprom, but enough for life.
Conditions, requirements and obligations
After reviewing a dozen vacancies, I can tell you good news. You can work both in the office and at home - choose the way of working that is more familiar to you. If it takes a long time to get to the office, you can easily find remote work with flexible work schedule. And this means that you can study at a university and work as a tester. Nothing has changed in this regard. Of course, remote work pays less, but working conditions are more convenient.
Higher education is required, but work experience is needed. Most often, they require at least 1 year of work experience in the specialty. The question, where to get experience, if experienced ones are needed everywhere, remains open. However, this is a misfortune not only for this profession, but for any other. The salary directly proportionally depends on work experience - decent money starts to pay testers with work experience of 2 years or more.
But do not think that the tester does not need any skills other than the ability to press buttons! At a minimum you need:
- know the basics of the programming language in which development is carried out;
- be able to work with bug trackers;
- understand what functional testing is;
- have skills in working with automated testing tools (like Selenium for Java or PHPUnit for PHP);
- be able to use MS Office to document results.
The responsibilities of the tester include:
- formation of test sets;
- writing a testing methodology;
- preparation of test data;
- documentation testing;
- localization of defects;
- communication with business, analysts and developers;
- solving technically complex problems.
As you can see, the list of requirements and responsibilities is very solid. I hope now you will not think that a tester is just someone who presses buttons and checks if the program is buggy.
prospects
What are the prospects for a tester? First of all, there is the prospect of salary increases as work experience grows. Today you receive 30-40 thousand rubles, in two years - almost 100 thousand. Why not perspective? Even if the current company does not offer you that kind of money, you can always switch to another: you already have work experience.
Another perspective is to become a programmer. After working as a tester for several years, it is quite easy to move to another area of IT: for example, “turn” into a developer, analyst, or even a manager. Everything depends on you and your interests.
Where can you get a job as a tester?
Despite the fact that the profession is very relevant and there are many vacancies, there is no such specialty in our universities. If you do not have a higher education, but have a desire to get it, you can enter any specialty that is somehow related to programming (for example, applied or system programming), within which you can earn money as a tester, and then start working as a programmer.
But it should be noted that studying at a university is not always justified, especially when it comes to testers. First, study at the university for a long time. And if you already have a higher education (even if not technical) and you want to master the profession of a tester, then there is no point in enrolling in a university again: at the second higher education you will be forced to attend lectures for 2.5 years. Lose as much as 2.5 years! And if you don’t have a higher education, then you can lose as many as 5 years, during which you could not only master this profession, but also turn into a very sought-after specialist.
Secondly, having received a programmer diploma (and having spent 2.5 to 5 years on it), you still won’t be able to get a job in your specialty: after all, you don’t have experience in practical development, which universities don’t give you.
Alternatively, you can offer courses that allow you to master the profession of a software tester. For example, . The advantages of the courses are that you save both time and money: they last only 2 months and will cost you much less than studying at a university as a programmer. In addition, during the course you will receive:
- effective online learning at a convenient time for you;
- videos of all classes, all presentations and tutorials.
- interesting homework assignments to consolidate materials;
- the opportunity to ask any questions to the teacher;
- certificates for each course and guaranteed internship (2 months);
- the possibility of an internship in an IT company with subsequent employment;
- the opportunity to participate in real startups and create your own projects;
- real portfolio and resume to start a career;
- knowledge and skills that will pay off the cost of courses for a month of work in the company.
Within 4 months you will have the following skills:
- good command of terminology;
- experience in creating test cases and forming test kits, developing and writing acceptance tests;
- knowledge of the levels of access to the program and protection;
- testing skills according to a pre-prepared test plan;
- the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of testing;
- knowledge of errors and problems encountered by users when working with software products;
- experience in developing test scenarios, documenting the defects found;
- understanding of functional software testing;
- skills in manual software testing;
- knowledge of testing methodology and techniques;
- knowledge of types and types of testing, their various classifications;
- Experience with bug tracking systems (Atlassian JIRA)
- understanding of the software development life cycle, various software development methodologies and the place of testing in this process.
And most importantly, you do not have to wait several years, but you can immediately start working!
In general, the time spent is minimal. Although the training lasts 4 months, it takes place online, which means that you can work / study and master in parallel. There is no need to travel somewhere and waste precious time.
But what if the employer requires the presence of crusts? Well, in most cases it is still not required. If you already have a tower, then a certificate will be added to it, which you will receive at the end of the course. And if you don’t have a higher education, then it’s okay: on the other hand, you will have the whole set of skills necessary for successful software testing. When you work for the first year in your specialty, no one will look at the absence of a higher education institution - the main thing is that you already have experience and skills. In addition, at the end of the course you will have the opportunity of a two-month internship in a real company!
conclusions
The conclusions are as follows: the profession of a tester is in demand and allows you to earn about 60 thousand rubles on average. per month. It makes no sense to study at a university as a tester: it takes a long time, it is expensive, and there is officially no such specialty as a tester. In addition, after the university you still will not have work experience - only a few lost years.
In the case of you, you can get all the skills you need to start a career and do an internship at a company to get a minimum of work experience. Everything about everything takes only 4 months, and training takes place online at a convenient time for you.
It's great, right?
Special project with GeekBrains
Software testing. Level 1. 1 month.
Theoretical knowledge and initial experience
At present, the profession of a tester has become relevant in the IT field more than ever. First of all, there is a high demand for specialists involved in software testing. The main duties of such employees are to identify errors in the operation of programs and simulate various situations associated with their additional workload. Thus, by detecting and describing errors, sending reports about them for making corrections to the program, testers constantly interact with the development team. The GeekBrains Software Tester Level 1 course is for those who want to start a career in software testing. Within its framework, the theory and practice of creating test cases, test kits, bugs and reporting on test results are considered. This course is 8 practical sessions where you will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to easily get involved in the work on creating and improving an IT project.
Lesson 1
What is testing. How to determine software quality (ISO standards, quality criteria, metrics). Categories software errors. Terminology.
Lesson 2
Software development cycle. Software testing cycle. Types of tests in the software development process. Compliance of testing with software development methodology.
Lesson 3
Definition and structure of test cases. Characteristics of a good test Axioms of testing. Maintainability of test cases. Quality management systems. Test kits. Checklists. Preparing test data.
Lesson 4. Equivalence classes and boundary conditions. Planning and working with requirements
Definition and search of Equivalence Classes. Boundaries of equivalence classes. Work with software requirements. Participation in software release planning. What to do if there is no documentation.
Lesson 5
Definition and functions of a bug tracker. How to correctly formulate tasks. The life cycle (workflow) of errors. Operational tracking of issues in the bug tracker.
Lesson 6
Purpose of regression testing. When is regression testing required? Selection of test kits for regression testing. Prioritization and optimization of test kits.
Lesson 7
Job hierarchy in testing. Planning and estimation of terms for testing. Test start/end criterion. Reporting on test results. Workplace preparation.
Lesson 8: Testing the User Interface
Testing features user interfaces GUI and web applications.
Software testing. Level 2. 1 month.
Working with documentation and testing applications
Many people think that the profession of a tester is boring and monotonous. However, this opinion is unfair. A professional tester is, first of all, a person who can creatively approach the solution of the tasks facing him. The experience gained in this profession can be a stepping stone to a career as a programmer. An important feature of the work of a tester is the possibility of full-fledged outsourcing and freelancing. The GeekBrains Software Tester Level 2 course is designed for those who are already familiar with the basics of testing and want to gain deeper knowledge and skills required to start a career in the IT field. Within its framework, methods for studying software under test are analyzed, techniques for determining the required number of tests and ways to visualize the tested functionality are studied. This course consists of 8 practical sessions, after which you will be able to prove yourself as an expert user of the software, having your own vision of the best organization of the testing process.
Lesson 1. Test analysis. Software research
Types and purposes of software research. Application decomposition.
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Creation of a test set. Minimum checks. Enumeration of values. Atomic checks. Pairwise. Method of interrelated checks.
Lesson 4: Testing States and Transitions
Software analysis for possible states and transitions. Identification of life cycles of entities and combination of states. Selection of valid checks.
Lesson 5
Select the terms of the business requirement. Create decision tables. Combining tests based on a decision table.
Lesson 6
Definition of the software functionality to be tested. Identification of potential errors and their gradation. Definition of strategy.
Lesson 7
Goals and objectives of the testing strategy. The choice of suitable techniques depending on the functionality and features. Accounting for non-functional testing.
Lesson 8
Test coverage evaluation. Evaluation of the effectiveness of tests.
Introduction to test automation. 1 month.
Automated testing
Automation is part of the overall testing process and is an important part of building work and tracking the testing process within software development. On the course, you will analyze various aspects of using approaches to building automated testing processes. Find out what types of software for conducting autotests. Understand how to automate testing processes and create your first autotests.
Lesson 1: Introduction to Automated Testing
What is automated testing; What are the types of automated testing? design choice: manual or automated; black and white box in automation; review and selection of tools.
Lesson 2. Strategy for automated testing. Practical test creation with Autoit.
Deciding on the introduction of automation; designing autotests; automated testing strategies; automation deployment process; test environment for automation; creating an autotest with Autoit.
Lesson 3
Types of automated testing; automated functional testing; usability testing tools; automated load testing.
Lesson 4. The Selenium project and its components.
Goals, tasks, features of Selenium. selenium webdriver. Selenium RC. selenium server. selenium grid. An example of using Selenium IDE in practice.
Lesson 5
Stress Testing; principles and practice of building load tests; tool overview; an example using Apache Jmeter.
Lesson 6
Mobile application testing; automated tools - overview, selection; Stress Testing; mobile emulators; mobile farms.
Lesson 7
Automation of the testing process and test creation; utilities for automating testing processes; test generation; frameworks; plugins.
Lesson 8
Requirements, tasks; systems for working with requirements and setting tasks; bug tracking systems; setting up testing processes and their automation and tools.
Database fundamentals. 20 lessons.
Database design and SQL queries
Databases (DB) are data storage and processing systems accessed using SQL (Structured Query Language). Any modern site, game or desktop application need to store data. At the moment, there are many different database management systems (DBMS), the most popular being MySQL. “Database Fundamentals” is 20 intensive video lessons (10 minutes each), where we will go through all the stages of database design together using the example of an online store using the language SQL queries. After this course, you will be able to use various databases such as MS SQL and Postgre Sql, since the syntax of the SQL language is almost the same for them.
Lesson 1
What is the difference between a database and a DBMS? what databases are called relational; review of modern DBMS.
Lesson 2
Installing MySql DBMS and graphic application mysql workbench.
Lesson 3
Data design in Excel; normal forms; primary key.
Lesson 4
Creating tables in the MySql Workbench GUI; CREATE command; data types; work in the console.
Lesson 5
Filling tables with data using a graphical interface; INSERT command; AUTO INCREMENT.
Lesson 7
Retrieving and filtering data using the DISTINCT and LIMIT SQL commands; sorting with the ORDER BY command.
Lesson 9
The concept of consistency or data consistency.
Lesson 10
The concept of a foreign key and constraints on column values; FOREIGN KEY CONSTRAINTS.
IT is developing, new products are constantly being created that require verification before entering the market so that the end user receives a quality product. It depends on the tester in what condition the product will hit the market.
Who is a tester
In any case, it is important to receive a response in time, feedback on your work, it is desirable that they be objective. It's the same with programmers - in order to achieve high results, you need to receive positive and negative feedback about the work done as soon as possible. The task of the tester is to give programmers feedback. The faster the response is received, the sooner the programmers will fix the error, if any.
Speaking specifically, who is a tester and what he does, then this is a person who checks the work done by the development team, points out errors in the operation of the software (website, application, chatbot, etc.).
It's hard enough to define the word "testing", but it's not:
- development - even if the tester knows how to write code, testing is not software development;
- analysis and data collection - although in the work you have to refine the data, analyze them, but this work is done only when needed, not constantly;
- technical writing - in this case, the tester has to document his work and tests.
Testing does not belong to any of these activities, because they do all this work to facilitate the process of their own work.
Types of testing
There are no universal testers, otherwise the work would be of poor quality. There are several types of testing with their own characteristics.
Functional testing
Functional testing is based on the analysis of the specifications of the functionality of certain components or the system as a whole. Tests in this form are based on the functions that the system performs. Usually these functions are described in requirements, specifications.
The main advantage of functional testing is the simulation of the actual use of the system during testing. Disadvantage 2:
- the possibility of missing logical errors in the software;
- redundant testing.
Stress Testing
Load testing is also called performance testing. This is an automated type of testing that simulates the operation of the system.
The main task of this type of testing is to determine the capabilities of the application under certain loads. This must take into account:
- the time of performing operations at a certain intensity of their execution;
- the number of users who use the application at a time;
- the limits of acceptable performance with increased load;
- performance at very high load levels.
It also tests the reliability of the application. This is determined by the performance of the application during many hours of software testing with an average load.
Automated testing
Automated testing is a software test during which the main functions and test steps are performed in automatic mode using special tools. Checked actions include:
- launch;
- initialization;
- test execution;
- analysis;
- issuing a result.
The tester in this case creates, debugs and maintains test scripts, test suites and testing tools in automatic mode.
Usability testing
This is testing for the usability of the interface by the end user. Thanks to usability testing, you can find out how the product meets expectations and is comfortable to use. The usability tester must look at the product through the eyes of the user. During the verification process, it performs typical tasks that the user will do in the future, and brings the product to a better version, if necessary.
Usability testing can come in handy in several ways:
- interface usability testing;
- comparison of the product with competitors;
- comparison of several versions of interfaces of one product.
In this case, not only sites are tested. There are many other interfaces: voice, print forms, business processes, applications for smartphones and computers, and others.
Integration testing
The essence of integration testing is to check the connection of the components of the whole product and their interaction with other parts of the system.
There are several types of this testing:
- bottom-up - all modules, procedures, low-level functions are assembled together and tested, after which the next level of components is assembled;
- from top to bottom - first of all, high-level components are tested, then the level gradually decreases;
- big bang - all components, low-level and high-level, are put together and tested together, so you can do a quick test.
Configuration testing
Aimed at checking the functionality of the product in various configurations:
- platforms;
- drivers;
- computer configurations.
At the server level of verification, the interaction of the product with the environment where it will be installed is checked. The main task of this stage is to find out the optimal hardware configuration for working with the product.
At the client level, it turns out how convenient it is to use the product, its functionality.
Security Testing
Security testing is carried out to check security, analyze the risks associated with hacker attacks and viruses. The main task of safety testing is to establish maximum safety and comfort when using a product.
Testing principles:
- availability;
- confidentiality;
- integrity.
Game testing
Game testing, despite the attractive name, is quite complicated and dreary. Its main goal is to check the game for bugs so that the product reaches the consumer in a high-quality form. The game and its segments have to be played and replayed several dozen times, since fixing one bug can lead to another bug. All testing is done manually and takes a very long time. In addition, games can have several versions, for example, for a computer and an Android smartphone - then the test has its own characteristics and the number of tests is doubled.
What skills does a tester need?
The main quality of a good tester is passion for his work. You also need to strive for self-realization in this area. To increase the level of testing, you need to constantly study information on how to improve the quality of work, what features certain products may have.
Requirements for a software tester (plus / minus depending on the company):
- Understanding what a bug is, a test case, a testing strategy (and the ability to build it), a bug report;
- Basic knowledge of automated testing;
- Quick learner, adaptability to a rapidly changing environment;
- Ability to work with the database - basic concepts and queries;
- Communication skills - important for interaction with the team;
- Analytic mind;
- Ability to quickly process a large number of information.
Knowledge of java, python for a tester and other programming languages may also come in handy. But at the same time, their knowledge can interfere with the work, since the tester may try to correct other people's mistakes, that is, do not do their job. And that reduces the quality.
Tester salary
The average salary of a tester in Moscow is about 70 thousand rubles, in St. Petersburg - 50. Yekaterinburg is a little behind - 45 thousand rubles. In smaller cities, wages are lower. In Volgograd, Voronezh, Perm, Ufa, Kazan, the salary is 33-40 thousand rubles.
Novice testers without experience can expect a salary that is half or 2/3 of the average tester salary in the city.
A tester with a higher education and work experience of at least 1 year can count on a salary of 65 thousand in St. Petersburg and 80 thousand in Moscow. The maximum income in the capital is 150 thousand, in St. Petersburg - 120 thousand rubles.
Above 150 thousand income are specialists involved in the verification of complex products. Gaming and usability specialists earn the least.
A tester at home earns about the same as in the office. For the most part, freelancing salaries here depend on the city in which the employer is located. Sometimes software development companies from Moscow specifically look for a specialist from a small town in order to pay less. In addition, freelancing for testers is an opportunity to combine several projects and earn more.
How to become a tester
To become a tester, it is not necessary to have a higher education. It is important to be able to concentrate attention, not to miss the little things. You can even become a tester from scratch, but you still need to have some knowledge. For example, you need to be able to handle a computer and programs like “you”, be able to navigate in unfamiliar environments. It is also good to know at least one programming language, to understand the basics of the database.
If you have a higher education - good. Companies prefer applicants with a technical background, as they are the ones who have an analytical mindset. But if education is humanitarian, do not despair. You need to create a resume in which to place information about what projects you had to deal with. Even if there is no work experience, but there is term papers with a practical part, a thesis, experience in internship in IT - all this should be included in a resume to attract attention. Be sure to indicate your main advantages that may be useful in the work of a tester. These can be: attention to detail, perseverance, familiarity with computer software, empathy, knowledge of programming languages, knowledge of foreign languages.
In preparing for the interview, you should familiarize yourself with the following topics:
- software quality assurance;
- what is testing;
- types of testing;
- testing levels;
- test artifacts and their purpose;
- familiarity with test design;
- test automation and its types;
- test metrics, how to use them.
Courses for testers
The easiest way to learn the basics of testing is . The main thing is that they be of high quality, and the curators do not pour “water”.
There are such platforms and schools as GikBrains, Testbase, Alexei Sukhorukov Academy and others. You can choose the level of training, or you can take a stress course to find out what knowledge is not enough.
There is a training center at Bauman Moscow State Technical University that regularly conducts testing courses. They are led by practitioners.
Do not miss the opportunity to attend internships. You will have to work for free, but you can gain experience. You can find internships on the headhater’s website or by searching Google for “tester internship in (city name)”.
There are not many open internship offers, but you can independently offer your services to companies that produce software, games, applications, websites.
Is it worth it to be a tester?
As you can see, the profession of a tester has its pros and cons. There is no need to force yourself to this work - you will get bored very quickly, because it requires perseverance, meticulousness. If you didn’t manage to find yourself on the path of a programmer, developer, it might be worth trying yourself in testing. The main disadvantages of the profession:
- you need to be extremely attentive, pedantic, assiduous;
- great responsibility;
- testing is not taught at the university.
- it’s enough just to learn at least the basics of testing yourself;
- employers hire testers without experience;
- cultivating willpower, patience.
