There is such a profession - to check software. How to become a QA Engineer

Continuing a series of materials about professions in demand in the IT industry and related to software development, today we will talk about QA engineers. So, Quality Assurance Engineer: who is he, what does he do, where does he live? First, some basic information. The main responsibility of a QA Engineer, that is, a software quality assurance engineer, is to monitor each stage of the software development process so that the final product meets all the highest standards of the developer company, or at least just functions more or less decently without bringing users to white hot bugs and shortcomings. The task of a QA engineer, speaking in general about the function of this specialist as part of a software development team, is to monitor the quality of the development approach. It is also the responsibility of the QA to make sure that the software product works properly before it is released and available to the general public. Thus,

QA Engineer as a career - perspectives and expectations

From the point of view of employment prospects alone, QA can definitely be considered a very, very promising profession and at least a good choice for a career in IT. It is expected that the number of positions for specialists in this field will increase by about 4-5% over the next few years. According to a number of studies of employment in the IT field, the QA Engineer profession has been among the leaders in recent years in terms of the gap between the number of open positions and the number of specialists on the market, that is, the demand for QA specialists significantly exceeds the supply (with the exception of junior positions, because applicants for there are almost always more than open vacancies).

Salary level

For QA Engineers, salaries are high compared to the average for all professions and generally in line with pay in the IT industry. So, in the US, the average salary of a QA engineer is $88,510 per year, or $42.56 per hour, according to a 2017 report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, 10 percent of the highest paid professionals in this field receive $139,390 per year or $67.02 per hour, while the salary of 10 percent of the lowest paid professionals is $46,240 per year or $22.23 per hour. In our area, the salaries of QA engineers in numbers look less impressive, but still impressive in comparison with general statistics: the average monthly salary of QA specialists is about $1,700 per month in Ukraine, 110,000 rubles (about $1,630) per month in Russia, and $1000 in Belarus.

Responsibilities of a QA Engineer

Although, in general, a QA Engineer is a fairly general definition of a profession that includes a number of positions in a development team with a more specific specialization, there are a number of tasks that in most cases are part of the duties of a QA engineer. It is also worth noting that QA engineers are most often divided into two main "subspecies" - manual testers and QA automation. The differences between the two positions are quite large (more on that below), as are the skill requirements for applicants for these positions.

• Documenting test cases.
• Conducting and documenting risk analysis.
• Documenting the progress and results of testing.
• Preparation of automated testing.
• Development of standards and procedures to determine product quality and release readiness.
• Finding bugs in a software product.
• Innovate and optimize overall testing processes.
• Identification, localization and tracking of errors throughout testing.
• Identify potential issues that users may encounter.
• Perform manual and automated testing.
• Research and analysis of the tested characteristics of the product.
• Exploration of new tools, technologies and testing processes.
• Checking user interfaces for consistency and functionality.

I would go to QA-specialists, let them teach me. How to get into the profession?

It should be noted right away that the so-called threshold for entering the profession of QA Engineer is considered one of the lowest in IT, that is, it is quite possible to become a QA engineer without a specialized education in one of the IT specialties and even without prior experience in this field. However, a person from the street will certainly not be hired for such a job. To apply for the position of QA Engineer, you need to have at least a basic understanding of software testing and development environments, as well as development life cycles. Higher education is also not superfluous, and graduates who have received degrees in such specialties as software development, software design or computer science are best suited. Here are some tips on how to get into the profession for those who like this particular path.

• Engage in self-study

  There is more than enough general information, guides, and tutorials on the web on subjects that QA engineers need to know. You can start by getting acquainted with the basics of the disciplines that are included in computer science , as this knowledge creates the foundation for further education in IT specialties.

• Find yourself a mentor

  Good advice, which is quite common on English-language resources, but not very popular with us. However, the advice is well worth it. Ask one of the experienced "Kway" to help you with the training of the profession with advice and recommendations, and then maybe with finding your first job.

• Get ISTQB certified

  ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualification Board) is an international non-profit organization that offers a range of certifications for testers. ISTQB has developed a testing program called ISTQB Certified Tester, which is now considered the most authoritative in the field of software testing. ISTQB certification is available in over 100 countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The presence of such certification will confirm the availability of theoretical knowledge for the employer, and preparing for the exam will require the acquisition of this very knowledge by studying educational materials.

• Participate in QA Bootcamp

  Bootcamp is a format of educational programs that usually last about several months and are dedicated to training IT professionals in various fields. Participation in such a program will help you quickly and effectively prepare for work as a QA engineer, especially if you already have a theoretical background and / or experience in programming and development. In addition, participation in the QA Bootcamp should help you become part of the crowd and get contacts that will be useful when looking for a job.

• Internship

  Well, another fairly effective way to master all the intricacies of working in QA can be an internship in one of the companies that are engaged in software development and have a solid professional reputation. In the same few months, specialists working in this field can learn not only theory, but also the practical features of the profession, which are not discussed during training.

QA engineer tools

In their work, depending on the tasks and specialization, “cueyists” have to use a fairly wide range of tools. Let's briefly go through the most popular categories of QA engineer working tools.

1. Manual testing tools

   So-called manual testers, i.e. specialists who test and find errors manually, relying on human perception, must use a whole set of tools, not counting mobile and desktop operating systems and browsers, in which the program must be tested separately.

• Test management tools (TMTs)

  Test management tools are designed to organize the process of finding bugs, to facilitate the creation and storage of reports and other documentation. Among the most popular TMTs are: Test Manager, SpiraTest, HP-ALM (QC) and others.

• Defect tracking tools or DTTs

  With DTTs, QA engineers track down defects found in a program and generate bug reports to report to the development team. Examples of popular defect management tools: BugZilla, Mantis, IBM Rational ClearQuest.

• Project management tools

  Project management tools, which are ubiquitous in Agile projects and include a set of standard features such as time tracking, task lists, wiki documentation, etc., should also be known to QA specialists. Jira is considered to be the most popular project management tool. Popular alternatives include Redmine, YouTrack, and Backlog.

• MS Excel and SQL clients

  MS Excel is still quite widely used to describe the results of large-scale testing and then import them into testing process management tools. A more convenient and modern alternative to MS Excel is Test Studio. SQL clients are used when a QA engineer needs to connect to a database.

2. Automated testing tools

   QA automation engineer is another basic specialty that is an integral part of the QA engineer profession. Unlike a “manual engineer,” who tests products manually, a QA automator writes scripts to automatically test programs and verify the results of such testing. Accordingly, QA-automators use their own tools in their work.

   • Test Automation Tools

     The most popular test automation tools are: Selenium, TestComplete, Katalon Studio and Ranorex.

   • Automated testing frameworks

     Instead of building complex automation frameworks from scratch, QA automators can also use ready-made libraries such as Serenity (a Java-based framework), Cypress, RedwoodHQ, and a number of others.

   • IDE for programming

     VSCode, Visual Studio, IntelliJ IDEA and more.

   • CI/CD tools

     Jenkins, TeamCity, Gitlab CE and others.

Opinions, advice and insights from experienced

And finally, a few quotes from experienced QA engineers with honest opinions about the advantages and disadvantages of this profession, as well as advice based on personal experience. “You need to understand that working in QA/software testing gets boring pretty quickly for many people. After some, quite a short time, she ceases to offer complex tasks that require training and self-development. Another point worth mentioning is that 95% of QA engineers (not counting manual testers and QA analysts) earn much less money, although they perform the same complexity, and sometimes more complex tasks, as employees in the positions of Dev and DevOps. The salary gap is huge and I don't think it's fair,” said Charitha Kankanamge, Software Quality Manager at Amazon. “QA positions can be good or bad depending on how seriously the company takes bugs and flaws in the software. Companies that make mission-critical programs that often affect people's lives, of course, take bugs in their products very seriously and invest heavily in finding them. Working in such companies is a good QA position. Companies that strive to release their products and updates as soon as possible because they have new features and capabilities already advertised to users and promised to customers tend to neglect QA, allowing users to find errors themselves. These are bad QA positions. Avoid working for companies that are short-term, profit-driven, don't care about specifications, and don't value QA. Alas, most of them are now,” said Brad Harrison, an experienced developer and author of programming tutorials. “A good QA engineer should be a developer-programmer, more precisely understand the specifics of this work, not necessarily at the deepest level. My advice for a career in QA is to find your niche. For example, I have chosen for myself the niche of working with operating systems, especially mobile and open operating systems. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical. most of them now,” said Brad Harrison, an experienced developer and author of programming tutorials. “A good QA engineer should be a developer-programmer, more precisely understand the specifics of this work, not necessarily at the deepest level. My advice for a career in QA is to find your niche. For example, I have chosen for myself the niche of working with operating systems, especially mobile and open operating systems. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical. most of them now,” said Brad Harrison, an experienced developer and author of programming tutorials. “A good QA engineer should be a developer-programmer, more precisely understand the specifics of this work, not necessarily at the deepest level. My advice for a career in QA is to find your niche. For example, I have chosen for myself the niche of working with operating systems, especially mobile and open operating systems. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical. ” said Brad Harrison, an experienced developer and author of programming tutorials. “A good QA engineer should be a developer-programmer, more precisely understand the specifics of this work, not necessarily at the deepest level. My advice for a career in QA is to find your niche. For example, I have chosen for myself the niche of working with operating systems, especially mobile and open operating systems. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical. ” said Brad Harrison, an experienced developer and author of programming tutorials. “A good QA engineer should be a developer-programmer, more precisely understand the specifics of this work, not necessarily at the deepest level. My advice for a career in QA is to find your niche. For example, I have chosen for myself the niche of working with operating systems, especially mobile and open operating systems. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical. Experienced developer and author of programming tutorials. “A good QA engineer should be a developer-programmer, more precisely understand the specifics of this work, not necessarily at the deepest level. My advice for a career in QA is to find your niche. For example, I have chosen for myself the niche of working with operating systems, especially mobile and open operating systems. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical. Experienced developer and author of programming tutorials. “A good QA engineer should be a developer-programmer, more precisely understand the specifics of this work, not necessarily at the deepest level. My advice for a career in QA is to find your niche. For example, I have chosen for myself the niche of working with operating systems, especially mobile and open operating systems. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical. better understand the specifics of this work, not necessarily at the deepest level. My advice for a career in QA is to find your niche. For example, I have chosen for myself the niche of working with operating systems, especially mobile and open operating systems. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical. better understand the specifics of this work, not necessarily at the deepest level. My advice for a career in QA is to find your niche. For example, I have chosen for myself the niche of working with operating systems, especially mobile and open operating systems. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical. But at the same time, remember that QA is a very, very vast area, so you should not get hung up only on your niche. Read and learn as much as you can, strive to master knowledge in all areas of QA, such as test automation, development and test management, etc. This is the key to success,” advises Brendan Donegan, QA Engineer at Canonical.