The Software testers don't like to break things; they like to dispel the illusion that things work. It is a new dictum contained in the famous book, Lessons Learned in Software Testing, written by Kaner, Bach, Pettichord. Software testing is a system performed by a tester to find and fix bugs in a computer application or program. Software testing validates the application, program, application or product. Gerald Weinberg, computer scientist and tester had exhorted us to learn something new every day. Learning every day means you are testing.
It is critical for you to learn new things and update yourself in technical skills. Unless you do it, you will become redundant.The U S A is a huge market for Testing jobs and QA (Quality analyst) jobs. LinkedIn cites 112000 such jobs. The average pay a Manual QA Tester gets annually is around $ 79000. A software tester need to possess specific technical skills. Here are the most valuable ten skills:
1. Awareness of SDLC
SDLC (software development life cycle) defines actions you have to perform at each stage of the development of software. Testers and QAs should strive to achieve product lifecycle management skills. It will enable them to comprehend the application improvement issues.Then you can have a plan for testing cycles. It will help the quality analyst to suspect defects in the application.Testers should grasp a few development methods, like Scrum, Waterfall and Agile.
2. STLC skills
STLC stands for Product Testing Life Cycle.
STLC is a procedure to improve the overall product quality. It is a group of procedures done by the software testers from the start to completion. It includes steps such as analysis of requirements, grouping, test planning, test case, setting up an ecosystem, doing tests, and closing the cycle.
3. Bug Reporting Tools
Bug reporting is the prime responsibility of a tester. He should be aware of different testing techniques and applications of tools. The tools are white box, black box, security and unit testing. Many bug reporting tools such as bug tracking, test management, GUI testing, and automation tools are available.
4.Get Techniques of Automation
Relying on manual testing alone will help in executing the job well. Testers should have automation skills for testing browser compatibility, performance, headless, and database and integration layers. It imparts higher accuracy. Several test automation tools are there to support different testing types.
5. Communicate Better
As a tester, you should have good communication skills. Here it refers to good speaking, writing, listening, and reading skills. Quality analysts should communicate effectively with clients at all stages: updating the project's status, informing requirements to the team, passing on issues to the developers, translating specification documents to test cases, and preparing reports. Good communication helps in high degree of comprehension.
6. Logical, Analytical Thinking
A software tester identifies bugs with rationales in the code. Your analytical thinking capabilities ensure that you are thinking out of the box. It should result in the creation of various test cases. Logical thinking helps you understand all Dos and Don't s when you test as an end client. You have to apply a vivid range of prospects. Your analytical skills and logical thinking make the product strong.
7. Project Management
Testing skills alone will not be sufficient in the long run. You need time and project management skills. As a QA, you should understand the process involved in the business and the overall project details. Strong problem-solving and top project management tactics will assist you in crises. Having in-depth programming talent will make you perform excellently in testing the code. If you have in-depth knowledge of the code, your contribution to the development team will be immense. You will be able to come up with ideas that will benefit the product.
8. Updating on Web & Mobile Technologies
If you are a tester, you should also get updated with the current web and portable innovations. It helps you comprehend its scalability. Every software tester should be aware of the progress in web/mobile technology. It helps you to figure out the coding style. Yo get to know the technical challenges to achieve the required QA solutions.
9. Acquire Decision-making Skills
Analytical and decision-making skills ensure that you are capable of thinking out of the box. These skills will help break up a complex software system into smaller units to get a superior comprehension. Logical judgment plays a basic role when you are an end-user thinking of all possibilities. The goal is to make the product strong. It can be done quickly by a tester with strong decision-making skills.
10. Have Reporting Skills
An ideal tester must have good reporting skills. It helps to provide the actual condition of the project under test to clients. Your reporting needs to be self-explanatory with high quality. Such a reporting testifies to overall coordination. It will deliver transparency to the top management regarding tests executed, and bugs encountered.
Be Independent
Finally, such a process would help you to work independently. It will sharpen your ability to work on the project right from the very beginning to final delivery, taking the right steps without help from others or supervision from the top brass. Independence will instill more confidence in you.
© Ramachandran
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