A lot of people have doubts about software testing careers. Rather I would say students who either want to start their career into testing or the ones who are already in testing and thinking to have a future of it.
Even when I have started my career years back, I had a few questions, and being in the testing industry I am getting all my answers. I have gone through over the internet as well and try to collect the answers, somehow everything is scattered, and thought to bring all of them on the same page. So here I thought to share with you the same with this article.
What testing and software testing?
Testing means experiments. We are experimenting based on some predefined parameters.
When we purchase an electric light, we verify in the shop if it is working or not. We are validating whether the electric light is working or not.
“Every time you are validating something based on some parameters is called testing.”
Software testing is the process of making software perfect by ensuring user/customer expectations are getting fulfilled. Anything we find improper which is not meeting with user/customer expectations or area of improvement can be considered a bug or defect.
“To tell somebody that they are wrong is called criticism. To do so officially is called testing.”
Importance of software testing:
Testing is not all about just finding the defects, defects are a byproduct of testing. Testing is about looking for unknowns, adding value to the business, collaborating with developers, stakeholders, customers, etc., and providing valuable suggestions.
EX. 1 Chandrayaan-2 was a failure because of software failure. Vikram lander was unable to analyze the moon’s surface and it lost control. Because of which it was got hard landed and also got crashed.
EX. 2 Due to heavy traffic, the Flipkart website got crashed during the big billion-day sale in 2014. Flipkart apologised for the issue and it resulted in the cancellation of orders and late deliveries.
Whenever any software fails, we lost money, we lost time, and most importantly trust from the people.
“Testing adds value to the business. It makes software better and more usable. So, we should feel proud as a tester.”
Skills required for testing:
Soft Skills:
Good Observation: When we start observing closely, we start getting involved in the depth and we will be able to make it better.
Thinking: We have to change our mindset with every software we test. Every software may be used by a different set of people. When we start thinking from the customer perspective, sales team, developer, we will be to cover all different corners.
“Do not think out of the box, just think there is no box.”
Analytical and Problem solving: When we can analyze the problem and we will get the reason behind it and then we will come to know how we can overcome it. We are not only improving quality but also helping the team to solve the problem.
Patience: Being a tester, we always need to do repetitive tasks until quality or expectations are achieved. We have to keep patience and always focus on better quality of the product.
Communication: Testers deal with different team members like developers, managers, and sometimes clients too. Good verbal and written communication skills will help testers to communicate the defect properly so that it can be accepted and get it fixed asap.
Honesty: You should be honest with yourself. You do not have to be afraid of anybody. Accept what you do not know and start learning. Always ask, will you be happy with the work done by you?
Technical Skills:
Any programming language knowledge will always be an added advantage in software testing. Rather than stick to one language, get the basics clear so that you can switch the language at any point. Every company works on different technologies and different tools, so it is better to have basics clear and modify yourself as per requirement.
Basic knowledge of SQL will be helpful to grow into a testing career. You can always double cross-check issues not only from the UI but also from the database side.
Hands-on Microsoft Excel is also helpful. Most organizations still use Microsoft Excel for test case writing, defect reporting, and creating reports.
Role & Responsibilities of testers:
- Understand the requirement, ask questions, and get it cleared.
- Identifying test scenarios and test case writing.
- Perform the testing on the application.
- Defect reporting.
- Retesting application for fixed issues.
Career opportunities in software testing:
There are many and different career opportunities in software testing, with our interest, we can select a career and growth into that. I have listed a few of them here.
- Mobile testing
- Game testing
- API Testing
- Database Testing
- Security Testing
- Performance Testing
- Automation Testing
Apart from these, can also work as a freelancer QA part-time or full time. Testers can also play different roles: QA Coach, BA, domain expert, community leader, etc.
Career Advice:
Before applying for a job, do not have one generic CV for all job requirements. Always have multiple versions of CV and apply to job description or modify CV according to the job description and highlight skills as well.
Always fine-tune CV and only have relevant information into it.
If you are experienced and found yourself stuck into a single skill or you are not doing something new, you can always start learning new at any time. There are so many things to learn about testing. You do not always need any real-time project work to start testing. You can pick up any mobile application from your mobile or you can pick up any website and start testing on it. You can automate any website or any small functionality from the website just to check your skills. You can also perform security testing to check the vulnerability.
Closing Note:
I have been into software testing for a decade now. I started my career as an Intern, and I have written my first test case on a media player. The journey is still continuing.
Testing adds value to the business. It makes software better and more usable for the users. So, we should feel proud as a tester.
As long as you create something and desire for quality, you will need testing.
Do not stop yourself limited to a single skill set rather keep update yourself with market demands. Here are some of my personal suggestions which also help me grow in my career.
1. Always have a mentor in life who is going to help you in your life and career.
2. Attend software testing events like meetups, webinars, conferences, hackathons, etc.
3. Join different communities on social network platforms which help you to keep updated yourself with the market situation. Here are a few of them which I do follow personally The Test Tribe, Testing Tech News, The Test Chat, Agile Testing Alliance, Ministry Of Testing, Test Masters Academy, etc.
4. Keep yourself update with market situations. Some of the YouTube channels which will help you increase your knowledge are Automation Step by Step – Raghav Pal, Naveen Automation Labs, Durga Software Solutions for Java, The Test Chat, The Test Tribe, QA-QC Arena, QAFox, etc.
5. Some of the online learning resources are Test automation University, Progate, w3schools, Udemy, etc.
6. Start building a professional network and connect with the right people.
I hope the article will be helpful to you. If you have any doubts, I will be happy to help you. Together we grow and build a community.
All the best for your career! Keep Learning! Keep Testing!
“The value of testing is right information is conveyed to the right person in the right way.”
About the Author:
Jayesh Wankhade | Lead QA Engineer
This is Jayesh Ravishankar Wankhade basically from Warora, Maharashtra. I am currently working with Softronics Development LLP Ahmedabad. I have been graduated from Nagpur University and then started career into software testing. I love to express my feelings in words. love to write, love to play guitar, love to guide people and help needy ones. I have already started working on QA community called “QA TIMES” along with my friend Jugal and the community is going to be helpful for testers.
You can connect with me & read my thoughts here:
