QA Engineer - what does it mean? Pros and cons of the speci alty

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

If you are interested in new IT professions for making money, you need to know that a QA Engineer is a specialist who participates in software testing at a time when the official version has not yet been published. It depends on how the application will be convenient to use immediately after it gets to users. This specialist develops and implements technologies that allow you to avoid malfunctions and bugs so that the software product does not need to be improved.

Features of the profession

Some believe that QA Engineer is a modified name for the software tester profession. It should be noted that these are 2 different speci alties. Testers are hired to find faults or vulnerabilities in a program once it's been built. QA Engineer is a member of the original team, who, along with designers and programmers, works on the appearance and functionality of the product. This specialist introduces options for testing the system, as well as its individual components, in order toensure high quality finished work.

One of the activities of QA is Quality Control - this is a focus on the final quality of the product, as well as each of its individual elements. That is, not QA, but QC Engineer is involved not only in product testing, but also in the process of working with its results. The tasks of such workers include the search for shortcomings, classification, and their elimination. These specialists can deal with the correction of software elements both independently and delegate authority to other employees.

A software tester has a narrower range of responsibilities. Its task is to try to use the program or individual elements after creation in order to identify errors. The tester writes down any shortcomings and comments and passes them to the team, while he does not develop further steps to eliminate bugs.

The difference between a tester and a QA Engineer is that the former only determines the presence and type of problems, while the task of the latter is to prevent them at the application development stage. Having received additional education, a tester can retrain as a QA Engineer, but for this it is necessary to study a lot of additional information. By opening QA Engineer jobs, firms hope to get a specialist who is not limited to software testing, but is able to improve its development process for other employees and the end user.

Division of responsibilities

Ifwork is underway on a large project, they rarely hire one QA Engineer. Usually the functions of this speci alty are performed by several people. Depending on the duties, their positions are divided into several types.

Test Analyst

Performs seemingly simple but responsible work, on which further testing processes depend. This specialist is engaged in the analysis of the requirements on which they are based when evaluating the effectiveness and correcting the product.

Test Designer

Performs work that depends on the activities of the previous specialist. Focusing on the requirements, this employee creates algorithms, as well as schemes for further testing products.

Test Executor

Performs the main practical task: testing. Noting any errors, he necessarily points them out and passes them on to the developers. The tasks of this specialist include not only an indication of the identified problems, but also their detailed description, taking into account the order of their actions when working in the system.

Test Manager

Participates in the process of all testing work. Initially, his opinion is taken into account when planning the requirements for testing algorithms, then this employee regularly oversees the speed and correctness of the testing process. Also, the tasks of the manager include communication with other employees who are involved in the work, including the organizers of a particular project and the owners of the company.

Prestige of the profession

Some say that a QA Engineer is not as skilled as a programmer. This opinion is wrong.

QA Engineers can not only analyze the software already created by the programmer for errors and shortcomings, but also make their own adjustments. The tasks of these specialists include not only knowledge of all the processes that programmers carry out. But also an understanding of a systematic approach in development. The level of qualification requirements is not always limited to the standard set, therefore, in some cases, wider knowledge is required than that of a technical specialist of one profile.

How to become a QA Engineer?

To become a QA Engineer and get a job, you need to learn the main programming languages, as well as understand the design of databases. It is important to get a general idea of the stages of software development, but the main emphasis should be on testing.

To master the basic information, you can use foreign literature from open sources. Having memorized professional terminology, many beginners start by using websites and applications for their own needs, trying to notice all the shortcomings.

If you want to increase your chances during the interview, as well as to improve your skills, you can take a special course in this speci alty.

Some of the qualities and skills inherent in a talented QA Engineer have something in common with the following professions:

1. Developer. Know programming languages, understand well what frameworks exist in the implementation of various ideas.
2. Business analyst. Understand the market, be able to imagine what audience will use the finished product.
3. Project manager. Analyze not only individual elements, but also the project as a whole, its profitability, the feasibility of certain functions.
4. User. Have extensive experience in using similar programs, understand what is important for a person and why software similar to the software being developed is usually required.

Career Steps

Many people think that QA Engineer is not a serious enough profession, because universities do not have such a direction. In fact, a person with a specialization in QA Engineer has a large selection of vacancies, as well as the opportunity to move up the career ladder.

Skill levels indicated in vacancies:

1. Trainee is a novice specialist who does not always meet the qualification requirements.
2. Junior QA Engineer - a junior specialist who has been working in the speci alty for about six months. Not only experience is important, but also the acquisition of additional skills that can be mastered in the process of conducting various projects. The position of Junior QA Engineer can be applied for by a person who understands the meaning of the words test plan, test step, test design, Definition of Done, knows the basic principles of working with databases.
3. Middle QA - an employee with a good level of knowledge, havingover a year of active experience. Such a specialist should be able to work completely independently, as well as provide advice to younger employees.
4. Senior QA has the highest qualifications. He gets the most difficult tasks. Such a specialist should have a multifaceted education and understand related areas, learn the maximum number of types of testing.

You can also highlight the specialization of QA Automation Engineer. The tasks of this specialist include the independent development of automatic scripts that carry out most of the testing processes without human intervention. Usually programmers master this profession by receiving additional education.

If you think that QA Engineer is an easy or low-skilled profession, you need to consider that such an opinion is not true. This specialization is prestigious and requires many months of preparation, an analytical mindset, a good memory and the ability to communicate with people, since a QA Engineer interacts with almost the entire team during the development of a new project. To climb the career ladder, in the future you can retrain as a programmer or business analyst.