July 12, 2024

Software testing is a very important aspect of the software development process.

Every software application undergoes thorough and rigorous testing before being released into the market. Software Testing refers to checking the functionality or features of the software application as per customer requirements. It also refer to checking the performance, security, and stability of the application to ensure that the application performs as per customer expectations. Software testing can be done manually which involves human efforts as well as through automation involving the usage of automation scripts. It is the duty of software testers as well as developers to ensure that good quality software applications are delivered as per the customer’s requirements and expectations.

There are various reasons for IT engineers to choose software testing as a Career path. Some of the reasons are mentioned below.

Participation in Delivery of Quality Software: The aim of software testing is to ensure the removal of maximum defects so that a good quality product is delivered to the customers in short period of time resulting in higher customer satisfaction. So software testers work in a team with various members like developers, design architects product managers or business analysts as well as end users to ensure that software meets the requirements of customers as well as organizations.
Continuous opportunities for learning: Since customers’ as well as organizations’ requirements keep on changing with time, software applications also keep on changing to meet the requirements. Due to the changes, new testing tools and techniques are being developed. Testers get chances to learn about the new testing tools and techniques which enhances their skills and keep them updated with the latest trends.
Conducive environment for Team Work: Software testers perform their tasks in alliance with different team members like developers, design engineers, and Business analysts thus providing a healthy environment for teamwork which increases their analytical as well as communication skills.
Better growth and High job security: Due to the high dependence on technologies among customers for the fulfillment of daily tasks, there is a huge demand for skilled software testers in organizations resulting in better growth and high job security in the testing domain.
Great user experience: Testers provide good quality of software applications to end users by removing most of the defects from the software resulting in a great user experience.
Mobile Application Tester: Mobile application testers ensure that all the applications present in mobile perform as per customer requirements so that the customers are able to perform their real-life tasks with the help of mobile applications. Mobile testers make use of tools like Appium for the smooth testing of mobile applications.

The various roles and responsibilities of software testers are:

Understanding of customer requirements for which software is to be made.
Assisting the QA Managers in preparing the test plan.
Identifying and Documenting the scenarios to be tested.
Writing test cases for every test scenario.
Sending test cases for review and then updating test cases based on review comments received.
Storing the test cases in test case management tools like test rail.
Preparing a document consisting of all test scenarios and test cases.
Executing the test cases after receiving approval from the QA Manager.
Tracking the defects using defect tracking tools like JIRA, ALM
Documenting the test defects that are tracked and reporting them to development teams.
Participating in daily stand-up meetings.
Using various tools for performance testing efficiently.

The various skills that software testers need to possess are as follows:

Analytical skills: Testers should have great analytical skills which is necessary for testing software applications having complex functionalities as well as to raise any issue arising in these functionalities. Analytical skills also help testers assign the severity and priority of the defects raised to the developer.
Ability to perform exploratory testing: Whenever testers find difficulty in understanding the requirements or the requirements are not present, they perform exploratory testing. Exploratory testing refers to exploring the application thoroughly to understand the requirements and after that doing the test case execution to test the functionalities of the application. So testers should possess the skill of performing exploratory testing for rigorous testing of the application as well as to find out the uncovered test scenarios and defects that were not covered through normal test cases.
Attention to every detail: Testers should pay proper attention to every detail to ensure that each and every functionality of software application is thoroughly tested and that any defects arising in the functionalities are immediately raised and fixed.
Better adaptability: As the world progresses customers’ and organizations’ demands and requirements keep on changing. As a result, new technologies and tools keep on developing. So software testers should adapt themselves to the development of new technologies and tools as well as have proper knowledge in the usage of those tools required for efficiently testing the software applications.
Better technical skills: A good software tester should have proper technical knowledge about the testing tools and techniques used thus ensuring effective testing of applications. For example, for testing mobile applications testers should have thorough knowledge of the methodologies and tools involved in mobile testing. Similarly for API testing testers should know about APIs and its usages.

Software testing has proven to be a great career choice for IT professionals.

It provides a lot of job opportunities in different designations based on the skills and experience possessed by the IT engineers which are as follows:

QA Analyst: The prime focus of the QA Analyst is to test the functionalities of software applications through manual and automation testing techniques as per customer requirements as well as to detect the presence of defects in the software application before the final release of the application in the market.

Automation Tester: The Roles and responsibilities of automation testers involve writing automation scripts using different tools like Selenium, Tosca, and frameworks like TestNG, Cucumber as well as executing those test scripts in different browsers and operating systems so as to detect the presence of defects and checking whether the application performs as expected. This designation of software testing saves time and energy compared to manual testing since multiple test cases are executed through automation scripts in a short span of time . Automation testers also play a crucial role in the Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment(CI/CD) process.

Performance Tester: Performance testers check the performance of the application which involves checking the stability and response time of the application by applying the load either more or less than the required number of users. They also check the scalability of the application which involves testing the stability and response time by applying continuous load for a specific time period.

Web Security Tester: Web Security Testers check the extent to which the application is secured such that any sensitive details associated with the application are not revealed to third-party users. Web security testers use tools like Burp Suite to check the security of software application. It also has been proven to be one of the most critical designations in software testing as the security of software is the most important aspect of software development.

QA manager: QA manager is one of the seniormost designations in Software Testing. His roles and responsibilities become important in the entire software development and testing process. His work includes hiring the resources, Ensuring a proper test environment, preparing test plan documents, doing test cases approval before test execution as well as discussing with all stakeholders in deciding the software release date.

Mobile Application Tester: Mobile application testers ensure that all the applications present in mobile perform as per customer requirements so that the customers are able to perform their real-life tasks with the help of mobile applications. Mobile testers make use of tools like Appium for the smooth testing of mobile applications.

Software testing has been a great career choice for IT engineers. No matter how great an application’s code or source code is written, the quality standard of the application cannot be guaranteed unless testing is done. Without software testing, applications will be of very poor quality resulting in customer dissatisfaction thereby affecting the reputation of the organization. Due to the rapid development of technologies and tools as well as changes in customers’ needs and expectations, software testing has become the most important field in the IT sector thus providing better career opportunities and stable jobs.

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