Tester is a profession that will secure your future. Software Tester (SW) Where to learn to be a tester

Software tester - what kind of profession is this? What is its essence? And how relevant is it? modern world? All these questions are quite appropriate, since IT professions are among the highest paid in the labor market today. Not to mention the fact that the development of such specialties provides a person with a stable future.

Software tester: what is it

Today the majority electronic devices works correctly only thanks to the programs built into them. They are written by programmers of all stripes and levels of training. And believe me, their number is truly breathtaking. So, more than one thousand programs are created every day: from simple calculators to artificial intelligence for high-tech machines.

And, as in any production, the product cannot be released to the masses without first checking it for defects. So, software tester ( software) is a person who is engaged in field testing programs. At the same time, he can be either a full-time employee of the company, or a freelancer working for himself.

Why software testers are needed

When creating programs, various programming languages ​​are used. It can be C++, JavaScript, Python, and so on. After the product is completed, the author himself checks it first. But, since he is the creator of the program, he cannot always objectively assess the quality of the goods received. Not to mention that he may simply not have enough time to modulate all possible ways its application.

And just at this stage, the software tester comes into play. It is he who takes care of all the operations associated with checking a new application. At the same time, unlike the programmer, the tester does not have access to the program code. That is, he experiences the application as a simple user and is only occasionally endowed with special privileges.

Key Responsibilities of a Software Tester

A software tester is a profession that requires a thorough approach to business. Here you can’t work half-heartedly, as this will certainly affect the reputation of a specialist. As for the duties themselves, they consist of the following points:

1. Create a test plan. The software tester must think through all the use cases for the application in advance and recreate them. Moreover, the more experienced the specialist, the faster he can determine the most dangerous factors for the operation of the application.
2. software, through special automated tools. Like any other master, the tester has his own devices for optimizing and speeding up work. They are universal and, nevertheless, require preliminary development and practice.
3. Competent and systematized description of the problems and shortcomings found. The bottom line is that it's not enough to just spot a bug. In addition, you need to be able to correctly write a work protocol so that the programmer can understand what caused the failure and what part of his application is to blame for this.

It should be noted that quite often testers are combined into small groups. First of all, this is necessary in order to speed up the check or make it better. In this case, the work can be evenly distributed among all specialists. For example, some will be busy with the application interface, the second will look for errors in the calculations, and the third will simulate the most dangerous scenarios for the program.

Profession training

Anyone who is good "friends" with the exact sciences can become a software tester. Ideally, it is better to have a programmer's education, or at least understand the basics of writing applications. Based on this, this specialty is well suited for those who study in IT specialties. Firstly, it will help you gain experience and look at the work of other people, and secondly, it will bring additional income, which is also not bad.

However, it is possible to become a software tester without specialized education. In other words, learn everything on your own. Fortunately, today this is not a problem, since there are many educational courses on the network that can clearly demonstrate all the subtleties of this work.

In addition, you can try your luck and try to get into the prepared seminars that are held in many organizations that produce software. For example, GlobalLogic periodically conducts training courses specifically for software testers. Moreover, after graduating from them, a person can become one of her employees, and then start working in her state or remotely as a freelancer.

What skills should a self-respecting specialist have?

A software tester without experience can find a job, but a specialist who does not know the basics - never. However, what are they, the basics of the profession? What kind of knowledge base should every self-respecting tester have?

• Firstly, such a specialist must be familiar with the basics of programming in order to be able to compete in the labor market.
• Secondly, you will have to remember the principles of building software and administering the OS.
• Third, learn how to work with common databases.
• Fourthly, to learn a special language, which today is indispensable.

In addition, the tester must have a good command of English, as it is dominant in the programming world. Moreover, over time, you will have to bring it to the ideal level, as well as to study all the subtleties of the technical style.

Development of practical skills

Even if a software tester without work experience is quite a common occurrence, it is unlikely that such a specialist will be hired for a decent project. Therefore, having studied the basics of the profession, you should start developing practical skills and positive feedback.

To do this, you need to go to one of the sites that provide work for freelancers. Every day, more than a dozen suggestions related to checking the health of applications are posted there. At the same time, there are many orders for beginners who do not require work experience or special programming skills.

Thus, in a month or two, you can make good progress in your business and earn some reputation. The only negative is that such orders are often poorly paid. But you will have to come to terms with this, since in the future such deprivations will be able to bring much more profitable orders, which will more than pay off the efforts spent.

Where to look for a profitable job

So, let's say you are already an experienced software tester: where to start looking for a promising job? Well, the first thing to do is to look at the ads on online labor exchanges and programmer forums. Periodically there are good propositions able to generate a stable income.

However, don't rely on luck alone. If you also have a good resume, then you can submit several applications to an IT company. Management loves motivated professionals, and therefore, such an initiative can bear fruit. Especially if you aim at those companies that produce high-quality software.

If you are unlucky with a permanent place at this stage, then you can become a freelancer. A well-proven software tester working remotely from home is able to earn no less than a full-time colleague. The only difference is that instead of one employer, he will have several.

Pros and cons of the profession

For those who love and modern technologies, this profession will seem very exciting and interesting. After all, every day you will have to deal with a new product that will soon be able to radically change the world of information technology. In addition, the work is considered very prestigious and excludes any physical activity.

Also, many are pleased with the fact that given profession equally well suited for both men and women. Moreover, it can be for those who, due to health problems, cannot get a harder job.

However, there are also disadvantages. Chief among them is high competition caused by a shortage of high-paying orders. You should also pay attention to the fact that the software tester spends a lot of time at the computer. At the same time, he does not just sit behind him, but is completely absorbed in what is happening on the monitor. Because of this, over the years, vision problems can occur, which is extremely unpleasant.

Salary

It is quite difficult to derive the arithmetic mean salary of a software tester. This is due to the fact that it depends on how lucky the specialist is. So, you can take one order for 10 thousand rubles and do it in a week, or you can get a job for 20 thousand rubles and not overcome it in a whole month.

And yet, we can say with confidence that the income of a novice tester varies between 10-15 thousand rubles per month. An experienced specialist can earn the same money twice as fast. A staff member a prestigious company and receives about 40-45 thousand rubles at all.

August 1, 2018

Have you heard a lot about testing and are you trying on the opportunity to work in this area? But you still don't quite understand what you have to work with?

In this article, we will tell you who a tester is, what a software tester does and what work tasks he faces.

What does a Testing Specialist do?

New programs are constantly appearing on the IT market, designed to simplify and improve people's lives.

And such products must be quality tested before they become available to the end user.

The quality of the product and, as a result, the success of the project on the market depends on the tester. Who will use the application if it is not able to perform even basic functions?

Therefore, the tester is the link between the developer and the end user and is responsible for the complete verification of the software product. And he does this not only in order to find and document all possible defects.

In addition to searching for errors, the tester in practice checks the performance of the entire functionality of the program. You need to make sure that the simplest actions of users do not cause failures.

The main responsibilities of a software tester include:

• Writing test cases and checklists.

They are the backbone of professional tester documentation. Test cases contain a sequence of steps to test the operation of the entire system, and checklists describe what needs to be tested.

• Run the required set of tests.

Depending on the tasks set, the testing specialist decides which types of tests to apply.

• Documentation and analysis of found defects.

When a bug is found, it needs to be described. This is done so that the software developer can quickly understand in which part of the program code the error lies. Now testers submit all bugs to bug tracking systems, such as JIRA or TestRail. For more detailed description errors, you can attach screenshots of screens or videos.

• Control over the elimination of errors by developers.

Another step is to control the elimination of all found errors. In the bug tracking system, each bug is assigned a severity gradation (from trivial to blocking) and a status according to the stage of the bug's life cycle (from new to closed).

In the process of controlling the elimination of defects, the tester ensures that the software developer eliminates all errors in a timely manner and makes appropriate marks in the system.

• Development of automated tests.

To speed up testing, not manual, but automated tests can be used. In such cases, the tester writes the test code and runs it. And the program automatically performs thousands of necessary checks, while saving time for the tester.

However, a novice specialist will not have to perform such tasks, they are included in the area of ​​​​responsibility. However, for a faster career development, you can start learning the basics of a particular programming language.

What does it take to become a tester?

Despite the relative youth of the tester profession (no more than 20 years), today a set of requirements has been formed that are needed to start.

Firstly, in order to successfully cope with work tasks, a tester must have strong theoretical and practical skills.

In addition, it is necessary to possess a number of specific qualities. For example, natural curiosity, attention to detail, perseverance, distrust and the desire to constantly double-check yourself.

Another important point is the desire to contribute to the development of new technologies. For example, now in the IT market, the emphasis is on process automation. And testers master new aspects for themselves, for example, programming languages.

Thus, the tester also has to follow the development of new technologies in order to contribute to their promotion.

What are the types of software testing?

To understand what you would like to do, first you need to familiarize yourself with what types of testing exist.

All types of testing are divided into two groups:

• Functional (checks how well the system performs its functions, if at all).
• Non-functional (testing the overall readiness of the system to work, checking everything that may relate to user experience, for example, load testing, security testing).

In addition to types, in testing there are also levels that show what is being worked on: on the system as a whole or on only one specific component.

In total there are four such levels: unit testing, integration, system and acceptance.

Test case example for beginners

To actually see what a tester does, let's look at a small practical task.

You need to test the registration form in social network LinkedIn.

The first thing to do is open the site. The registration form looks like this:

First, you need to check that all fields are required. To do this, without filling anything, click the "Join" button. The form immediately gives an error and highlights in red those fields that need to be filled. In our case, everything:

Immediately there was a warning that the password is too short.

The form requires you to enter real data. However, this condition applies only to the first name; there is not a word about the last name in the text of the form.

Immediately check the form for incorrect input of only the last name. As a result, an error message appears. Thus, we see that individually the form reacts to incorrect input of the first or last name. But if both fields are filled incorrectly, the error applies only to the name.

Why is this happening? Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that the form only validates the first field in the code. Or you can talk about not quite correct localization. After all, the application was originally written for English-speaking users. In English, the name and surname can be rendered as name and last name. And in Russian they could leave only the translation of the name.

Such a defect can be characterized as insignificant (minor), and it refers to the user interface.

Checks for entering incorrect characters must be carried out for all fields.

The form accepted this address and initiated a security check. The address was entered correctly, the structure is respected, the symbol "@" is present.

Thus, we tested the registration form for a social network and, in parallel, found an insignificant defect in the user interface. Recall that if data is entered incorrectly in the fields "First Name" and "Last Name", the form asks to correctly fill in only the first name. The error is not critical, but the user may not immediately notice that both fields need to be corrected, and not just one.

Outcome

Do you want to learn how to accurately recognize defects, document them correctly and learn how to perform the main tasks of a tester? Well "» from QA Academy will help you immerse yourself in the profession, try your hand at practice, and most importantly, take the first step up the career ladder.

After all good specialist for software testing will always be in demand both at home and abroad. Dare!

In this article, we will introduce you to such a profession as a software tester (or tester). Let's talk about the relevance of this profession, about the knowledge that you need to have in order to become a tester. Also about ways of learning, if such knowledge is not enough. And, of course, about the very specifics of the work. So, if this interests you, let's move on.

Who is a Software Tester?

Now the IT-sphere is rapidly developing, gaining momentum. People going to work in this area do not always reasonably assess their capabilities. Still, this is also work, and special skills are also needed here. So, before you frantically search for vacancies, let's figure out what a tester does in general and what you need to know.

A tester is a specialist who must check newly developed programs for their performance, identify errors and pass them on to programmers for correction.

Depending on the company the tester works for, the employee's responsibilities may include various tasks. The wider the range of skills, the more high paying job can find the tester. Consider its main responsibilities.

• development of plans and testing methods;
• simulation of situations that may be encountered during the operation of the software
• direct testing of the developed software;
• filling out documentation based on testing;
• analysis and classification of detected errors;
• control of the error correction process;
• compilation of a report;
• communication with the developer;
• counseling clients.

• he must be able to organize his work in accordance with the requirements;
• the tester must confidently work with a PC;
• The skill of working with documentation will not be superfluous, since it will need to be filled out on the basis of each test;
• you need to be able to write the so-called bug or defect reports - documents that describe the situation that led to an error in the program, indicate the reasons and the expected result;
• you also need to be able to describe the verification process itself or, in other words, the steps necessary for verification, that is, create test cases;
• knowledge will have a positive effect on job search in English;
  This factor plays an important role in many professions today.
• the tester should preferably be able to work with HTML (Internet Markup Language) / CSS (Description Language appearance document), XML (also a document markup language along with HTML), and SQL (a programming language used to manage databases);
• the specialist should at least at a basic level be able to work with test automation, with such Silk Test or Rational Robot programs.

• curiosity, meticulousness;
• creative thinking, good imagination;
• flexibility, the ability to quickly respond to changes;
• desire and readiness to develop;
• attentiveness;
• sociability;
• stress resistance;
• efficiency;
• responsibility for the work done;
• literacy in the preparation of documentation;
• the ability to accurately and clearly express one's point of view.

Despite the fact that the profession is currently very relevant, you will not be able to find a single university where they would train specifically as a software tester. Therefore, the most basic education for a tester is self-education.

It’s good if you already have a completed technical institute with the specialty “Applied Mathematics”, “ Information Technology" or something similar. But if you studied at a humanitarian university, it is not necessary to go to get a second higher education technical education. This will take a lot of time and, in principle, is not justified.

You can learn all the subtleties of testing yourself in online courses, here are some examples:

• "Rapid testing" (R. Culbertson, K. Brown, G. Kob)
• "Software Testing" (S. Kaner, D. Falk, E. Kek Nguyen)

What makes software tester training different? You can study the theory, understand the basics of testing, and even start practicing without leaving your home. Everything is online.

Having studied the base of the tester profession, you can choose one of several profiles and specifically specialize in it:

• testing mobile applications;
• test automation;
• testing more complex systems, which are characterized by a high degree of load.

So, here you are trained as a software tester. Where to start? Of course, with a job search. The very first thing that comes to mind is a job search on platforms such as:

You can also study freelance exchanges. Here are some of them:

In almost any vacancy you will find such a requirement as work experience. But what should a software tester do without experience? Vicious circle: to find a job, you need experience; To gain experience, you need to go to work. But still there is a way out. In the following, several ways of obtaining this experience will be presented.

1. You can get a job for free on a small project. There you will be trained, which is very useful, you will try yourself in practice. Such projects usually do not require a lot of time from a specialist (about 1 hour a day), but they provide the necessary experience.
2. We ourselves every day sit on the Internet on different sites. So what's stopping you from testing these very sites? No one talks about load testing, but functional and usability testing can be done. Especially if you visit this site often, it should be easier to test it.
   If you find errors during testing, right decision will write about it to the creators of the site. Clearly and clearly describe the problems found, and put the most important ones at the beginning, ask the addressee whether you did it correctly, whether he had any questions or not. Write a letter respectfully, criticism should be constructive and directed at the site, and not at the creator.
   You might even be able to find a job this way!
3. In addition to websites, you can test mobile applications. Again, take the ones you use and look for errors, flaws. You can also send constructive feedback to app developers. If you describe everything correctly, without raids, then perhaps your feedback will be taken into account and some shortcomings will be corrected.
4. If you're having trouble finding bugs on your favorite sites, you can visit dedicated tester sites that are publicly available.

To finally understand whether to start working in this area or not, consider the main advantages and disadvantages of the software tester profession.

Advantages:

• Fast and convenient development of the specialty. It is also possible to find employment training in the company where you want to take the position of a tester.
• The ability for the tester to work remotely. This is more suitable for more experienced professionals who no longer need help.
• This job is a good start in the field of IT, which will allow you to further develop in other specialties.
• It is impossible not to say about the demand for software testers. You definitely won't be left without a job!
• Pretty high wage and the possibility of growth.
• Specialists in this field are not classified and selected by age, the existing skills and work experience are much more important here.
• It's fascinating and interesting profession which combines both creative and analytical abilities of a person.

Flaws:

• Work, especially limited by your skills and capabilities, can be monotonous and monotonous.
• Mostly sedentary lifestyle. So testers, and all other specialists working at a computer, should think about the active component of their lives.
• There is a small risk of remaining a narrow specialist, but this problem can be easily solved only by your desire to develop.

Testers are primarily in demand in large companies involved in the creation and development of software (1C, for example), computer games, mobile applications or any websites.
Such work as an android application tester is in no way inferior in terms of complexity to testing more complex systems. Everywhere has its own nuances, its own requirements.

So we got to the most pleasant. What is the salary of a software tester?

The salary of a tester directly depends on his knowledge and skills, on successfully implemented products, and on work experience. Each year of work can add about 10,000 rubles to the salary of a specialist.

A novice specialist can count on a salary of 25 to 45 thousand rubles. So, after working for 2-3 years and gaining experience, a tester can safely look for vacancies with salary about 60,000 rubles. 5 years of successful work will be able to generate income up to 150,000 rubles. per month. The main thing is the desire and willingness to learn and develop!

What conclusion can be drawn? A tester is a very popular profession that brings a good income. Yes, testing as the main task of a tester requires the necessary skills, but learning them is not so difficult. You can get training both independently in online courses, and in the company itself, first getting a job there as a tester as an intern, and then becoming the main employee.

And lawyers from Stanford

Back at school, I decided to become an investigator - I wanted to solve crimes, protect people. To do this, he studied at the Faculty of Law, underwent an internship at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and served in the army. But when I got married, I realized that I needed a quieter job - I got a job as a lawyer-contractor. In the civilian field, I achieved good results, but a year ago, the company where I worked began to reduce its staff. I quit and took a break to think about what to do next.

I planned to get additional education and return to the same field. But while choosing law courses, I came across an article on how Artificial Intelligence, who studied for only 1.5 years, beat law professors from Stanford and the University of Southern California in drafting contracts.

This news touched me - I began to study the topic and realized that additional education I have enough for 5 years, but then the automation of business processes will replace contract lawyers. I didn't want to be a chimney sweeper who was put out of a job by central heating. I began to remember what I loved to do before law.

Childhood dream - to make games

I have always been fond of computer games. First games on Dandy and Sega, then my father bought me Heroes of Might and Magic 3 - it was a revolution in my mind. Later, he began to understand development companies, singled out favorites for himself (EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard). I was very inspired by the work of Hidetaka Miyazaki and Timothy Kane.

Secretly, I always dreamed of working in game development, but I didn’t even admit it to myself until a certain time. After reading several interviews with game designers, I learned that they first worked as game testers. I realized that I would also be more comfortable entering the gaming industry through testing.

It was difficult for me to immediately start programming without a technical base, and in testing I saw a lot of understandable and vital things. Also in jurisprudence, I was engaged in similar tasks - I tested contracts with the land and property complex.

I decided to study to be a tester. At that time I was not thirty, there were no children or other obligations that would prevent me from taking a decisive step - I realized that it was time to change my life.

Support for family and colleagues

I was lucky that during the period when it was necessary to make a decision, my family supported me. The words of my wife then were very reassuring: “Now you need to choose an occupation from which your eyes will light up, and it is not necessary that it immediately generates income.”

Parents, of course, were scared at first. Their first reaction is, “Oh my God! How can you go from a lawyer to a developer? But when they understood why I want to work in and that I have a good plan, they calmed down a bit, trusted my choice.

I set aside a few months just for my studies and completed the GeekBrains "Software Tester" courses in 2.5 months. I studied from morning to evening with lunch breaks. At that time, we lived on the salary of my wife - she is a school teacher.

The main classes were held in the evenings - twice a week. On the day of the webinar, I just listened to the lecture, the next day I reviewed it, read the manual and did homework always delivered it on time. Additionally, I tracked which open lectures on testing are coming out and studied English for IT specialists. I always made a short summary of all the lectures that I watched. Later, my notes were very useful - when you go to an interview and are worried, you are unlikely to sit down to review lectures or re-read long articles, and it is very convenient to go over the notes with your eyes. Plus, when you write down, you remember better.

If questions arose, I immediately googled or contacted the teacher directly, additionally with him I sorted out questions on testing and how the real work tester, how to look for a job in general. Also, in order to better prepare for interviews, I additionally studied the topics of xml, sql, agile - I knew that I would need all this to work in a large company.

Vladimir's place of work

The rest of the day I did housework. Since at the time I was studying, my wife provided for us and she took extra work, I wanted to completely free her from everyday worries. He planned his time in such a way that he would spend the evening with his family, and on one of the weekends he would go somewhere together.

After the course, my friends advised me to Aplana, a company that tests software for large companies. I passed an interview with them and became an intern tester on one of the Sberbank projects (such a solid backend).

The most difficult for me was the first week on the project. "Oh my God! It's scary, I can't do it!" - such thoughts constantly sounded in my head. When I first encountered testing a serious backend, I felt like a man in this picture.

After 4 months of working on the Sberbank project, I received an unexpected offer from them - to switch to a permanent job as a leading IT engineer, with the same high salary like I used to get in a law firm. According to the management, they liked the fact that I quickly and efficiently completed all tasks, showed initiative. Now I am also involved in testing, but there are even more prospects for growth and development. At the same time, my wife told me another good news that she was expecting a baby. Everything worked out perfectly.

Plans for the future

During my studies and work, I really got involved in testing. For the first time in my life I enjoy my work. It’s hard for me to call it work - what I’m doing now looks like a favorite hobby that you can spend all your free time on.

In the future, I want to immerse myself more in the topic of automation, which is poorly developed in Russia. I analyzed the US and European markets: the knowledge that we have in the field of automation is considered the minimum gentleman's set for a manual testing specialist. But a person who is able to write software for testing is a rarity. I would be interested in trying my hand at this.

Working in gamedev is still a big goal for the future. But if earlier I saw myself only as a game designer, now I fully admit that I can become a game developer.

I have been taking Java courses for several months now and writing code is very exciting for me - after testing serious projects, it is much easier for me to learn to be a programmer. At the same time, I think over my concept of an ideal game: I prescribe the scenario, the mechanics. Now I can’t study all day long, but I manage to do it in electric trains - I live far from Moscow, on the border with the Vladimir region. It takes 2-3 hours to get to work. When I go to the office, of course, I sleep, and on the way back I enjoy listening to webinars. At my previous job, I was very tired of such a regime, and now every day I leave the house with joy, because I really was able to change my life for the better.

For those who are just thinking about changing their profession, but do not know where to start, I can advise the following:

• Ask your friends what you most often like to discuss when you meet. I turn into a real bore in companies when I start talking about games, and I can do it for hours. One day I caught myself doing this and realized that I wanted to look for work in this direction.
• Assess your surroundings - how will your decision get new profession will affect those who are nearby, what will need to be done so that the transition to a new specialty does not turn out to be sheer stress for all of you.
• Write out a plan for the coming year - what specific steps you will need to take to start working where you want. I took a break in order to study, but this is not for everyone. It may be more acceptable for others to combine studies with current work.

Well, the main thought that I always kept in my head: “Get ready for the fact that everything may not work out right away, but water wears away a stone.” I was willing to wait and start small in testing, but grew much faster than I planned.

A tester is a specialist who is engaged in testing software (software) in order to identify errors in its work and then correct them. However, there is a slightly different name for this profession - QA Tester (or QA Manager, Engineer), which usually includes a wider range of responsibilities. The tester controls the quality of the product after its development, while the task of the QA tester is to ensure product quality at all stages of software development, release and operation.

Places of work

The profession of a tester is primarily in demand in IT companies that develop software, computer games and Internet sites.

Tester Responsibilities

Main official duties tester:

• Quality control of developed products.
• Identification and analysis of errors and problems that users encounter when working with software products.
• Development of autotests and their regular run.
• Development of test scenarios.
• Documentation of found defects.

Also, the position of a tester may involve the preparation of technical documentation in Russian and foreign (more often English) languages.

Requirements for a tester

Main requirements for a tester:

• Experience in organizing and conducting various types of testing.
• Knowledge of programming languages.
• Knowledge of tools and libraries for autotesting.
• Experience in writing automated tests.
• Higher education.
• Analytic skills.

Additional requirements:

• Ability to test web applications.
• Knowledge of mobile platforms (iOS, Android).
• Knowledge of English at a level sufficient to read and write technical texts.

tester resume sample

How to become a tester

There are no universities in Russia that teach this profession, so the functions of a tester can be successfully performed by people with an analytical mindset and higher technical or secondary specialized education.

The best way to become a tester is to go learn programming and understand in practice how software is created, what difficulties programmers face and how software debugging works.

Tester salary

The salary of a tester varies from 30 to 130 thousand rubles per month. High earnings, most often, can be found in Moscow or other million-plus cities. average salary tester is 70 rubles per month.