What are the Various Career Options for Software Test Professionals?
Testing has become the showstopper for several application/product implementations and business has realized the importance and need of structured testing of applications before a product release.
Testing has created several levels and types. Specialization in these various types of testing has increased the intrinsic value of a software tester. From being a monotonous test case executor, several career options have evolved in front of the testing community. The following paragraphs depict the various options available to a software tester.
Career options for software test professionals:
Of late, testing is looked upon as a good professional career for many of the aspiring youths. As mentioned above, from being a (junior) test engineer one can move up to senior test engineer, test lead to test manager; else can become QA lead, QA Manager, depending on the organizational norms. The options available in the automation testing front are enormous. There are numbers of functional, performance, and security testing tools besides test management tools like Quality Center from HP, CQTM from IBM, Rally, and Asana to name a few.
The demand for niche skills like SOA testers, Security testers are on the increase. There is a dearth of skills in test automation arenas – scripting skills in the tools languages like VB, Java and other scripting languages like Perl, Shell, Python etc., Technical resources with capabilities to evaluate automation tools, create automation framework and reusable components are on demand. Today there is huge demand for good performance testers who can analyze the performance test results, identify the bottlenecks and suggest tuning techniques.
Specialization has come to stay in testing career - The following are some of the key areas where one need to specialize to move ahead in career path in testing apart from good knowledge in software life cycle testing process.
1) Domain Knowledge – Good knowledge in domain area of the application adds value to the testing professionals. There are popular domains like BFSI, telecom, healthcare, manufacturing, embedded etc. Numbers of certifications are available for each of these areas where the tester can get trained and certified.
2) Automation Testing Tools Knowledge – There is great demand for automation and performance testers. A good knowledge/experience in scripting languages of these tools is the basic necessity for succeeding in test automation. Knowledge on creation, validation and enhancement of test automation framework is very much required.
3) Certifications – QAI, ASQ, ISQTB, BrainBench and several other institutes are offering testing specific certifications. These certifications improve the confidence of the clients on the testing professionals. CQTM, PMP are some managerial certifications, which help the testers to scale up in the professional ladder. Certifications on the testing tools offered by vendors like HP and IBM increases the technical competency of the individual.
4) Niche areas in Testing – Experts predict that the niche areas like SOA testing, Security testing and mobile testing are gaining momentum in the testing space. Many tools are emerging in these areas. As testing professionals we should be aware of where the industry is heading and update our knowledge in those areas to be able to stay ahead in the game.
Knowledge enhancement is a continuous process. You should keep on reading all available online and offline testing resources. Spend at least two hours in a week reading software testing articles and news to update yourself to the current happenings and events.
As the saying goes “you need to run continuously to keep yourself in the same place”, as testing professionals we should always work towards sharpening our testing skills to succeed in this highly competitive environment
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