How to become a tester: a path open not only to programmers

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Many familiar professions are now a thing of the past and are being replaced by new ones. But there are professions that are only growing in popularity and demand. One of them is a tester, and today we will tell you why.

More pros
Perhaps its most important advantage is the opportunity to enter the IT-sphere without programming skills and even without a technical education. High salaries, the opportunity to work in foreign companies or remotely – additional and pleasant bonuses.

Recently, the requirements of employers to applicants have increased somewhat, but still the entry threshold to this specialty is quite low. Become testers can be graduates of schools, and people with education and experience in other areas.

What does the tester
The main area of responsibility of the software tester (another name for the profession – QA-engineer) – the quality of the product. Before releasing a software product on the market it is necessary to check its functionality and usability, to find bugs in the work. That is to analyze the product’s compliance with the user requirements. This is what a tester deals with.

The quality of a product includes several aspects: performance, security, usability. Testing in each of these areas is carried out separately. Testers who have a narrow specialization, but thoroughly know their topic, are highly valued.

Testing of software products is divided into manual and automatic. The first type of testing is carried out by manual testers. In English this specialization is called the manual QA engineer. The task of a specialist is to develop tests and reproduce the user’s actions. It allows you to detect errors and vulnerabilities in the program operation.

Testers: myths and reality
A relatively young profession of a tester has already managed to grow into an impressive number of myths. What people think about the work of a tester, and how true it is?

“Testers are losers who couldn’t become developers.”
There is an opinion that the development of software products – a task for intellectuals, which requires certain skills and knowledge of programming languages. And testing is just pressing buttons in a given order. In short, a job for a trained monkey. But, of course, it is not.

The tester does not just press the buttons, he is responsible for the quality of the product. That is why he must not only reveal errors, but also suggest ways of improving the product and making it more appealing to users. In addition, automatic testing already requires knowledge of languages and code writing skills.

“They pay pennies for this work.”
In practice, a good tester-automatee has all the chances to equal the level of wages to a developer. Specialists with knowledge of English will always be welcome in foreign companies where salaries may be higher.

“Testing is a boring and monotonous job”.
It is not the list of job duties that makes a job boring, but a person’s attitude to it. Yes, routine operations in the profession tester enough. But there are plenty of opportunities for creativity. And most importantly, there is the prospect of growth. You can learn programming languages in order to become an automated tester, or you can just choose a theme to your liking. After all, applications are different. And, for example, a job tester games few would call boring.

Testers rarely work alone. Sufficient experience in your chosen field and management skills will allow you to lead a team of testers. It’s not a bad career advancement and a way to increase your income, either.

“You don’t have to learn to be a tester, just come and work.”
You can become a tester at any age: it doesn’t matter gender, basic education, or previous work experience. The profession is available to everyone. And even the statement that this profession does not require training was true just a short time ago. Some time ago the shortage of personnel in this market was so serious that employers were ready to take the initial training. But now the situation has changed.

Employers now expect at least a solid theoretical base from junior applicants. Practical skills are also very desirable. Jobs with good salaries now assume experience of 1 year or more.

“Bad is the tester who does not dream of becoming a programmer.”
The profession was not originally conceived as a stepping stone in the development of a programmer. Testers are very important in their own right, they are needed in a project of any level of complexity.

Entering the IT sphere through this profession with further retraining as a developer is possible, but not necessary. It’s just a matter of personal preference. Testers have other career options. There are also examples of successful programmers move from development to testing.

So training to be a tester gives the very freedom of choice that many go into IT for.