Competent Software QA Engineer
QA engineer or software quality assurance engineers are responsible for tracking and overseeing the process of software development from beginning to end. They monitor the production, test each part to determine if it complies with standards, and then repeat the process.
The main goal of qa services is to make sure all the safeguards are in place, and the product meets government standards before it rolls out.
Quality assurance engineers earned a comfortable living. But they deserve every penny considering the stakes involved. The software app market is a multi-billion industry. Although “software” is an umbrella term, there are several sub-industries such:
- Accounting software
- Inventory management software
- Presentation software
- Customer management software
- Business software
The market share for business software, for instance, is $322.91 billion in 2019, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.7% through 2025.
What are the Job Responsibilities of a QA Engineer?
To have an idea of the QA engineer’s competence, you should know what they do. Among their responsibilities are:
- Adopts versioning systems to write codes for test scripts
- Codes test plans according to the specifications, test strategies, and requirements
- Analyzes the results of the test
- Finds bugs and reports the findings using a bug-tracking database
- Works closely with the QA manager or supervisor during the whole process
- Alerts the QA manager if there is a severe issue that could jeopardize the project
How to Spot a Good QA Engineer
- Effective communicator — Software development is a team effort. Third-party QA services know the value of communication within the team concept. However, success lies in effective communication. It does not just refer to meetings or giving status reports to the QA manager. But the QA engineer must also work closely with the developers on issues surrounding the software development. Finally, the QA engineer will be dealing with employees who are unfamiliar with tech-speak. They must be able to explain the terms and processes to non-technical people.
- Creative — The QA engineer must be a problem-solver. While relying on data is also essential, the good engineer knows what tests to conduct to solve the problem. Some call it sixth sense or intuition, but one’s experience will develop the creativity to think of a way to attack the problem when all seems lost.
- Patient — Testing the software requires a lot of patience. The engineer must be detail-oriented without micromanaging the process. The best QA services will look at a problem as a fun challenge. Knowing how the software’s design would provide the engineer with a mental blueprint on how to potentially solve several issues.
Finally, the QA engineer must value the client’s timeline. Developing software costs thousands of dollars. More often than not, the client has a strict deadline to follow, which theoretically brings in the most returns for their investment.
The QA engineers must not only be results-oriented, but they must also thrive under pressure. They cannot just back out in the middle of the project because of the stress. Their decision will seriously imperil the whole project.