Software QA Engineer's skills

Software QA Engineer: What skills do I need and why is it necessary?

In the previous article's post, it has been well explained the necessary implementation of software quality assurance, including the advantages of performing automation testing in a tech company.

This article's post probably will discuss the QA Engineer's required skills and why it is necessary for the QA Engineer. In a tech company, a QA engineer is definitely needed to make sure all flow in software development is going well and meets customers' requirements.

Below will be listed some of the skills that a QA engineer must possess:

1. Detail Orientation & Accuracy Although it has been agreed that no product released to the public is perfect, the engineer must still pay attention to detail and accuracy in order to minimize the risk caused by bugs in the released product.

2. Fundamental programming skills The different depth of understanding of programming knowledge is the thing that differentiates QA testers from developers. Although a really deep understanding of coding is not necessary (based on the company you are working for), having a knowledge of coding eventually helps QA testers communicate with developers related to the bugs.

3. Analytical Thinking Critical thinking is needed when a QA tester is trying to develop test cases. It takes a critical mind to consider the scenarios and test cases that best suit a feature on a product when developing test cases.Critical thinking will also help QA testers position themselves as a user to do tests for the product.

4. Knowledge of automation tools [a plus] Not all tech companies have already implemented automation-tools for their testing phase. Manual testing jobs are still offered by some companies. But, having the knowledge to operate automation tools like Apium, Katalon, and Selenium will help to increase the number of QA job opportunities because, later in the future, testing will probably be done using automation-tools mixed with manual testing. 

5. Communication abilities [absolutely necessary] It is sometimes underestimated that communication skills are fully required for a QA tester, but in real industry situations they are totally needed. Communication is required for the QA tester to be able to clearly present the bugs that come up during the testing phase. Not only for communicating with the developer, communication skills are also needed as communication with the project manager must be done when a project is having a backtrack.

I hope this article will build a deeper understanding of the QA tester's qualification and can be insightful reading for all those who are reading this.