Everyone thinks that software testing is an easy job; “I can also be a tester.” Many people think, it’s a skill which is very easy and can be fast learned.
But, Testing is not a crash course skill which can be learned with the help of 1-month course or certification. Testing requires lot of skills, inherent behavior and capabilities which one can polish, if they already have them.
Based on my Experience I am listing a few skills which one should have to be a good tester:
1. Out of the Box thinkers: A good software tester should be able to create multiple WHAT IF scenarios. She/he should be able to put him/herself in customer’s shoes and apply all the scenarios in the workflow of the application. It is very important for a software tester to have good analytical skills and thinking power. Because it is easy for any tester to acquire a product knowledge but strong analysis is very much important before testing a product.
2. Excellent Communication Skills: To be able to communicate the issue to the development team is the most important job of the tester. Hence every tester must possess excellent communication skills (Oral and Written both) in order to communicate the issues faced by him/her in the most effective and efficient manner.
3. Quick Learner: This is most important quality that a tester must have is the ability to adapt and learn quickly.
4. Passion for Testing: The key to success in any work is having a true passion. To be a good tester one should need to be passionate about what they do. One should have the curiosity to understand the product that need to be tested. Testers must be passionate enough to take head on the complexities as well as challenges.
5. Think from customer’s perspective: Every product is developing for customer so it is very much important to think from their point of view and prepare your test data accordingly. If one should not consider the scenarios from customer perspective than there is a possibility to escape many bugs. So always put yourself in customer's shoes.
These are the basic and most important qualities that a tester must have in order to be a good software tester and to deliver quality products.
Does software testing require technical skills?
If you’ve ever heard someone say that software testing is very easy and you don’t need any technical skills to do it. I would say that they are dead wrong. Like it or not, you still need decent level of technical skills so that you can effectively test the software. However, you don’t need to be an expert. The basic knowledge of need is in the following areas:
Databases
Networking
Operating Systems
Programming language
So, if you feel you have all the skills to be a software tester and want to start a career in Software Testing, here are few things you can do:
Start with a certification:
ISTQB and CSTE are good certifications, they provide basic knowledge about software testing.
Certifications can give you a good start but you need hands on experience of testing software.
Practice to test your everyday applications:
You can spend your time on exercising the application you use every day such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Chrome browser, Firefox and mobile apps and see if you can find bugs.
Next step is to report this bug to customer supports. Once they confirm it’s a bug and they will fix, you are going good. Note this bug down and add this achievement in your CV.
Look for the opportunity as a freelance software tester/Full time Tester: Next thing is start looking for opportunities based on your choice. Most learnings are done on the projects, so finding a good project is important
Keep updating your skills: And Finally, keep updating your skills, learn open source automation tools (Ex : Appium , Selenium ) . These tools are used by most of the companies and will be an added asset on your CV.
Future of Testing:
Testing roles are becoming hybrid. This means that the tester must be cross-functional and know both manual testing, a programming language, and a test automation framework. For this type of job opportunity, the competition is low. Many times, the recruiters cannot find people qualified and positions stay open for a long time. So If anyone is thinking of making a career in testing, these are the skills they should be ready to acquire. If you want to get hired as a Tester, here are few things managers look for when they hire a tester:
Technology is changing very fast and everything is going Agile. Software’s life cycles are becoming short; focus is shifting to automation. So knowledge of programming language and automation tools is a big advantage.