The Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer ensures that the software passes all tests before being released to the public. Such a person is an indispensable cog in the software development system.
They oversee every design, development, testing, and delivery stage to ensure the product meets quality standards and requirements. They work with the team and report to the manager.
According to the Statista website, in 2020, there will be around 1.49 million software developers and software quality assurance (QA) workers employed in the United States. By 2030, this number is expected to rise to 1.84 million.
Who is a QA Engineer?
The Quality Assurance Engineer oversees every step of the software development process, including design, development, testing, debugging, and delivery.
In any software testing outsourcing, QA engineers maintain software quality standards at every stage and ensure that the final product meets the requirements. The QA engineer also defines tests to ensure the software is free from technical flaws. They work in an office or lab in front of the system, analyzing information, identifying errors, and documenting results.
QA Roles And Responsibilities
The primary role of QA is to ensure quality. The quality control engineer creates conditions to improve software development processes and prevent defects. They make sure that the work of software developers is checked and checked by the documentation.
What Tasks Should a Test Engineer Cover?
Here are the main tasks that a tester should control:
- Check if the finished product meets the requirements
- Compile specifications
- Planning ideas to improve product quality
- Test Planning
- Analysis of test results
Since the primary goal of QA engineers is to prevent defects, quality control specialists conduct tests and find errors. They are responsible for identifying and fixing defects in the product (or, in other words, these engineers ensure that the developers get the results they expect).
Skills Required For A QA Engineer
The QA engineer position requires a diverse set of skills.
Communication skills
QA engineer acts as a link between managers, clients, and developers. Thus, listening and the ability to quickly understand are essential skills for any QA engineer.
Time Management
QA engineer works on tight deadlines. They plan and develop procedures for their team. The team must release new software promptly by quality standards.
Attention to Detail
The test engineer needs technical knowledge and the ability to identify complex details that can affect the software. Careful record keeping of process and test results forces them to be detail-oriented.
Analytic Skills
The QA engineer creates multiple use cases to test the software and identify problems early. During the development or testing phase, QA addresses various questions that stakeholders may have. As such, the ability to solve and solve problems is critical to a quality assurance engineer’s skill set.
Conclusion
In 2014, Forbes named Quality Assurance Engineer number two on the list of the happiest jobs. #2 Happiest Profession: Quality Assurance Engineer.
The salary range for this profession is $41,000 to $71,000 and up to $91,000 for senior quality assurance engineers. This means you can be sure that this could be a good career choice for you.
Author’s bio: Anastasiia Lastovetska is a technology writer at MLSDev, a software development company that builds web & mobile app solutions from scratch. She researches the area of technology to create great content about app development, UX/UI design, tech & business consulting.