QA Testers must have certain skills to deliver the best quality products and be one step ahead in their careers.
Each software tester must manage multiple tasks like taking care of the test requirements, inventing a smart test plan, fixing a test environment, implementing test cases, reporting bugs, and all.
A tester’s work is not simply restricted to these tasks; it’s a lot more than that. Check out this blog to know about all the skills.
High-Level Communication Skills
Testers are usually required to communicate verbally or in written format with various stakeholders. Therefore, they must be thoroughly aware of how and what to convey with every role. It is equally important as the testing procedure.
You must be able to explain the bug or process improvement to all your fellow testers, developers, managers, designers, clients, and the Chief Executive Officer.
Superb communication is important to convey such messages during meetings and by email. Moreover, it is essential for a tester’s professional career as it provides recognition, regard, and gives high respect.
Automation & Coding Expertise
Efficient Software Testers try to automate repetitive tasks for saving time and properly using the resources in their team. They have excellent coding skills and are adept at creating the best automation scripts and frameworks focusing on regression and mundane tasks. These automation skills are great for helping the testers progress in their career and take up new responsibilities in the company.
Manual Testing is not for everyone. Every release has a different area to look into, and there comes a time when certain components get ignored, which later leads to delay in the delivery process. These things can be avoided if we automate the stable area of the system to better focus on the various segments of the new feature.
You must always have traditional programming knowledge, update yourself by learning about Selenium, Java, TestNG, Jenkins and look for the basic features that can be easily automated.
Make Analytical Thinking A Priority
A practical Software Tester chooses to think analytically about the problem you have. This analytical thought procedure allows you to recognize the issue and build a sturdy strategy to handle the system.
Whenever you test software, it’s important to carefully look at the given product and how the component and the units mingle to have a good logical mind picture of the system functioning.
The developing team will only test the product based on its functionality. On the other hand, a tester dives deep into the system’s logic and analyzes the product minutely. Conclusion this kind of complicated thinking and problem-solving ability helps recognize the problem areas in the system.
Having An Eye For Detail
Good Testers give great attention to detail. A tester’s scope never ends with simply recognizing the issues they encounter while Testing. Instead, the scope reaches out to get the best quality software. That’s why even the tiniest bug matters a lot.
Little bugs affect various parts of the system or bring about changes in various parts. As a tester, you’ll come across various repetitive interfaces that you’ll find with the same feature for many months at a stretch. So it’s normal to forget a small bug or a tiny change when caught in the routine.
A good tester will detect these minute details as they are skilled at giving attention to all these details.
Remain Focused On The Quality
Quality has been the main priority for any tester since day 1. Even if the deadlines are short, they try to ensure that the quality remains the best. In testing circles, it’s said that quality must be in the DNA of every tester.
In a changing environment like a startup, many features need to be tested in a tiny sprint cycle. It’s not great to look into each nuance of the product, but performing only sanity would turn out to be counterproductive in this situation.
You must report the bug or clear the issue from your test lead whenever you encounter bad behavior.
Ability to Instinctively Report & Document
A great tester knows the importance of reporting and documenting the problems in a quality assurance job. They give greater effort to the clarity of the report and the document’s conclusion. It must be written in a simple style for each person to read, analyze and work on it.
These reports bring about transparency in the company as it looks after the bugs discovered, and action is immediately taken after looking at the present scenario of the project based on other observations. Of course, it turns out to be boring, but the procedure assists the management in properly tracking every item.
The method used to regenerate the bug must be clear-cut and detailed. It is to be confirmed that you include every important detail together with the bug report.
Understand the Various Perspectives
A good tester easily understands the product and its functions from a completely different point of view. However, even if they take care of the customer’s viewpoint, their focus remains on the whole system from the perspective of the various stakeholders.
A developer’s focus remains on the functionality; on the other hand, a database engineer focuses on the storage and what the client does? They completely focus on the business side of the project.
Suppose a tester focuses only on reporting the issues and implementing the test cases. In that case, they’ll never get hold of the project’s progress, the place where the high-impact changes occur, or even the future dimensions of the project.
This is why it’s crucial to think from all kinds of perspectives.
Curiosity and Creativity are Important
A great tester must have curiosity and a high level of creativity. They should appear with scenarios and use cases that might not have popped into their heads before. It’s good for them to think out of the box, and they must come up with innovative ways of using the product.
This kind of thinking assists the organization in preventing big risks and constructing trustworthy software.
As a tester, you must be confident about the happenings and whether you should use it in a different way than intended.
Creativity is the least entertained skill in the case of Testing, but it can show numerous ignored bugs and scenarios.
You must begin with the negative cases and look around at all kinds of environments.
You can also view a competitor’s product and check how customers use them. You can also keep a particular time every day to find more about the product in an ad hoc way.
QA Testers Must Be Extremely Adaptable
An expert tester can easily adjust to new technologies, work environment, pressure, and deadlines. It is easier to say than to do, as they’d be fast learners who have a lot of flexibility and consistent dedication. However, they must work independently in a team environment if necessary.
The workflow can keep changing in the software industry because of various reasons. For example, the client might require a new feature, at times the team begins using a brand new tool for improved execution, leaders in the company might change, new procedure improvement might get introduced into the workflow, there might be upsizing, downsizing, or maybe collaborations with various other groups.
Having a Proper Idea of the Business and its Customers
In a quality assurance job, if you have proper knowledge of the domain, you can enhance the quality of Testing. Knowing properly about the business and customer requirements has a lot of impact on the product quality.
Never think that you solely have to perform the test case execution and bug reporting.
Testers have a sharp eye towards the project, and the developer targets only one feature that must be integrated into the project.
You can also check out this blog to know more about ensuring quality assurance in software
How to Ensure Quality Assurance in Software Testing?
Conclusion
If you have properly noticed every skill, you’ll notice certain patterns and the links between them. That’s why it’s easy to update your latest skills with the help of continuous learning and practice. QA Testers must keep learning and enhancing their software testing skills and knowledge despite the years of experience. HikeQA provides High-Quality Test Automation Solutions. Contact us for all your quality assurance requirements.
