How To Start A Career In Software Testing?
One of the most frequently asked questions on software testing forums is, “How can I get a job as a software tester if I don’t have experience?”
Lately, we’ve seen a growing interest in testing, so we thought we should share some tips to help us get in on the action and get our first junior tester / QA role.
Of course, since there are many different branches of testing and different specializations, if you’ve worked in a field other than IT or just looking for your first job, you need to aim for the fruits you have – aim for those entry-level positions. . Here are five tips that can help you with that.
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Get a job in tech support
An entry-level role in technical support can help you achieve this quality assurance role a little later, usually after a year or two with the same company. Some of the skills you learn in support will transfer to a junior tester role. You will likely need to support multiple web browsers, which gives you a sample browser compatibility test. In practice, this means that you are yelling bad words on the internet. Investigator. You’ll also learn more about tickets, bug tracking, maybe a little bit about solving issues, ie rejecting or accepting valid ones. You will probably learn a few things about writing and using documentation too.
You will be open to the end customer. You will develop the ability to see things from the user’s point of view – this will help you become a more critical tester – anyone with two brain cells can go the “happy path” and test the software with only one person who can be thinking critically will try to test the program by doing something stupid (sorry, to be frank, this is reality) because what’s happening in the world, real people are doing stupid things all the time – we’re good at it…
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Freelancing
Freelancing and/or crowd testing gives you an idea of what to expect and if you see yourself as a future tester – and early experiences, indie shows, and live music platforms with very simple requirements, you are responsible for creating a user interface obvious. Locating and reporting bugs, mobile app verification, usually in the form of a beta tester, to verify the product from the customer’s point of view before it can be put on the market – to be consumed by real customers.
You won’t get rich from it – these jobs have very low barriers to entry and therefore not a lot of money, but you will learn valuable things like writing test cases and reporting cases you’ve found. Experience gives you an edge over many other candidates with no real experience, so don’t hesitate to use it to your advantage.
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Learn to code, junior!
While entry-level tester roles rarely require great programming skills, they can help you become a better tester. As the QA industry is moving more and more towards test automation, this will help you keep your work for the long term as it will reduce the likelihood of it becoming obsolete.
Your ambition to learn to program, even if the job ad doesn’t ask for it, will impress you and your recruiters. For example, if you know a little bit about SQL queries, it can help with QA investigations. Knowing that some CSS can help you understand UI issues can also help you learn a few things about JavaScript if you have interactivity issues. on the web, things like underestimating the characters required by the regular expression behind a password input field make the tester better.
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Certifications
This is a subject that is usually quite controversial, some people argue that certifications are almost useless and that real experiences trump certificates at any given time – you might tend to lean in that direction in part, but (there’s always a donkey) having a certificate can help you stand out a little in the sea of inexperienced candidates, it will make you more visible.
Later certifications will likely help you get a raise, etc. Don’t try to get all possible certifications and ignore them completely, analyze your own needs and make a decision based on that.
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Understand SDLC
Understanding the entire software development lifecycle isn’t a mandatory requirement for your first job, but it’s a good advantage over your first application. For example, if you discover that the company you are applying to uses Agile methodology, learning the basics will not only increase your chances of hiring people, it will also make your life easier.
Context is very important in these scenarios, so comparing (for example) the difference between Agile and Waterfall will help you answer questions like, “Why are we using this approach to design?” So, read a few blogs about these topics before signing up. To master the skills visit Software Testing Course in Pune
Conclusion
Getting your first job is always a challenge. So if your first applications are refused, don’t let that stop you from trying. Hopefully, some of the tips above will be useful to future software testers. Thanks for reading and good luck!
