Software testing is a very lucrative field in which you are responsible for the end to end testing of software that is still being developed. You will suggest edits and what all can be done to make the thing better before it hits the market.
It is a great job role whose demand has grown exponentially over the past few years. About 20 years ago these roles were scarce as the number of software in the market was low. But as the popularity of the internet grew many more people got into the software game.
With everything being digitized now the need for new software keeps cropping up from time to time. Before this, it was merely an advisory role but now as the number of software increases, it is a must-have role for every software company.
What Is End to End Testing?
As the name suggests, end-to-end testing, test the software from the start to the end to make sure that the application behaves the way it is expected. Its main purpose is to see everything from the user’s perspective and make changes accordingly.
It’s a great way to get a gist of the user experience that your software is providing and make changes if need be later on. End to end testing helps you identify problematic subsystems that might lead to crashes if not tested properly.
Here Is What You Should Look For in a Software Tester So That You Know You Are Getting the Best Results.
Programming Skills
A software tester should be adept in a number of languages. A software tester who does not code cannot perform end-to-end testing satisfactorily. Not only that, they might not have a solid idea of what the program needs.
In many companies before someone can become a software tester, they have to be a software developer first. After spending time and honing their programming skills they can start testing software. This in turn gives them intricate knowledge of the program and how it runs.
Only after one knows this, they can give suggestions on what to do to improve the software. On top of that their feedback won’t be technical if they do not know how to program. To ease the communication and give the developers a clear idea of what to do, a software tester must have a few programming languages under their command.
Improving Constantly
One thing to know about these programming languages is that they keep on changing and evolving over the years. So the software tester must also be aware of these new changes. Get a tester that keeps on improving constantly and keeps themselves updated on all the latest changes.
The world of technology is not stagnant, it is quite the opposite. Technologies and languages change at the drop of a hat and there can be simultaneous changes on them as you are reading the article. What might have been the hottest new thing a few years ago might not even be usable these days.
This is why one needs a self-motivated software tester that is abreast with the changes in their field. Domain knowledge is ever expansive and testers should do their best to know the most about them.
You as a business should get in touch with people who are great at end-to-end testing and also keep themselves updated. Such individuals will make sure that your product is up to date and also uses the newest and most efficient protocols.
Communication
Even though someone might have the product knowledge and domain expertise if they cannot communicate, it will all go to waste. Communication is a soft skill that needs to be honed over the years and people get better with time. It is equally important for testers to be able to communicate efficiently and clearly.
As the technical terms can get overwhelming for people from non-tech backgrounds, a tester must be able to simplify things for management. Not everyone will understand what a tester is doing and it is the tester’s responsibility to make people understand the changes that they are making.
If they cannot explain to you the changes and things that need to be redone then it will be even harder to implement them. The tester must be able to answer all your questions and suggest all the changes in an unambiguous way. So that people do not have any hardship while understanding the introductions.
This is also applicable to the IT team that will be implementing the changes. If the software tester is not clear then making those changes will be hard too. This is why good communication is a necessity no matter what your role is in the organization.
Innovation
As a software company, you are trying to fill in the gap in the market or provide something completely unique to your end-users. Your think tank worked day and night to make this happen and your software tester should be as innovative as them too.
This will help the business be more innovative than ever and also have a competitive edge. You can use this to your advantage by getting an innovative software tester onboard. Let the innovators bounce ideas back and forth and brainstorm at their pace.
In the end, you get the best ideas for your business that are not only new but also cutting edge.
Accountability
Admitting that they were wrong is a quality that is hard to find. The tester can complete the daily tasks and go out of the office. This type of behavior leads to substandard work and also no innovation. They just do their to-do list and get on with their lives.
But you should get someone who thinks about how the product will affect the market and how it will benefit people. Is there something that they can do to make it even better?
Focusing on the end-user and drawing conclusions from their experiences is something that an ideal candidate would have.
End-to-end software testing ensures that the application is working well, detects bugs, reduces cost and time to market too. So, if you want to see where you are in terms of launch preparedness an end-to-end test is a must.
Conclusion
Looking at everything mentioned above, there are many ways to approach your company’s software testing. You can hire a full team, or a very common way to approach these days is to outsource these types of issues within the company.
This would save time and money within the company since there is no permanent internal team that needs salaries. If your company specializes in software testing, that would be a completely different story.
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