Do You Want to become a QA Engineer? A Complete Preparation Guide

Quality assurance engineer, in short, form-QA Engineer plays a major role in any software industry. QA engineers can also be called QA testers.

They got this name because they test the software which a software developer develops. In present days, where quality and uniqueness had been playing major roles in any new things that had come into the market, new software is not exceptional.

Whether it’s a new shopping website or new social media or any gaming platform, everything requires software. A software developer develops this software by writing code…but, to check this software whether it has errors or bugs, that particular company needs a tester.

Who is a QA Engineer?

A QA engineer checks the quality of software. In other words, a QA engineer is a person whom a company hires to test the given software and improve the quality of that software.

A QA engineer will make sure whether a software developer had developed the code in the right way or not. If a QA tester finds any small bugs, he/she will fix them but if there are major errors or bugs, he/she will send the software back to the developer to rectify those mistakes. So, for software to come into the limelight, it should pass its path through a QA Engineer.

What are the roles and responsibilities of a QA Engineer?

A QA Engineer has the following role and responsibilities in his journey in a company.

• Once a QA Engineer is appointed, he/she will get the software to check its quality.
• He/she needs to run multiple tests either manually or using automation tools.
• After completing testing, he/she must note down the errors or bugs.
• Try to fix the bugs or errors if they are small or else the software should be sent back to the developer.
• Discuss the problems with the developer and helps increase the quality of the software.
• Producing error-free and bugs-free software should be the ultimate goal of a quality assurance engineer.

Who hires a QA engineer?

Nowadays, every IT company requires a QA Engineer to test their software. Companies like Cognizant, Wipro, TCS, Oracle, etc. are hiring QA engineers. The requirement for QA testers has increased rapidly over the past few years. In the competitive world, everybody wants their software to be perfect so that it gets the maximum number of users. That’s why the demand for QA engineers has been increasing.

Salary of a QA Engineer

In general, in any firm, the salary of a particular position depends on a few issues. They are

1. Experience of the candidate
2. Location of the work
3. Based on the details and fame of the company
4. Problem-solving skills the candidate has.

The job of a QA engineer is not exceptional for these points. The more experienced, skilled, and the best company you work for, you will get a good amount of pay. Based on recent research, the national average salary a QA engineer is getting is 6L per annum irrespective of the experience and company. 

How to become a QA Engineer?

To become a QA engineer, one should follow the following steps.

• Learn skills
• Get the knowledge of technical tools and software
• Practice and develop soft skills
• Prepare a proper resume
• Apply to the job of QA Engineer
• Attend the interview

Let us discuss these in detail about these steps.

1. Learn skills

Before getting into a quality assurance engineer’s job, one should have minimum skills, both technical and non-technical. You should have…

1. Bachelor’s or any equivalent degree
2. Knowledge about quality checking tools and software
3. Experience either through a job or internship would be a plus point.
4. Knowledge of how to test both manually and using automation tools.

2. Get the knowledge of technical tools and software

 While manual testing needs spontaneousness, attention, analytics, critical thinking, and curiosity, automatic testing requires knowledge of a few tools like selenium, selenide, etc. however, any skill would be useful if you practice them! Reading them in textbooks or pdf files will only give half of the knowledge. How to use them, and where to use them would depend on the way you work and the way you learn during work!

3. Practice and develop soft skills

Improving your soft skills is necessary for any job! The soft skills that you need to become a QA Engineer are…

• Communication skills
• Critical thinking
• Analytical thinking
• Spontaneousness 
• Curiosity
• Discipline
• Patience
• Curiosity

These skills could be only developed with willpower.

4. Prepare a proper resume: 

A resume plays a very important and major role in getting a job. There are some important things that you should include to get selected for the final round and face the interviewer. Let’s look at those things.

•  Prepare a summary as a header for your resume. Make sure to cover everything about you in 20-25 words and put it as a summary
• Write about your qualification. Include everything about your studies. If you got to rank within the top 5 either in your school, college or within the district then include them too.
• Don’t include low percentage or CGPA.
• If you have participated in anything related to software skills then include them too. If you got prizes, write about them.
• Include the number of software or languages you have learned.
• If you have done any internships, you must include them. I suggest you do at least one internship during or after your studies. It will help you get selected for the filtration process.
• If you have participated in any projects, write major points about the project and your role in that project.
• If you have experience in the field, include it with details of the company you worked for and your role in that company.
• Include your strengths and personal details.

By including these points, you can easily get filtered towards the interview.

5. Apply to the jobs

After preparing a proper resume, you should apply to the QA Engineer jobs. As many companies are recruiting quality assurance engineers, you get many job vacancies. By learning the above skills and with a proper resume, you can easily get selected for the interview.

6. Facing the interview 

The interview of a quality assurance engineer may have multiple rounds. Again, it depends on the company! Before facing the interview, you need to prepare for it with some key points.

• If you have ever participated in a project, note down everything after you completed the project. Do not miss even a minute detail! It will help you during the interview.
• Note down the challenges you faced during the project/internship and also the way and techniques you used to solve them. There are higher chances for an interviewer to ask questions about it. So, you should prepare for it beforehand.
• Guess the questions that an interviewer might ask and prepare answers for them and participate in a mock interview with your friends.
• Most of the questions could be about you, your testing strategy, the projects you handle, challenges you faced, tools you have known, your strengths and weaknesses, etc. so prepare accordingly.
• Most of the questions could be about you, your testing strategy, the projects you handle, challenges you faced, tools you have known, your strengths and weaknesses, etc. so prepare accordingly. Be tension free and face the interview with confidence. 

With these tips, there are higher chances for you to clear the interview.

Conclusion

Confidence and willpower always created a path toward your dream to become a QA engineer. With increasing opportunities, you can create the way towards your dream job. Be conscious and learn all the above skills and prepare a proper resume and attend the interview with confidence. You can achieve heights as a quality assurance engineer.