If you’re looking into a potential career as a Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer, you first need to understand who they are, what they do, and what are their main responsibilities. The job requires certain skills and understanding of software development, as well as experience in different QA methodologies, tools, and testing.
Luckily, we're here to help you understand. Below, we'll break down the basics of a career in QA as well as the responsibilities of a QA Engineer.
QA Engineer: Career Path
The first step toward starting a career in QA is to get a degree. Your major should be Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related subject.
The basic career levels you’ll go through are:
- QA Engineer/Tester (entry-level)
- senior QA Engineer/Tester
- Lead Testing Specialist
Naturally, there are detours into other careers you’ll be eligible for. If you decide, you could try guiding your career towards software development, project management, or even business analysis.
QA Engineer: Responsibilities
Now, let’s take a look at some of the most important responsibilities of a QA Engineer and the tasks they need to handle on a daily basis.
So, what does a QA Engineer do? Simply put, their primary task is to prevent defects and bugs in new programs before they're launched. They collaborate with developers to help them achieve their project objective and ensure the final product is impeccable.
Here’s how they do it.
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Reviewing project specifications
Each new project has a specification that includes all the requirements, technical details, and documents necessary for it to succeed. The job of a QA Engineer is to review those documents and provide feedback to the developers.
This way, they can find and prevent a mistake from happening in the initial stages of the project and save everyone their time.
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Creating a test plan
Next, the QA Engineer needs to come up with the best strategy to test these new programs and find out if everything is working properly. That means they need to create a test plan and specify what tools, methods, and strategies will work best on each program.
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Conducting the tests
After they design the test plan, their job is also to coordinate the test running and make sure the test is ticking all the boxes.
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Finding bugs
If the test is designed and carried out properly, it’ll detect bugs, if there are any. The QA Engineer then needs to write a detailed report about the bugs found and come up with bug fixes. After the bugs are removed, additional tests need to be designed and carried out to ensure the program is ready to be launched.
Final Thoughts
Being a QA Engineer comes with a lot of responsibilities. Apart from the ones listed above, QA Engineers also have to stay updated on the latest trends and technologies, track different metrics and data, and work on internal strategies for improvement.
If you do want a career as a QA Engineer, start working on your hard and soft skills ASAP and look for an opportunity to make the first steps.