Quality assurance is a crucial part of the software development life cycle. Every app has to be tested by professional QA engineers, who will make sure no bugs or errors go undetected. Of course, no one wants to release a faulty product - but quality assurance engineers can help you avoid such a situation.
The software development needs to include some testing method, preferably even more than one. Manual testing alone would not be enough - you need automated tests as well, and each and every part of your software product should be thoroughly checked by testers.
The demand for QA engineers able to perform quality control tasks has increased along with the continued need for software products on the market.
Are you wondering what to expect from software quality assurance engineers? In this article, we will delve a bit more into the details of the job and the qualifications of QA specialists.
What exactly will the QA engineer do?
A QA engineer job is, if we stick to the common definition, mostly about helping to develop a successful, functional product. People who work as software QA engineers usually need good analytical skills, a technical resume, and are often graduates of computer science programmes. Their work is not limited only to test scenarios, though.
Quality assurance work is done to make sure that the software development is going the way it is supposed to. The test engineers will perform multiple tasks to ensure the final product's quality is as high as possible. Very few workers have a single responsibility only, and multitasking or being able to transition smoothly between testing processes is absolutely indispensable.
What should you expect from the software QA engineer?
Quality assurance expertise
QA engineers are not the same as software developers, so they need more skills pertaining to actual quality assurance. Things such as attention to detail and logical thinking are among the most important skills in this job. They need to know how to put that skills to work and use them during the testing process, as well as have some knowledge of testing strategy in general. A QA engineer without the essential competencies in that field will likely not provide you with proper feedback, which might slow down the development.
Providing feedback during the development process
You should receive up-to-date feedback on development progress, with information about what should be changed or adjusted. The QA engineer's analytical skills allow them to observe both the product and the process and or notice what others might have missed. If your software developers fail to notice an error on time, it will turn up during the testing and your quality control specialist will let you know about that.
Basic programming skills
Although it is not a must-have in the industry, a good quality assurance engineer should have an elementary understanding of coding to better understand the architecture of the software tested. QA engineers can communicate with developers more easily when they share a common language. While it is not essential for a software testing specialist to be an expert programmer, having some basic knowledge in that field can help immensely.
Good English skills
English is the lingua franca of software development. Even though the language is used mostly for communication related to the project, such as team meetings or writing documentation, a QA engineer should know the basics of the IT nomenclature to have a better understanding of the project. Working in the IT industry without knowledge of English can prove to be very difficult.
Do we really need QA engineers?
Yes, because customers and clients look at the quality of the product they are spending their money on. Their first impressions are often what influences future cooperation. Releasing defective software just because a company skipped the testing phase can be a business catastrophe. Even though a product may need to be tested a lot of times over and over until it fulfils all the requirements, it is certainly worth it to ensure that.
Saving money by not hiring QA engineers for your software development projects is not wise, as they contribute greatly towards your final product's market success. The quality of your product is the measure of your success, so allow the QA specialists to help you.
