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Software Quality Assurance Engineers & Testers

Also called: Quality Assurance Analyst (QA Analyst), Quality Assurance Director (QA Director), Software Quality Assurance Engineer (SQA Engineer), Software Quality Engineer

What they do:
Develop and execute software test plans in order to identify software problems and their causes.
On the job, you would:
  • Design test plans, scenarios, scripts, or procedures.
  • Test system modifications to prepare for implementation.
  • Develop testing programs that address areas such as database impacts, software scenarios, regression testing, negative testing, error or bug retests, or usability.

Knowledge

Engineering and Technology
  • computers and electronics
  • product and service development
Arts and Humanities
  • English language
Math and Science
  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Skills

Basic Skills
  • reading work related information
  • thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem
Problem Solving
  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it
People and Technology Systems
  • measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it
  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Abilities

Verbal
  • communicate by writing
  • listen and understand what people say
Ideas and Logic
  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • use rules to solve problems
Attention
  • pay attention to something without being distracted

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include
ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Attention to Detail
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Integrity
  • Adaptability/Flexibility
  • Initiative
  • Persistence

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Program testing software
  • JUnit
  • TestNG
Development environment software
  • Apache Ant
  • C
Object or component oriented development software
  • Acresso InstallAnywhere
  • Apple Cocoa

Education

Education: (rated 4 of 5)
bachelor's degree or
associate's degree
usually needed

Get started on your career:

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Job Outlook

Bright Outlook
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
Salary
$79,930
per year, on average
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about software quality assurance engineers and testers.