The IT industry continues to develop at a rapid pace, which ultimately leads to the demand for the relevant professions. If you are interested in this industry, then it is not at all necessary to choose the profession of a software tester, because the profession of a tester is an excellent alternative. The pros are obvious:
- You can study the profession of a tester in a relatively short time;
- It is also quite highly paid, like the profession of a programmer;
- While for many people the profession of a tester is much more exciting than the standard job of a programmer.
In this article, we will explain what it takes to become a software tester from scratch.
Who are testers?
To understand who a software tester is, it is necessary, first of all, to understand for oneself the main functions and tasks of representatives of this profession. Often, people who find a vacancy in this field mistakenly believe that they will cope with this job without having absolutely any special skills and knowledge, but in fact, everything is not so simple.
A tester is a person whose duties include timely execution of orders that are associated with the analysis of the information and software system developed by programmers. The main task of a tester is to collect the necessary data about the project, as well as organize qualified testing that meets the regulations established by the employing company.
If we speak in public language, then a software tester is a person who checks new developments for operability, and also tries to find system errors in these developments, which will avoid future failures during use.
An effective method of teaching this profession is the courses of testers, which are offered in many schools and academies. There you will be taught the key responsibilities of the profession, such as cleaning up various bugs and shortcomings that fellow developers leave behind after their work.
The salary of a software tester
Regarding the profession of a tester, we can say definitely – if you take a course for testers right now, and get a job, then after 5 years of work you can buy yourself a good apartment. Sounds very tempting, right? More specific figures – in the first year of a tester’s work, the maximum salary of such a specialist can be $ 1200. Then it gradually increases, and for testers with 5 years of experience, only the average salary can already be $ 2,500, while the maximum salary is $ 3,400.
At the same time, employers do not make a special emphasis on the age of specialists, which is also the most important advantage of this profession. So, you can start training in the courses of testers at absolutely any age and in just a few years you will be able to get quite good stable income.
Benefits of working as a tester
Before you start training in the courses of testers, you need to decide for yourself whether you need to learn this profession at all. Is it worth trying to do this, or would it be better to take, for example, programming courses and then work in this direction? To understand whether you will need to develop in the field of testing various software, let’s take a look at the main advantages of this profession:
- Rapid development. An important plus, because in order to get acquainted with the basics of the profession, it will be enough to attend the first few courses for testers.
- High salary. If you try hard, memorize a complete knowledge base from the sphere of work of testers and, in addition, get a good job, then you will probably be able to feel very comfortable later on, earning quite a lot of money.
- A quick climb up the career ladder. Trying to do your best in this area, you can quickly get to the level of a team leader, project manager or business analyst.
- An exciting and also quite prestigious profession. It’s not just not boring to be a tester, it’s also solid to be a tester. You will be able to deal with large IT projects, which you can then proudly tell your friends or family members about.
- The demand for the profession almost all over the world. If you have studied the main courses of testers, and also studied foreign languages, then later you can easily go abroad to work. The profession of a tester is in demand all over the world today.
Training for the profession of a tester
If you want to master the profession of a tester from scratch, it would be most correct to enroll in specialized courses. Courses for beginners will allow you to immerse yourself in the very basics of your chosen profession and thanks to them you will be able to gradually try yourself in practical activities. There are also advanced courses, they are aimed at those who are already more or less familiar with the work of testers. To begin with, it is worth taking courses that will allow you to get acquainted with the main base, then you can already choose a more narrow-profile topic.
As for the trendiest areas, today they include:
- Testing software that is created for tablets and smartphones;
- Testing automation;
- Testing of complex systems that are characterized by a high degree of load.
Note that training the profession of a tester is a serious matter that will require a lot of effort and concentration on the educational process from you. However, the result is worth it, because after completing the courses of testers, you will receive a specialty that can provide you with a stable income in the future.