Skills required to become a Software Tester

Skills required to become a Software Tester, Manual Testing Knowledge, Programming Knowledge, Database Knowledge, and Domain Knowledge.

Software Testing is the process of evaluating a system or its component(s) with the intent to find whether it meets the specified requirements or not.

Software Testing can be done in two ways, Manual Testing, and Automated Testing.

Skills required to become a Software Tester

Software Testing Subjects:
1. Manual Testing
2. Automation Tools like Selenium, JMeter, etc.

Supporting subjects for Software Testing:
1. Operating Systems knowledge like MS Windows and UNIX, etc.
2. MS Office like documentation package
3. Computer programming
3. Database Knowledge (SQL and NoSQL)

Academic Background

Computer science background academic education is preferable for software testers jobs.

BTech/B.E., MCA, BCA (Bachelor of Computer Applications), BSc- Computers, will land you a job quickly.

If you do not hold any of these degrees, then you must complete a software testing certification like ISTQB and CSTE which help you learn Software Development/Test Life Cycle and other testing methodologies.


I. Technical Skills:

1. Manual Testing Skills:

Knowledge on SDLC, STLC, Test Levels, Test Types, and Test Design Techniques, etc.

2. Knowledge and hands-on experience of Automation tool:

If you see yourself as an “Automation tester” after a couple of years working on manual testing, then you must master a tool and get in-depth, hands-on knowledge of automation tools.

Ex: Selenium, JMeter, etc.

3. Knowledge of any programming language like Java, Python, VBScript, JavaScript, C# is always helpful as a tester if you are looking for a job into automation.

4. Basic knowledge of Database/SQL:

Software Systems have a large amount of data in the background. This data is stored in different types of databases like Oracle, MS SQL Server, MySQL, etc. in the backend. So, there will be situations when this data needs to be validated.

5. Basic knowledge of Linux commands:

Most of the software applications like Web-Services, Databases, Application Servers are deployed on Linux machines.So it is crucial for testers to have knowledge about Linux commands.

6. Knowledge and hands-on experience of a Test Management Tool:

Test Management is an important aspect of Software testing. Without proper test management techniques, software testing process will fail. Test management is nothing but managing your testing related artifacts.

ALM, Jira, TestLInk, etc.

7. Knowledge and hands-on experience of any Defect Tracking tool:

Defect Tracking and Defect life cycle are key aspects of software testing. It is extremely critical to managing defects properly and track them in a systematic manner. Defect tracking becomes necessary because the entire team should know about the defect including managers, developers, and testers.

Several tools are used to log defects including ALM, Bugzilla, Jira, etc.


II. Non-Technical Skills

1. Analytical skills:

A good software tester should have sharp analytical skills. Analytical skills will help break up a complex software system into smaller units to gain a better understanding and create test cases.

2. Communication skills:

A good software tester must have good verbal and written communication skill. Testing artifacts (like test cases/plans, test strategies, bug reports, etc.) created by the software tester should be easy to read and comprehend.

3. Time Management & Organization Skills:

4. GREAT Attitude

5. Passion

Manual Testing Tutorial

Manual Testing Video

Selenium with Java Tutorial

Selenium with Java Videos

SQL Full Course Video

Python Training Videos

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