Software testing career
The IT industry has a phrase: “Behind every great software developer, there is an equally great software tester.” Today the world has a shortage of both software developers and software testers. As more software is being built, more testers are needed. As software products are getting larger and more complex, software testers’ skills are becoming more sophisticated. Especially testers are needed to make consumer products easy to use with no defect. If you are students who love video games and can play Xbox all day, games testing can be a career for you too.
Today company is relying more on Information technology (IT) than few years ago. For every software developer they hire, they also hire a software tester as well. About 40% of people who work at software companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Facebook are testers. A software manager explains: “Having skilled testers is like buying insurance. Since software product is never perfect, you need to test it to make sure customers do not complain. If you are owner of an on-line store, you do not want to see your website crash that is why you have to hire good testers. If you do business on-line, you do not want virus or malicious software get in, that is why you have to hire good testers.”
Few years ago, most testers can be quickly trained in about one to two years. Vocational schools’ two-year programs or even six months certificated testing were good enough to get jobs in IT industry. That market has changed quickly in recent years as software is getting larger and more complex. There is an increasing need of highly skilled testers, especially in the areas of consumer products and financial services. With the popular of telecommunication devices, such as smart phones and more mobile business (m-business), users demand quality software, and highly skilled testers with a college degree is now in high demand. A senior manager explained: “Many bank are using automated ATM and ERP systems, these are complex software products that require highly skilled testers, and we cannot have someone with few months training touch them. They may fix one bug but create five more bugs in the system.”
Telecommunication companies are hiring more testers due to explosion of smart phones and tablets. A manager said: “Everybody is using smart phone today, it is not just a phone but also a computer. People talk, takes pictures, search the web, ask for directions, play games, schedule meetings, and buy things on-line using their smart phones. Each phone has hundred mobile apps and if they have bugs or shutdown, it would be a disaster so we have to test everything. Each phone may have million lines of code so there is no way testers with few months training can work on it. We only hire workers with at least college degree in Computer Science or Software Engineering and specialize in software testing. Today a graduate in Computer Science or Software Engineering specializes in testing can make $92,000 to $105,000 a year.
There are many opportunities for people who like to test complex things such as mobile devices or medical equipments. There is a growing demand for skilled tester because these complex products. For example product that has multiple programming languages, software that interfaces with other software programs, software that requires high level of security, and software that connect several devices together. For many years, software testing is taught as one single course in Computer Science or Software Engineering program, but it is changing to a specialized area that has several courses such as, Telecommunication testing, Large Scale testing, Security testing, and Devices testing etc.
While software testing involves mostly the testing software products but there is another aspect of testing that attract a lot of students today: Video game testing. A student exclaims: “It is too good to be true. You can play with video games all day and get paid a lot of money for doing it.” It is true; most video game companies have urgent need for game testers. These people must verify the interfaces and integrity of the game components and demonstrates that these software components meet their design and technical requirements. Entry level testers must play every game for months to make sure that the game works the way it is designed. A game manager explains: “No one can play the same game days after days, weeks after weeks and not go crazy. There are a numbers of tester would do that and we have to pay them a lot of money.” However, after few years most of these testers would move up and become game developers then ultimately game designers. Video game designer is the “Rock star” of game and they are treated with respect and have many fans. If movie fans love their movie stars, video game players know their game designers and often buy their new games all the times. Game designer is a very special highly skills that require a lot of creativity but you must start as game testers first. Today video games are hot business that makes a lot of money. Video game companies like Disney, Fox and EA have a lot of jobs opportunity because of the growth of sales in video games. Videogame is a new industry that grows faster than any industry and as it grows, it needs more developers and testers.
Students who want to pursue a career in software testing must understand the entire software development process and how it fits into the business approach. They must understand software methods and tools but most of all, they must have good soft-skills because testing requires both communication skills and diplomatic skills. They have to maintaining good relationship with developers and managers.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
