Learn these 17 Skills Of Highly Effective Software Testers
Software testing is an essential process for developing the perfect app. But, as a software tester, it is essential to have certain skills which in turn will help with testing the applications better.
Many people and organizations still have a tough time finding the right software tester and it is because of the lack of the required skill set. Today we will look at 17 software testing skills which are essential for any leading software tester.
1. Thought Process
Testing is not as easy as it is often presumed to be! It holds great significance to any software development process. For any software tester, a knack for analytics and logical application of concepts is necessary. When testing software, it is imperative to analyze the given situation and accordingly create a solution for the same. The thought process and right mindset will help break down the problem into parts, making it easy to examine the elements of the problem and its relationships.
2. Reporting and Communication
Testing can be a long and tiring process sometimes requiring the tester to sit down for hours and analyze a certain situation. But, after spending these hours it is crucial to have the right communication sent to the higher authorities. This leads to the correct decisions being taken in terms of the release and timelines. A good report along with effective communication is vital to establish healthy transparency & trust of all the stakeholders as it conveys about all the actions taken, the bugs found, the bugs solved and any other issues encountered.
3. Thorough Understanding & Mapping Of Business Situation
An app or software is launched with a well-structured business model. While the tester is looking for technical aspects post-development, one of the most important software testing skills is the ability to emulate real-time business situations. This process of mentally mapping business scenarios is important as it enables visualization of complex problems.
Each project has user stories that are implemented. These stories describe the type of interaction that happens with the system and the outcome that the system delivers. The outcomes to these interactions must be consistent and testers need to identify various scenarios where the consistency might break.
This makes it essential for testers to understand the boundaries of the system and verify that the impact of various processes on the system produces desirable results.
4. The Glocal Approach
As a tester, it is important to understand individual components of the system and how they interact with each other under given circumstances. The presence of multiple stakeholders in modern businesses makes it tough to understand the complete working of these systems. This needs focussed attention on individual components.
A tester can holistically test the application if he has the ability to detach himself from the system and get an outsider’s perspective. This view of the components will give him a better understanding of the component and any errors in its internal working as well. This is what we call the Glocal approach, monitoring global interaction as well as local working.
5. Automating The Process
As a software tester, while it is essential to have expertise in manual testing, there are times when it is good to rely on automation. During the life cycle of a project, a given module undergoes many changes in implementation. Every release cycle demands for a rigorous phase of testing in order to ensure the system stability. As a best practice, even the minor changes would be followed up by regression testing. This would mean that for each new implementation, the same tests need to be run.
This is one such example of a process where repetition occurs. This is also a classic example of where automation can fit in. Automating tests for cases where there is repetition saves a lot of time for the tester to focus on more complex testing scenarios.
6. The Modern Methodology (DevOps and Agile)
As the name suggests, these technologies support agility and flexibility thus removing role rigidity, lack of accessibility and silos. With increasing complexity of the software being developed and deadlines to follow, testers need to adopt DevOps and Agile to promote the collaborative working environment. This speeds up the testing process and helps get the product out in the market sooner than expected. So, DevOps and Agile need to be among the top few in the most essential software testing skills.
7. Understanding The Code
It is an obsolete belief that only developers need knowledge of programming. In the modern day, even testers need to have basic programming knowledge. This will help understand the working of the application and make it easier to test the same. While testers will not need to code like the developers of the application, but understanding the code will give them an edge while identifying and rectifying errors, thus speeding up the testing process and quality of the final product. It also decreases the possibilities of further bugs and inefficiency.
8. Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
System lifecycle management is an essential contributor to testing cycle planning. For a software tester, it is important to have knowledge of SDLC. It will not only give them insights into the application development process but also help anticipate common complexities which might give them a tough time in the testing process.
Some common technologies which are essential to an application lifetime process include Scrum, Lean, and Kanban among many others. These should be a part of the important software testing skills for any professional to be able to perform better.
9. Project Management
Software testing skills are a combination of technical and professional aspects. And to manage both it is extremely important for any individual to be able to take ownership of the project. As a software tester, being able to manage a project means delivering the project after a complete testing. Project management is an important skill not only because it leads to better management and delivery of results but also because it promotes a sense of responsibility.
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