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Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Develop and execute software tests to identify software problems and their causes. Test system modifications to prepare for implementation. Document software and application defects using a bug tracking system and report defects to software or web developers. Create and maintain databases of known defects. May participate in software design reviews to provide input on functional requirements, operational characteristics, product designs, and schedules.

Related: Computer Systems Analysts Computer Systems Engineers/Architects Penetration Testers Software Developers Validation Engineers

Industries: Professional, Science, & Technical Media & Communication Finance & Insurance

Summary
Details

Create or maintain databases of known test defects.
Install and configure recreations of software production environments to allow testing of software performance.
Participate in product design reviews to provide input on functional requirements, product designs, schedules, or potential problems.
Identify, analyze, and document problems with program function, output, online screen, or content.
Design or develop automated testing tools.
Evaluate or recommend software for testing or bug tracking.
Investigate customer problems referred by technical support.
Conduct software compatibility tests with programs, hardware, operating systems, or network environments.
Identify, analyze, and document problems with program function, output, online screen, or content.
Install, maintain, or use software testing programs.
Test system modifications to prepare for implementation.
Provide feedback and recommendations to developers on software usability and functionality.
Monitor bug resolution efforts and track successes.
Review software documentation to ensure technical accuracy, compliance, or completeness, or to mitigate risks.
Collaborate with field staff or customers to evaluate or diagnose problems and recommend possible solutions.
Identify program deviance from standards, and suggest modifications to ensure compliance.
Document software defects, using a bug tracking system, and report defects to software developers.
Develop or specify standards, methods, or procedures to determine product quality or release readiness.
Perform initial debugging procedures by reviewing configuration files, logs, or code pieces to determine breakdown source.
Develop testing programs that address areas such as database impacts, software scenarios, regression testing, negative testing, error or bug retests, or usability.
Conduct historical analyses of test results.
Monitor program performance to ensure efficient and problem-free operations.
Conduct software compatibility tests with programs, hardware, operating systems, or network environments.
Identify program deviance from standards, and suggest modifications to ensure compliance.
Evaluate or recommend software for testing or bug tracking.
Identify, analyze, and document problems with program function, output, online screen, or content.
Document test procedures to ensure replicability and compliance with standards.
Monitor bug resolution efforts and track successes.
Collaborate with field staff or customers to evaluate or diagnose problems and recommend possible solutions.
Perform initial debugging procedures by reviewing configuration files, logs, or code pieces to determine breakdown source.
Design test plans, scenarios, scripts, or procedures.
Update automated test scripts to ensure currency.
Visit beta testing sites to evaluate software performance.
Plan test schedules or strategies in accordance with project scope or delivery dates.
Plan test schedules or strategies in accordance with project scope or delivery dates.
Document software defects, using a bug tracking system, and report defects to software developers.
Coordinate user or third-party testing.

Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.

English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

128270/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

61.67/hr

Currently Employed

229,200

Yearly Projected Openings

15000

Investigative: 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
Cooperation
Integrity
Adaptability/Flexibility
Dependability

Central processing unit CPU processors
Computer servers
Desktop computers
Digital cameras
Flash memory storage card
High end computer servers
Integrated circuit testers
Mainframe computers
Network routers
Notebook computers
Personal computers

Access software
Accounting software
Administration software
Analytical or scientific software
Application server software
Backup or archival software
Business intelligence and data analysis software
Cloud-based data access and sharing software
Cloud-based management software
Clustering software
Communications server software
Computer aided design CAD software
Computer based training software
Configuration management software
Content workflow software
Customer relationship management CRM software
Data base management system software
Data base reporting software
Data base user interface and query software
Data mining software
Desktop communications software
Desktop publishing software
Development environment software
Device drivers or system software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Enterprise application integration software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Enterprise system management software
Expert system software
File versioning software
Filesystem software
Financial analysis software
Geographic information system
Graphical user interface development software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Human resources software
Industrial control software
Information retrieval or search software
Instant messaging software
Internet browser software
Internet protocol IP multimedia subsystem software
Medical software
Metadata management software
Network conferencing software
Network monitoring software
Network operation system software
Network security and virtual private network VPN equipment software
Object or component oriented development software
Object oriented data base management software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Platform interconnectivity software
Portal server software
Presentation software
Process mapping and design software
Program testing software
Project management software
Requirements analysis and system architecture software
Spreadsheet software
Storage networking software
Transaction security and virus protection software
Transaction server software
Video conferencing software
Video creation and editing software
Web page creation and editing software
Web platform development software
Word processing software

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Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers

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