Qualities you need to be a Good Software Tester
Today, a single software defect that is not caught before it is released can cost millions of dollars to fix or cause millions of dollars of errors. Good software testers are in greater demand as more and more companies recognize this fact.
The problem is in how to be a good software tester. Skills and training can only take somebody part of the way. Dedication, a deep understanding of the programmer and designers responsibilities and being very well organized will make up the rest.
The first part, skill and training is often covered through formal degree programs. Most companies looking for testers want to see a two-year degree as a minimum, and many job postings look for a four-year degree or more. Usually, this will be in a technical field of study - computer science, information systems or engineering. Even with a degree, most testers also receive training in the specific tools they will be using for testing. This training may range from a few days to a few weeks of classroom and hands-on experience.
Dedication is the second qualification. A good software tester is not satisfied with finding a workaround or a way to avoid the problem. They want to figure out the root cause. This will require more than just finding a way to duplicate an issue. It involves finding out the limits of the problem as well. So, once an issue is found, it is painstaking work to expand the range of the issue to find the limiting conditions that trigger it. In some cases, especially when the problem seems to be random, this will be very frustrating.
Understanding the responsibilities of the designer and programmer also play huge in being a good tester. Knowing the decisions made behind the design and implementation of the product will allow a tester to specifically design his efforts to target potential problem areas. This can be down to the level of knowing the modularization of the program and the public and private members of each module. It will also include knowing the call sequence and relationships between the modules. Depending on the language, other areas of concern will also come up. The more you know about those other jobs, the better you will be able to perform your responsibilities.
Lastly, being well organized is critical. With the complexity of today's software, adequate testing will span hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of different tests. Setting up those tests, finding patterns in the results, and evaluating the effectiveness and thoroughness of the testing will each require an extreme amount of organization. Tracking the myriad bugs that you will discover and ensuring that they have been fixed without causing new issues demands the ability to monitor dozens to hundreds of items simultaneously.
Being a good software tester is a difficult task and will often come without a lot of thanks or praise from the people who you help the most. In the end, helping to produce a large scale, highly complex product that does what it is supposed to is an awesome feeling and makes the long, tedious days worth all of the effort. Who knows, you might even get a pat on the back and a big thank you from the developers and designers you helped out.
