How to Become a Software QA Expert

Contributed by Craig Kohler

Quality Assurance (or QA) jobs (even in the a single industry like IT) can be more varied in scope and focus than many people realize. The task of a QA expert is not necessarily just to ensure that a product or service being provided is of a high quality, but also to assure the customers of that fact (so it can also be considered part public-relations job).

Further, in particular fields like software engineering, QA professionals may be called upon to engage in any or all levels of the process - from testing basic code to final products, and from rearranging to dismissing members of a software development team.

Virtually any QA job will require at least an associates (if not a bachelor's) degree in at least one related field. However, depending upon what specific kind of QA expert you wish to become, the requirements and skills needed can vary greatly.

If you are going to be involved more on the customer/client side of a company, good communication and marketing skills are a must and a degree in one of these could be the key. If you are instead on the software or product development side of the equation, you may be required to have special knowledge of the particular program languages being used, thus necessitating a degree in computer science.

Regardless of the specific nature of the QA job you are pursuing, however, you will need to have good people skills and the ability to multi-task - as a QA professional is usually more a generalist (as opposed to a specialist). Often QA personnel have to mediate between people in multiple disciplines as at various levels of the corporate hierarchy. So, no matter the specific QA job in question it is essential that you become at least somewhat versed in the various roles, responsibilities, skills and abilities of those you interact with. This will allow you to translate information across a spectrum of departments and disciplines within the company you are working for.

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