Behind successful IT products, the hands and minds of developers are always highlighted as the backbone and lifeblood of a software project. However, QA Engineer helps to correct the errors and improve products to bring to users, always being a silent contribution.
Why is there a QA Engineer in IT Market position?
The need for high-quality software is growing, and as a result, the position of a QA Engineer has never been more crucial. A QA engineer's main duty is to make sure that software products are adequately tested and adhere to the necessary quality standards before being made available on the market. In order to guarantee client pleasure and preserve a company's reputation in the marketplace, this is essential.
A QA Engineer is essential to the process of developing software. In order to find possible problems and flaws in the program, they collaborate closely with developers, designers, and other stakeholders. To make sure the software is functioning as planned, they carry out many sorts of testing, including functional, performance, usability, and security testing. Additionally, they record their results and offer the development team comments to help them make the required adjustments.
In the IT industry, the value of a QA Engineer cannot be emphasized. They perform essential job to guarantee the dependability, effectiveness, and user-friendliness of software products. They are in charge of finding mistakes and flaws that might have detrimental effects like system failures or data breaches. Their job makes sure that software meets client requirements and lowers the possibility of expensive mistakes.
Additionally, in today's quick-paced environment, QA Engineers play an increasingly significant role. The need for QA Engineers who can keep up with the pace of development is expanding quickly as more businesses adopt Agile approaches. Short development cycles and prompt response to developers are requirements for a QA engineer. To work well with other team members, they must also have excellent communication skills.
QA Definition
Quality assurance (QA) is a methodical procedure that makes sure the product or service that is provided to a client satisfies the agreed-upon performance, reliability, design, and maintainability requirements. To prevent quality problems and protect the integrity of the product or service throughout its development, QA entails setting rules, standards, and processes. The QA team is involved in all phases of a product's creation, from manufacture and testing through packing and delivery.
QA (abbreviation of Quality Assurance) is the person responsible for ensuring product quality through putting forth workflows with related parties.
In general, QA Engineer is a specialist whose job it is to guarantee that software products work as intended and are error-free. To make sure that the software development and distribution process adheres to the same standards, methods, and testing criteria, QA Engineers collaborate with developers, project managers, and product managers. Their primary duty is to inspect the product for flaws and test it to see whether it fits standards.
QA engineers manage the complete software development, testing, and design process in addition to performing testing. They serve as the go-between for managers, clients, and developers, speaking with managers and clients to comprehend their needs and keep them informed of the development process. They thoroughly comprehend the software's function before moving on to the design and development phase.
Additionally, QA Engineers collaborate closely with project managers to support scheduling, resource allocation, and project planning. At each level of the software development and distribution lifecycle, they make sure that quality is maintained.
Some companies use QA instead of QC (Quality Control) so many people confuse QA with QC. Therefore, a number of roles appear in the labor market such as PQA (Process Quality Assurance) and SQA (Software Quality Assurance).
QA Engineer Career
The main tasks of QA Engineer are:
Proposing and developing a product development process in accordance with the specific requirements of each project. These processes can be developed based on V-model or Angile (mostly Scrum or Lean Development). Or through the application of existing management processes such as ISO or CMMI.
Provide documents, forms and instructions to ensure the quality of products for all parts of the product development team.
Check and audit the process’ implementation of the parts in the team making product whether to correct the proposed QA process or not.
Remind the product development team to comply the proposed workflow.
Adjust, change the process to suit each product, which the teams is implementing.
What are the benefits and drawbacks of becoming a quality assurance professional?
Positive aspects of QA work:
Opportunity to enhance product quality: QA engineers have the chance to enhance product quality by becoming experts in a variety of technologies while also delving deeply into the specifics of the product.
Specializations: You may put your abilities to use in a variety of sectors as a QA engineer.
Serving as a liaison between the customer and development teams: QA engineers comprehend how each component of the program fits into the overall project and modify test plans to satisfy client needs.
Market and consumer demand research: QA engineers put in time learning about the market and customer demand so they can understand the proper motivation behind the application.
Drawbacks of a QA role:
Work that is repetitive, especially early in a career, is the principal drawback of the occupation. Executing manual test cases and collaborating with documentation are particularly common tasks for QA positions.
The requirement for rigorous attention to detail, on the other hand, is a drawback of working in quality assurance and can be difficult for some individuals. To make sure they don't overlook any problems that can have a detrimental influence on the product, QA must adhere to the test strategy. In order to uncover faults that need to be addressed, QA must have patience and perseverance. Additionally, some businesses could not recognize QA testers adequately or might not offer a clear career path for testers.
Type of QA Tester
In many small and medium companies, they do not specify a clear PQA position. QC Manager/Leader will be in charge of making workflows between related parties. Once that process is approved by management, it will be maintained and applied to the project.
This is a very important position for teams making products. Therefore, ordinarily, only large outsourcing companies such as KMS, Harvey Nash, and FPT Software … have just recruited PQA positions and only 2 -3 people for all teams making products. The rest, most software companies often recruit SQA (often called QC).
The purpose of QA is to prevent problems throughout development by verifying techniques. Is a more comprehensive, "all-hands" approach to creating standards and processes aimed at assuring high-quality engineering practices. Are measures made to guarantee that development methods are carried out correctly.
QC is more reactive, focusing on discovering and correcting product flaws. Is a corrective approach that entails the direct execution of a software product, functional testing, and the execution of a set of particular test cases. Is often done independently and after quality assurance activities. Is a validation activity rather than a verification activity.
Relationship between QA and QC: QC process receives input from QA process, QA receives feedback from QC and performs validating operational process.
For instance, the project team would correct the issue (QC) and provide input to the QA team if they discovered a mistake while the project was being carried out. The error's root cause must be identified, and a fix or preventative measure must be devised by the QA Engineer to ensure that it doesn't occur again. When this method is revised, the QC Team will adhere to the new procedure.
QA Engineer Skills and Improvement
By assuring the software's efficiency and quality, a QA engineer is crucial to the development of software. To be effective in their position, QA engineers should have a blend of soft and hard talents.
Soft skills, which include good communication, empathy, and attention to detail, are crucial for QA engineers. They should be able to perceive problems from several angles, including those of the customer, the developer, and other testers. Furthermore, in order to properly convey test findings, problem reports, and improvement ideas, QA engineers need to have great communication skills.
Hard skills, on the other hand, are equally essential for a QA engineer. Knowledge of software testing and A/B testing tools, as well as proficiency in computer programming languages including C#, Java, JavaScript, and Python, are required. Engineers in quality assurance (QA) should be familiar with IDE software and debugging tools.
In addition, a QA engineer's job is heavily dependent on analytical abilities. They must be able to notice a system's and product's strengths as well as any possible shortcomings.
Additionally, a key talent for any QA engineer is the capacity to solve problems creatively and independently.
Resources that are useful for learning QA Engineer (PQA):
CMMI Wikipedia: source of information about CMMI certification needed for PQA.
Wibas: detailed instructions about the work of PQA and some references.
CMMI Consultant Blog: full information about CMMI certificate and PQA work.
Timerville Timerville: a very detailed article about 7 steps to do PQA work.
Quality Assurance and Measurement: Detailed instructions on the steps to perform PQA and documents.
Source: Internet