Testing is not a profession. It’s a lifestyle which you can’t follow unless you love being part of it.
However, just loving your job as a tester is not enough.
You also need to have some specific skill-sets that differentiate you from others. Something that can include you in the league of elite testers.
So, what are the qualities that make a tester great?
I had the same question in the starting of my job. You might be having the same if you’re a beginner in the field.
But you’re lucky that you can learn from my experience. In this post, I have mentioned some of the traits that we look in a tester.
So, go ahead, check them out, compare yourself, and see if you’re fit for making a lucrative career in testing:
1.Passion for testing
Passion is the first and the most important thing if you want to be a notable tester. Without it, your job will be a timepass. You’ll be earning money but will never be happy.
Moreover, testing is a repetitive job. There will be days when you’ll be running the same testing processes. So, there’s a chance that you might get bored.
Hence before taking the first step towards your profession as a tester, make sure you have this feeling:
2.Out of the box thinking
One outstanding quality of brilliant testers is that they think with a different perception. This is the reason they’re capable of designing test cases and scenarios that are not generally covered during coding.
So if you want to excel in the field, you’ll have to think out of the box and analyze how the product can be made better so that it stands out in the market.
3.Ability to put yourself in a user’s position
Putting yourself in users’ shoes and thinking about how they will use the product and what will be their expectations is never easy.
As we generally have a feeling that our product is good for the user, it becomes difficult for us to figure out if there’s any fault in it.
Hence, to see if the software is meeting client expectations, testers must be specialized in thinking like customers.
4.Good visualization
Visualizing is an ability that differentiates protesters from average testers.
While a regular tester might convinced that a product is complete, a testing expert will always think one step ahead.
He/She will visualize the features, think how the end user will use the product, and then create use case scenarios by that.
So, you have to polish your visualizing skills if you want to make a promising career in testing.
5.Thorough analysis
It’s not just looking at the bigger picture that matters in trial. You also have to pay attention to minor product details.
That’s why for being a tester, you also need to observe, think, and analyze deeply.
6.Eye for detail
It’s not possible to understand a product entirely and carry out testing unless you dive deep into it and explore more and more things.
So, make sure you have a knack for gathering details.
7.Being Suspicious
Suspicion is not generally good quality. However, in testing, it has a plus point.
Just think what will happen if your team submits the product build is saying that there are no flaws, you believe their words and forward it to your client?
If even a single issue found later, the entire reputation of your product will ruined.
So, suspect everything and run through testing so that you don’t make any blunders.
8.Questioning everything
The reasoning is critical in trial.
Without it, it’s not possible to know what the product is all about. Now, if not able to understand the product, how can you perform testing on it?
So, question everything and don’t stop asking until you finally understand the product and run all the tests on it.
9.Protecting quality
Safeguarding the quality of a product is the ultimate goal of testing.
Bright testers always keep this in mind. Hence, they work with complete efforts for ensuring that the quality of a product is not affected while testing it.
Now, when we’re talking about safeguarding the quality, we don’t mean testing the product or finding faults in it. You also have to make sure that the value of the product is not decrease when you run tests on it.
10.Aggressiveness
Let’s think about a situation:
You’re about to test a product. However, to meet the timeline or client demand, stakeholders are asking you to run only some test cases.
What will you do?
Agree with the investors and forward the product after running only a few test case scenarios or tell them that they’re wrong and demand that the product should be thoroughly test?
Well, this moment will decide if you’re a brilliant tester or just a normal one. A great tester will always put the quality of an app on high regards and will never compromise with it.
11.Fluent communication
Communication plays a crucial role.
Imagine what if you’re not able to precisely understand the information conveyed by the client? A wrong product will made, and when it goes live, the whole blame will put on the QA team.
If you really want to avoid such a situation, you will have to work on your communication skills.
Although, by being a good communicator, we don’t mean that testers should have perfect Oxford accent or they should be grammar nazis. They should be able to process the thoughts of other people and convey them in their own words.
12.Expressiveness
We all have opinions and ideas. However, not all of us can express them properly.
Most of us are just scared to convey our thoughts. Just the thought of speaking in a meeting scares the hell out of us.
Now, imagine if you’re a tester and have these fears.
How will you be able to tell developers that there is some bug in their code or explain in a meeting how a product can be improved?
So, you not just need to work on your communication skills but also be confident enough to express your views in front of others.
13.Impressive Problem-solving Skills
As a tester, you should not just be able to detect issues and toss them at developers. Instead, you have to come across as a helping hand and propose a possible solution to them.
This will increase your respect among developers, the management, and you’ll seen as an essential part of the team.
14.Endless Craving for Learning
Learning is an important part of a tester’s life. The day you stop it is the day your downfall starts. So, be aware and up-to-date with the latest happenings across the globe.
This will help you become more creative and innovative with your work and ultimately boost your productivity.
15.Being Open and Flexible to Change
Changes are part and parcel of a tester’s life. It rarely happens that a build is send to the client and he approves it without any modifications.
This sometimes leads to moments when you feel frustrated.
However, a tester should always remember that changes are for the betterment of a product only. They only uplift the standard of its quality.
So, I would suggest you to be open and flexible to change as a tester.
16.Teamwork
You never work alone as a tester. Instead, you work closely with all teams in identifying the problems in a product and figuring out how these issues can resolved.
So, you have to be a team player. You have to keep the quality of a product in mind but should also understand the perception of other teams. This will help you actually to deliver the condition that you’re looking.
17. Maintaining Accuracy
It’s a saying that nothing is 100% accurate. But you can never achieve a good quality if you don’t aim for perfection.
Sometimes you might ignore some factors thinking that they’re not important, but later they turn out to be crucial. So, you would never want to take a chance.
That’s why if you want to make a golden career in testing, make sure you pay special attention towards accuracy.
18.Active Listening Skills
A tester should also have excellent listening skills.
Incorrect or ambiguous messages only lead to confusion, which further result in the wrong product.
If you don’t want that, make sure you listen to the requirements of your customer and the instructions of your managers. As a tester, it’s essential.
19.Clear Sense of Responsibilities
Instead of a job, testing is responsibility: a responsibility to deliver a quality product and a promise of offering the best value to customers. You can’t run away from it.
So, if you want to have a promising profession as a tester, you first need to know your responsibilities well.
20.Hard work
There is a saying:
Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t value hard work.
The meaning is straightforward. No matter how talented tester you are, you can’t grow if you’re not hardworking.
So, hard work is one of the most essential traits of a tester.
In short,
Before beginning your career in any field, you must have an idea if you’re suitable for the area or not. Otherwise, there will only be regrets.
The case with testing is also the same. Without the necessary skills, you can become a tester but can never become an established one. So, it's time that you do some introspection on yourself.
