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Software Testing Career

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  • 28-04-2014 11:33am
    #1
    Tranquillity
    Registered Users Posts: 13 ✭


    Hello,
    I reached a point in my career where I need a change to see a raise in my salary.
    I would like to be a software tester, I saw that with 4 years experience they offer you 45.000-55.000€.
    The point is, what course should I do? I don't have a degree, and I hope I don't need it because I would need too much time.
    Are there courses intended to become software testers, maximum 1 year long?

    Thank you :)


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    #2
    jester77
    Registered Users Posts: 11,262 ✭✭✭✭jester77


    I'm not sure you would get too far without any experience and a degree, probably not impossible but would be very difficult. Your chances would be easier if you had one or both. To get the wage you quoted you would need some development experience to be able to read code and write automated tests with tools like Selenium. ISTQB certification is now something that a lot of companies require. You could look into getting certified, but it would be difficult without some previous experience.


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    #3
    junior_apollo
    Registered Users Posts: 740 ✭✭✭junior_apollo


    I have worked in the industry now for close to 10 years, and the salary you are referring to would not by typical for 4 years experience, without qualifications.

    The starting salary has reduced significantly in QA (Quality Assurance) in the last number of years. We hire graduates or unskilled QA members within the range of 22k - 28k depending on the other skills they have.

    A minimum requirement nowadays for QA starters (for a higher starting salary) would be the ISEB Certificate in Software Testing (Foundation), but we would expect a degree in computing or similar qualifications also.

    Junior to mid-level Test managers would be earning the salary you refer to below... and they would have gone through a number of roles before getting to that salary (and experience)(a lot of these grades are called various titles but something similar to this would be typical in the QA world):

    Test/QA Engineer
    Test/QA Analyst
    Snr. Test/QA Analyst
    Test/QA Team Lead
    Snr. Test/QA Team Lead
    Test/QA Manager (junior)
    Test/QA Manager (mid - senior)
    Principle QA
    QA Architect

    Now don't get me wrong... you could get lucky and move up the ranks faster, but typically it would help to have a degree in a related field to start on a much higher starting salary also.

    Developers would start on a higher salary than QA would, but there is a slower progress through the ranks with developers in my experience (because of the amount of experience needed I guess)

    In short, a software tester is not a shortcut to a big salary, the salary only comes with experience and time served in the lower ranks as it would in any industry.

    What industry are you currently working in? (is it a related field?), as that would help also... but I know people working in QA 10+ years who are not yet on the sort of salary you speak of... they are still at the Snr. QA Analyst level and wont be on that salary for another 3-4 years I would expect.


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    #4
    Tranquillity
    Registered Users Posts: 13 ✭Tranquillity


    Do you suggest a degree then?


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    #5
    junior_apollo
    Registered Users Posts: 740 ✭✭✭junior_apollo


    Tranquillity wrote: »
    Do you suggest a degree then?

    What industry are you currently working in? (is it a related field?), as that would help also...

    Personally... yes, I would recommend a degree to anyone getting involved with any aspect of computing in general... and then the more relevant the degree to the area of computing the better.

    But even with a degree (say 4 years) you might only be making the difference between starting on €27K as apposed to €23K... you would still not realise €45k-€50k for quite a number of years (plus the 4 to get your degree).


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    #6
    Tranquillity
    Registered Users Posts: 13 ✭Tranquillity


    Atm I am working in administration, and my salary is 19.000. So, even starting with a 23.000 and having 28.000 as maximum would be an improvement.
    I studied developing, short courses, but I never worked in the field.


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    #7
    junior_apollo
    Registered Users Posts: 740 ✭✭✭junior_apollo


    Tranquillity wrote: »
    Atm I am working in administration, and my salary is 19.000. So, even starting with a 23.000 and having 28.000 as maximum would be an improvement.
    I studied developing, short courses, but I never worked in the field.

    Well the Foundation Certificate mentioned above might be enough to get you a graduate/unskilled QA role as an engineer... it would be a training course followed by an exam. It outlines the basic testing skills and approach to testing needed.

    The majority of test roles from that then would be for body-shops, companies who recruit you and then outsource you to client company for work. I am not sure what the pay-scales are with these companies anymore but I would say they are not a million miles away from the starting salaries mentioned above either.

    The problem there is that movement up the ladder is difficult, qualifications are still the best way to do this, but become harder as you would be working and studying at the same time.

    If it's the development path you want to pursue I am not too sure of what the minimum requirements would be... I would suspect full qualification like a degree or similar...


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    #8
    junior_apollo
    Registered Users Posts: 740 ✭✭✭junior_apollo


    From your original post I pick up that you want a career with decent money fast...

    If that is the ultimate goal... then my advice is that QA is not the career to follow... it does have decent money in the higher up ranks.. but it can take a long time to get there.

    QA is the career of someone who is passionate about quality at the end of the day, needs to be very pedantic, thorough and meticulous.


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    #9
    Tranquillity
    Registered Users Posts: 13 ✭Tranquillity


    I was thinking about this career because I worked for 2 years as game tester and I simply LOVED the job.
    I did only localization testing, functional testing was sporadic, but I would have loved functional testing.


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    #10
    wes
    Registered Users Posts: 11,747 ✭✭✭✭wes


    I would recommend an Computer Science degree tbh. In my place, we would require that (there are exceptions of course, but best bet is a Computer Science degree).

    As for ISTQB, from what I have heard, it doesn't have the best reputation.

    It took me quite a while to hit the salary levels that the OP mentioned. Did a 4 year Computer Science degree, and 8 years experience, largely in QA roles, but I have done some dev work as well in the past. Being able to script/code is a huge plus as well. Depending on the place, also some sys admin stuff would be good too, especially if the QA team looks after there own lab setup.


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    #11
    Tranquillity
    Registered Users Posts: 13 ✭Tranquillity


    ISTQB lasts only 3 days.
    Is it really enough to enter software testing field without experience nor a degree?


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    #12
    wes
    Registered Users Posts: 11,747 ✭✭✭✭wes


    Tranquillity wrote: »
    ISTQB lasts only 3 days.
    Is it really enough to enter software testing field without experience nor a degree?

    Honestly, unless you have relevant experience, I would say that you would have a hard time. Most place require a degree or work experience for even entry level positions from what I can see. Everyone where I am working now has a minimum of a 4 year degree (either Computer Science or related), and it was the same every where else (again there are exceptions).


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    #13
    Hiddden
    Registered Users Posts: 106 ✭✭Hiddden


    junior_apollo wrote: »
    What industry are you currently working in? (is it a related field?), as that would help also...

    Personally... yes, I would recommend a degree to anyone getting involved with any aspect of computing in general... and then the more relevant the degree to the area of computing the better.

    But even with a degree (say 4 years) you might only be making the difference between starting on €27K as apposed to €23K... you would still not realise €45k-€50k for quite a number of years (plus the 4 to get your degree).

    I'm bringing up this topic rather than making a new one. I've been offered a QA engineering job for around 13 euro an hour. If we consider 8 working hours a day and 21 days a month, then it's 26,200 p/a before tax. I wonder if this is a reasonable wage, since I have the feeling that it's some sort of underpayment.


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    #14
    c_man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,436 ✭✭✭c_man


    For a Grad role?


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    #15
    Hiddden
    Registered Users Posts: 106 ✭✭Hiddden


    I have a software engineering bachelor's and have worked in IT (development, support, etc.) for over five years now, hadn't worked as a QA before, though.


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    #16
    The_B_Man
    Registered Users Posts: 7,859 ✭✭✭The_B_Man


    If it helps, in my current place, a graduate QA starts on 28k. Graduate devs start on 32k.
    Thats people who have a 4 years degree and no experience. For a grad, this is basically pushing the upper limit of salary straight out of college.


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    #17
    Hiddden
    Registered Users Posts: 106 ✭✭Hiddden


    Ok... But as I mentioned, I'm not a grad. I have years of experience in IT and this job would be something like 33.6k. :-/


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    #18
    Raging_Ninja
    Registered Users Posts: 1,717 ✭✭✭Raging_Ninja


    Hiddden wrote: »
    Ok... But as I mentioned, I'm not a grad. I have years of experience in IT and this job would be something like 33.6k. :-/

    Then why do you want to do QA? With your experience you ought to be able to get something better.


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    #19
    Hiddden
    Registered Users Posts: 106 ✭✭Hiddden


    Raging_Ninja wrote: »
    Then why do you want to do QA? With your experience you ought to be able to get something better.

    Well, that's why I'm here to ask the question. I'm new in Ireland, and I don't know what the average/good income is for someone in IT with several years of experience.

    Also, is QA a grad job most of the time? This is my first time doing a QA job. I'm doing it pretty good, without much of training of course, however I don't know what level of job this is. I've switched from development which is pretty well-paid but too tough as well. I wanted some change...


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    #20
    ambasite
    Registered Users Posts: 598 ✭✭✭ambasite


    Hiddden wrote: »
    Ok... But as I mentioned, I'm not a grad. I have years of experience in IT and this job would be something like 33.6k. :-/

    That seems to be very low for for a QA role. What type of application? The last QA role I had in Ireland was in 2009 - 35k Euro.


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    #21
    Hiddden
    Registered Users Posts: 106 ✭✭Hiddden


    Various software (localization) testing for the moment based on the test cases, and later on, multilingual game testing that would involve going through the linguistic plus other bugs. I'm truly annoyed at myself! :-/


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