Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 196,300 people employed as software quality assurance analysts and testers in the United States. The median annual salary is $98,220. Entry level employees earn approximately $48,960 per year and senior employees earn approximately $153,250 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Perform initial debugging procedures by reviewing configuration files, logs, or code pieces to determine breakdown source.
• Evaluate or recommend software for testing or bug tracking.
• Coordinate user or third-party testing.
• Collaborate with field staff or customers to evaluate or diagnose problems and recommend possible solutions.
• Visit beta testing sites to evaluate software performance.
• Monitor program performance to ensure efficient and problem-free operations.
• Identify program deviance from standards, and suggest modifications to ensure compliance.
• Develop or specify standards, methods, or procedures to determine product quality or release readiness.
• Design or develop automated testing tools.
• Investigate customer problems referred by technical support.
• Conduct historical analyses of test results.
• Install and configure recreations of software production environments to allow testing of software performance.
• Design test plans, scenarios, scripts, or procedures.
• Document software defects, using a bug tracking system, and report defects to software developers.
• Conduct software compatibility tests with programs, hardware, operating systems, or network environments.
• Test system modifications to prepare for implementation.
• Monitor bug resolution efforts and track successes.
• Review software documentation to ensure technical accuracy, compliance, or completeness, or to mitigate risks.
• Provide feedback and recommendations to developers on software usability and functionality.
• Update automated test scripts to ensure currency.
• Create or maintain databases of known test defects.
• Install, maintain, or use software testing programs.
• Identify, analyze, and document problems with program function, output, online screen, or content.
• Develop testing programs that address areas such as database impacts, software scenarios, regression testing, negative testing, error or bug retests, or usability.
• Participate in product design reviews to provide input on functional requirements, product designs, schedules, or potential problems.
• Document test procedures to ensure replicability and compliance with standards.
• Plan test schedules or strategies in accordance with project scope or delivery dates.

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