5 Things to Consider Before Hiring a Software Tester
When it comes to software development, ensuring you hire the right software tester can mean the difference between costly bugs or delays and a successful product launch. Sure, anyone can give their opinions on what features they think are missing, what could be improved, or how the product should work. However, only a software tester has the real knowledge and experience required to ensure the product’s success.
The great news? You do not have to be a tester yourself to hire one if your firm lacks a prodigy. And the greater news? We’re about to go over 5 key considerations that’ll help you evaluate potential software testers to ensure you pick the right candidate for your team.
Evaluate Their Hard Skills
A great software tester (aka a quality assurance engineer) should be familiar with an array of automation and debugging tools like WinDbg, GDB, TestNG, JUnit, and Selenium. Depending on the requirements of the project, the right software tester for your company will also need an in-depth understanding of a specific programming language (be it C#, Java, or Python.)
These hard skills will allow them to efficiently and timely write automated tests, identify and isolate issues, and speed up the whole testing process.
You may also want to ask the potential hire about their approach to software testing and familiarity with different testing methodologies (like model-based testing, formal verification, or agile testing.)
Asking this will help you assess each tester’s comprehension of each methodology’s strengths and weaknesses, which will, in turn, help you confirm whether their approach aligns with your firm’s goals and processes.
That said, do not dismiss the potential tester’s soft skills, as these will make the overall work clear and smother. Even worse, a software tester without the right soft skills could end up slipping the whole team’s motivation.
Some soft skills that are a must-consider include analytical or systemative thinking, attention to detail & meticulousness, and diligence. They’ll also need to be patient, as it often takes a lot for testers to find all the bugs in a software program.
Domain Knowledge
In this context, domain knowledge refers to one’s deep understanding of the specific area or industry in which your company’s software will be operating. Hiring a software tester with in-depth domain knowledge will have several benefits, the first being risk identification.
A tester with sufficient domain knowledge is perfectly equipped to identify potential risks that might not be apparent to testers without the same in-depth domain understanding.
The other benefit of domain knowledge has to do with industry standards and regulations. The right software tester should be familiar with any industry-specific standards and regulations that could impact your project. This will allow your development team to ensure the software complies with said requirements and save your company millions in avoided regulatory fines.
Costs
Examine the cost thoroughly while picking a software tester. Bringing a software tester in-house is an expensive endeavor that’ll cost you around $91,000 on the low end in the United States. If you’re a start-up or small business, this could leave you unable to compete with larger competitors in terms of quality.
An affordable option you can explore is outsourcing testing to companies like JayDevs or independent software testers with diverse ranges of expertise. This will not only allow you to go for great candidates with extensive experience and knowledge, but it could also help lower costs in other domains of your software development project, such as coding-related updates.
Flexibility and Attitude
Your software tester’s flexibility and attitude will make or break your relationship. Remember, software development can be a dynamic and fast-paced space with tight deadlines and changing requirements. As such, you must find a tester that can work well under pressure and won’t shy away from last-minute changes and developments.
Better yet, a great software tester needs the ability to prioritize their work accordingly and continuously stay up-to-date with the industry’s new testing tools, best practices, and emerging testing techniques. All this will be impossible if your software tester doesn’t have a positive attitude.
Communication and Interpersonal Skills
Effective communication is essential to the success of any software testing project. The tester you settle on ought to be able to articulate their testing results and provide constructive feedback that’ll be helpful to the development team.
A great software tester will also be required to be able to communicate efficiently with non-technical stakeholders within the organization and do it clearly and concisely even when communicating complex technical issues. These non-technical stakeholders include business analysts and project managers who’ll need to understand the test results’ implications on the project.
Interpersonal skills, on the other hand, refer to personal abilities and attributes that enable one to effectively interact and build relationships with others. Needless to say, such skills are essential in a variety of professional contexts as they’ll help your software developer to build trust and effectively negotiate, collaborate, and resolve conflicts.
Indicators of great Interpersonal skills you should watch out for include leadership, empathy, active listening, and empathy.
Conclusion
Altogether, your software tester will be one of the most important members of your development team. The software testing process will help sort out any potential issues so your product is its best possible creation version when it’s sent to the market. This will, in turn, increase your brand reach and help you foster a stronger reputation with your potential customers.
With that in mind, would you like to seize every potential benefit of quality insurance testing? Use the factors we’ve highlighted above to find the right professionals you can trust to help you check your programs for any problems.
