What's fortunate is that with software testing QA, you normally don't need any sort of degree to get this type of job. In fact, high school and college students can do this type of work if they have some knowledge of computers. Pay is variable, but it's a great way to make some money and get some experience at the same time; this is a good job to have, for example, if you are going to go into some type of computer work, such as becoming a quality assurance analyst, and want to be able to claim some previous experience.
What do you do when you engage in software testing QA?
With software testing QA, you deliberately try to make computer programs malfunction; this is necessary because program developers need to know how computer users who AREN'T savvy might do things to programs that will make them crash. Therefore, you put yourself in the shoes of a newbie computer user with software testing QA, and try to pretend as though you know almost nothing about computers or the program. When error codes or other malfunctions come up, you make careful notes about them so that developers know what they have to fix.
Again, you don't normally need any type of degree to get this type of work, and in fact many developers look for software testing QA technicians who don't have a lot of computer experience; these types of people will make the same mistakes complete newbies to computers will, whereas "experts" will have to think about how to make mistakes and may miss some of the bugs in newer computer programs.
How do you work in software testing QA?
A lot of software testing QA work is done on a freelance basis; this makes it perfect for someone who is home with the kids, going to school full-time or part-time, or working another type of job but wants some computer experience. Some companies also have full-time software testing QA departments, in which case you work for that particular company as a technician instead of on a freelance basis.
Getting jobs in software assessment testing
Internet job banks and job boards on the Internet have these types of positions listed, as to trade magazines. If you're already involved in the computer industry or you know people who are, you can get referrals for these types of positions as well.
Skills you should have in software testing QA
Even though this seems like it would be a fun job to have (and it certainly can be), this is not for someone who's careless or can't follow details very closely. You'll need to keep track of the keystrokes you do when computer programs crash, what you did to make them crash, what error codes came up during the functions, and so on. In short, you're going to take very detailed notes about what happened when you caused certain malfunctions. Developers need very precise information about the bugs that occur in new programs so that they can fix them. Without this type of software assessment testing done before new programs are made available to the public, programs in general would be "buggy" and disastrous for consumers.
What can you expect to be paid for software testing QA?
Pay varies widely for software testing QA, but most is done on a freelance basis and is sometimes done based on previous experience. There is no set industry standard, and some developers, for example, offer free copies of new programs in exchange for this type of testing in lieu of pay. Nonetheless, you can find software testing QA jobs for pay if you look carefully enough.
What's the outlook for software testing QA jobs?
Because new programs are coming out all the time, this type of work is going to be ongoing and always necessary. Therefore, if you do find a niche in software testing QA, this is one of the jobs were you should find yourself in pretty high demand, especially if you freelance.
