Quality Analyst Skills|Top 15 qualities to look when hiring

We are living in an Age of Software and more recently in an Age of Global Crisis. The current health pandemic has accelerated organizations to develop critical business applications and solutions to ensure business continuity. Given the crisis, time is of utter essence and so the organizations are looking to rapidly develop applications to support their business processes. Rapid development without compromising on the Quality of the application? Are we serious? Yes, we are!

So, what does this mean to the Test Analysts and Engineers? How is the crisis going to affect the Software Testing Industry? What are the skills that a Software QA must hone to survive? Also, how are the Senior Executives like the CTOs and QA Managers redrafting their expectations while Hiring a QA or a QA Team?

We sure can agree to the fact that a Quality Analyst Engineer is not just responsible for the quality of the Software but also responsible for the quality of the system and the processes that revolve around it. With so many things at stake, what is it that any organization should actually consider before hiring a QA? Here are the Top 15 qualities to look for before hiring a Quality Analyst Engineer:

1). Verbal Communication

One of the fundamental skills that a QA Engineer must possess is the ability to communicate effectively. A lot of Software Test Engineering involves working in collaboration with various teams to discuss the nature of development or what could be a possible solution to an existing blocker. This proves that the Human facet of this job is as critical as the technical facet. Right from explaining the logged-bug to a developer to discussing with the project manager about the scope of testing-the-new-module, a QA Engineer is constantly required to communicate. The ability to express their thoughts to anybody at any given point of time is something that excellent Test Engineers possess.

2). Problem Solving ability

The ability to solve problems at each stage of development is what makes for an excellent QA. It is important to identify a problem and then break it into several parts to evaluate the problem. Quite often it is observed that an Analyst starts to solve a problem only to realize halfway that the actual problem is not what they thought it was. Similarly, there could be a problematic situation while executing dynamic test cases through automation. Just because these test cases did not pose a problem while manually testing the system does not imply that they would be safe to be automated. Hire a Software Tester who holds the ability to solve the problems that could arise out of these situations. Simple!

3). Good Aptitude

It is a proven fact that candidates with decent aptitude are more likely to perform better in technical jobs than their counterparts with a lower aptitude. Aptitude helps in determining if the Tester has what it takes to achieve the objectives of the team. The possession of a good aptitude would enable the Tester to be innovative in their approach. This could result in them formulating never thought of solutions to the problems that arise in the project. To hire a functional tester, it is imperative for the organization to validate their aptitude.

4). Analytical Skills

An instinct for logic and analysis of the source of what-could-be-a-potential-threat to the successful execution of tests is something that should be considered while planning to hire an Automation Tester. Constantly voicing questions result in the reception of solutions in the form of Analysis. Reasoning after carefully analyzing could determine the accuracy and validity of an application. Being an analytical thinker also makes the candidate learn actively about the application. In a candidate, if you happen to spot the potential to learn and think, then they would be the right fit for you.

5). Analytical Intelligence

The analytical ability to break down a problem into further smaller components to analyze it is commonly referred to as Analytical Intelligence. To solve any problem, it first needs to be identified. Post identification, the problem could then be attempted with various strategies in order to solve it. This basic law is applicable throughout the development lifecycle. The reason why Analytical Intelligence is considered important is that solving a complex technical problem requires logical reasoning, interpreting the possible cause of the problem while creatively thinking to find novel solutions.

6). Knowledge of Software Development Life Cycle

That any Tom, Rick, and Harry can do Software Testing is a fallacy. You need to have a thorough knowledge of the Software Development Life cycle before even thinking about becoming a QA Analyst. So, it becomes all the more important for a QA analyst to be well versed with the SDLC. By understanding the SDLC, a QA would be better poised to eliminate the pitfalls, identify the existing deficiencies in a development project. Being educated about SDLC would easily enable the QA to look into the development process and identify complexities that could negatively affect the project. This would ultimately contribute towards the optimization of the process in the project.

7). Knowledge of Software Testing Life Cycle

While the SDLC was a broader concept, the STLC is an integral part of it since it is only involved with the testing of the application. In order to avoid randomized testing, Software Testing Life Cycle was introduced which defines a step by step process to perform testing on an application. A QA must absolutely be thorough with their knowledge about the STLC. Without STLC, it would be impractical to identify the requirements, scope, verification, and validation of key points. A QA Engineer must be clear about this cycle to strike the right balance between Software Testing and the other components and phases of the Software Development Life Cycle.

8). Should understand Test Case Design Techniques and should be able to identify minimum Test Scenarios to provide maximum coverage

The effectiveness of Software Testing depends upon the quality techniques employed to design the test cases. Failure to effectively design test cases may result in the leakage of bugs and defects in the software application. A QA must understand the importance of Effectively Designing Test Cases while categorizing the techniques based on specification, structure, and experience. There have been instances where QA engineers have written 100s of Test Cases for modules when in actual they could have effectively done away with 10-15 Test cases at the most that could have got the entire module covered. Optimizing Test Cases reduces the manual effort, which could then be put on prioritized activities.

Besides this, they should also be aware of the Test Coverage parameters to monitor the quality of Testing. Adopting appropriate methods to cover the Product, Associated Risks, and the Requirements should be a part of their plan.

9). Bug Reporting and Bug Lifecycle

No software exists without a bug, but – As a QA Analyst, you would practically want to detect as many bugs and defects as you possibly can to deliver a smoothly functioning application. Once a bug is detected, it must be put through its life cycle right from when it was found to the moment when it ends after the defect is closed. The analyst must be aware of all the possible states that the bug goes through in its life cycle. They should also be inclined towards preventing the bugs rather than discovering them and removing them in the later stages of development.

About Bug Reporting – It is an absolute must to follow a standard protocol while drafting the Bug Report to ensure that the developers are able to locate and reproduce the bug while (along with the stakeholders of the project) also being able to understand the nature of the issue. An informative bug report virtually saves a lot of chat and discussion time amongst the testing and development teams.

10). Tools and Technologies

As a QA Engineer, it is imperative to be equipped with the operating knowledge of Tools and Technologies related to testing. Best Software Testing companies encourage their QAs to learn these tools and technologies. These include Test Management Tools, Defect Tracking Tools, Cross-Browser Testing Tools, Automation Tools, Screen Capturing Tools, MS Office, Google Docs. Some of the popular tools used for Software Testing are Jira, Zephyr, Test Rails, PractiTest, Asana, Test Complete, Trello, MS Word, MS Excel, Google Doc, Google Spreadsheet. Although there are multiple Testing tools available in the market, the basic operation, be it of Test Management or of the Defect Tracking, remains the same across all the tools. So even if the QA to be hired is well informed about one of the tools, expect them to learn the operation of the new tool quite easily.

11). Mobile App Testing

The Mobile App industry has been on the rise since the last decade. More mobile apps mean the need for more Mobile App Testers! Although the basic functionality of testing software on its mobile and desktop versions remain the same, there is a different approach that needs to be followed while testing mobile apps, for the simple reason of them being on Mobile and not on Computers. Understanding this different approach and planning the testing strategy accordingly is very important for the QA. The specifics of mobile are different from computers and hence the QA must design the Testing Scenarios to ensure quality in functions, behaviors, performance along with the quality and usability of the features of the application.

12). OOP’s Concept

The principles of OOP’s are applied under Test Automation. The OOP’s concepts like Class, Object, Encapsulation, Inheritance, Polymorphism, and Abstraction are majorly used for Test Automation and Framework Development. The knowledge of OOP’s would enable the QA to verify and validate an object-oriented software. Here, it is important for the QA to understand that testing classes are primarily a different problem than testing functions since they do not have an input-output behavior specification, as is the case with functions. Apart from the dependencies that occur in a conventional system, Object-oriented testing has additional dependencies for which additional testing techniques are required.

13). Programming Language – Java / Python / JavaScript

This is a must if the QA aspires to become successful in Automation Testing. The knowledge of programming language assists in designing Automated Test Cases and Test Suites. For the role of an SDET, it is important to understand the programming languages which come in handy while participating in product and data design and user interface related discussions. All of this must be regulated under a defined quality standard. In-depth knowledge of programming language would save a lot of time and effort during the test creation and execution process.

14). Automation tool – Selenium WebDriver / Postman / Appium / Jmeter

Automation, as we all know, is used to expedite the Testing Process. It considerably enables the QA Engineer to cover length tests in a small amount of time. To be a competitive QA, it is essential for them to have the working knowledge of at least one of the Automation Tools available in the market. Since automation testing tools can effortlessly oversee the execution of repetitive steps while eliminating the risk of human error and save time, it gets very difficult to overlook the scope of automation in a stable application. Hence, it becomes a matter of supreme importance to have a QA Automation Engineer in your testing team.

15). Ability to write basic SQL queries

The search for an Allrounder Tester would be incomplete without the inclusion of technical expertise in the operating system, interface, and database verification. Since Database is an integral part of a Software Application, it too needs to be tested for Data Mapping, ACID property validation along with the integrity of the data. Understanding SQL is the way to go about Database Testing. To be efficient in this, the tester should know the basics like recognizing different types of databases while understanding the equation between database tables. Also, the QA must be able to write SQL and DML statements.

16). Bonus – Working knowledge of Agile

Agile promotes flexibility and agility in the working environment. Agile Testing has been known to result in higher customer satisfaction and hence is widely being used across projects, globally. A QA analyst with the basics of Agile Methodology would enable faster deliveries by transforming the way application is getting developed.

Last but not the least, the QA Engineer should have the ability to professionally coordinate with the developers to track the status of the logged bugs until they are retested and closed.