Modern testers should be armed with all of the right skills to progress in their careers and ensure projects go smoothly. Along with the obvious technical skills, testers should also have other soft skills that employers will value and team members will appreciate.
Reporting and Communication
Testing can be a long and complicated process. Testers sometimes have to sit for hours on end analyzing just one situation. After all of this hard work is done, a tester must have the patience and ability to write reports and get those reports to the right people.
Communication is crucial because it ensures that the right decisions are made about timelines and the release. Excellent reporting and communication skills are important for the sake of transparency and trust. Reports should detail all of the actions taken, bugs and other issues encountered along the way.
Transparency is crucial for stakeholders and interested parties, so when using web apps testing services like this, modern testers must demonstrate effective reporting and communication skills.
Critical Thinking
A skilled modern tester will think from the customer’s perspective during the software development cycle. They will think of every possible “what if” scenario and ensure that the software responds to each of these scenarios.
By using critical thinking skills and covering all bases, the tester ensures that the software works properly in all of these potential “what if” situations.
Desire to Learn
Project changes are par for the course in the software development world. When changes arise, testers must be prepared to go with the flow and learn as necessary to move the project forward.
Testers must learn how to adapt to changes, new tools and new techniques. Having a desire to learn is important, especially for testers. New techniques and tools are constantly emerging, and testers must able to use them when required. If testers stay stagnant and never learn, they won’t be able to adapt to these changes.
Team Player
Many testers assume that they’ll be working alone – isolated and autonomous. Even with collaborative tools, there does appear to be walls between testers, developers and systems administrators.
Communication can help overcome this problem. Team collaboration is important, even for testers. Testers must be able to work with others and communicate regularly with other team members. Someone who is personable, approachable and easy to chat with will be far more valuable to the team than any of the communication tools out there.
Testers must be able to communicate important issues to developers and other team members.
Good Listener
Modern testers must be able to listen to suggestions and recommendations without interruption and to truly listen to what others are trying to stay.
By truly listening to what others have to say, testers can learn a lot and may even be able to identify high risk areas or defects. Listening is an important skill that will benefit testers throughout their careers.
Time Management
Effective time management is a crucial skill that every professional should develop, especially testers. Today, more than ever, it’s all about getting products to market as quickly as possible. Testers have a lot on their plates, and as they try to stay on top of everything, other important tasks may be ignored.
Planning ahead, time management and staying organized can save weeks of time over the course of a project.
There are many different time management strategies out there, and testers should find one that works for them. Effective time management ensures that all tasks are handled in a timely manner, so projects can move forward more smoothly.
Awareness of Web and Mobile Trends
Modern testers should stay on top of web and mobile trends. Understanding these trends will help testers understand challenges, scalability and how the process works.
Technology is constantly evolving, and it can be difficult for testers to stay ahead of the curve. But it’s important for testers to join communities, read well-known publications to stay on top of trends and to follow industry leaders.
Testers should have an arsenal of skills at their disposal. Communication is important as well as critical thinking, listening and time management skills. But testers are also expected to be team players, have a desire for learning and stay on top of trends. All of these skills will help testers advance in their careers.
