Characteristics of software testers

Experience has shown that Software Testing is not always considered by the community as a career path. It is often thought of as an easy way to get a job in the IT industry, to then move onto better roles, such as development.

Well, let us tell you something – becoming a developer is often a testers worst nightmare! Just imagine having to deal with all those bugs that the testers keep throwing over? No thanks!

The good news is that there are signs of software testing becoming a recognised profession. Demand for professional testers has increased over the past few years, as have salaries. However, there is still a way to go before our profession is widely accepted.
Common characteristics of a real software tester

The love for bugs

Happiness = finding new bugs

A classic point of a tester is that they just love finding bugs. It’s almost like a drug, a world without bugs is inconceivable. Finding new bugs is what drives testers to maintain their creativity and curiosity.

The good thing is that, as testers, we know there are always bugs out there. This is the feel good factor that keeps us going.

Detectives of the IT world.

With eyes of an eagle, we can be described as detectives, investigators or even journalists of software. We report to developers, designers, projects mangers, the business and the end customers. Testers maintain perspective, report clearly and objectively and make sure the right people hear about what is being reported.

If we believe we should be heard and are not, we will use our investigation skills to find reasoning to support our case. However, a good tester is not a pain in the neck, we know how to prioritise work and when to back off.

We break things because we can

Testers break things because they can! We exploit software to stop other people doing it for you. No matter how big or small an issue may seem, anything that can be broken is a key target for hackers or inexperienced users.

Testers maintain focus

It can be a hard slog sometimes. Investigations can often return no positive results. Maintaining focus on the task at hand whilst still being creative and maintaining perspective is a key attribute to finding issues.

Always learning

Software Testing is a continuous learning process. Not only are we consistently learning new techniques and creating new (and hopefully better) processes, we are also learning about the product under test, about the team we work with and influencing technologies.

Every test we do makes us a better tester.

It is up to us as Software Testing Professionals to ensure that we progress as an industry and achieve greater acceptance from the skeptics of software testing.

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