Software testing has broken free from the shackles of being just a part of software development process to a full fledged industry domain. If you have the ability to think out-of-the-box, can look at a situation from zillion different angles, can withstand work related stress and crack an application using stress tests then you can look at this domain as a sound career option. It not only provides tremendous opportunities for career growth but also decent remuneration
Although testing is an integral part of SDLC, emphasis is given to keep it independent from development. In the past, testing was carried out after development was over. Today this has changed and the testing activity starts right from the requirements definition stage. In many organizations today, ‘test driven development’ is the norm. This increased focus on quality has greatly increased the scope of testing activity. Testing has become a serious career option for software engineers; in fact a fresher or some one with 2-3 years of experience, might eventually find testing to be the fastest way to gain domain expertise. This niche area created demand for testers and quality assurance professionals for myriad of opportunities. Careerwise and also remuneration wise, the growth opportunities for a professional in testing domain has increased. Testing is now compared at par with other IT services in terms of revenue for companies and also for the kind of remuneration and career growth it has on offer for a professional to enter this domain.
However, software testing should not be taken as an alternative to software development. And as a career option it is not just open for software professionals but also for professionals from other industry domains, as today software testing has not just been confined to application testing but to the whole process of development and also the need to adhere to quality norms. Because of that, testers do not have to look at the propriety of the software code, but have to look at all the scenarios that the software will be subjected to when it is deployed across production systems or when it will be deployed at the client’s end. This not only requires software knowledge but also requires you to have to have the knowledge of the domain itself. For example, if you have to test a BFSI application, you not only have to check the UI or security or load but the actual requirements of the domain you are testing the application for. For eg, for the BFSI domain, you can use your know-how of user requirements in banking and the various working procedures to create test scenarios for the application.
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