QA Manual Test Engineer Jobs

A manual Quality Assurance (QA) engineer (also called a “tester”) is in charge of evaluating software “by hand”. This means finding system bugs via human observation. It is also the first necessary step for QA automation. The goal for this position is detecting bugs within products and ensuring that they are fixed.

In more detail

Manual QA engineers must first of all perform requirement analyses on the products they are testing. This is necessary for preparing a query list and determining the testing that is required. Then they will work with a QA Lead, who develops the test plan. While the latter decides the workflow, strategy, and requirements, it is the testers who create test cases. The test cases are scripts which describe an input action and the expected response. When the engineers run QA tests, they compare the results to those of the test case, and report defects when there is a mismatch. This must be recorded in test execution status reports and communicated to other departments for resolution. QA engineers may also be tasked with listing areas for improvement on the product, as they have a novel view on its functionality. In more senior positions, they may contribute to planning and designing test scenarios.

To work as a manual QA engineer, it is necessary to have at least basic knowledge of software testing. This includes an understanding of the bug life cycle, different testing methods, types and levels, and test estimation techniques. Completing a university degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field is extremely helpful for pursuing this position. It is also important to have practical knowledge of test management and defect tracking tools, such as Jira. Also, good SQL skills are very useful and manual QA engineers must have very developed data analysis skills. Furthermore, they are user-oriented and must have a good sense of organization and communication skills.