A Quality Analyst (QA) is responsible for ensuring that software products and applications meet certain standards of quality before they are released. They help in identifying bugs, errors, or issues in a product, running tests, and providing feedback for improvements. Here are the typical job requirements for a Quality Analyst:
1. Educational Qualifications:
- A Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field.
- Certifications in software testing or quality assurance, such as ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualifications Board), can be beneficial.
2. Professional Experience:
- Experience in Software Testing: Typically, 1-3 years of hands-on experience in quality assurance or software testing. For senior QA roles, 3-5 years of experience is preferred.
- Experience in Manual and Automated Testing: Understanding both manual and automated testing methods. Familiarity with automation tools such as Selenium, QTP, or TestComplete is often required for automated testing roles.
- Experience with Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC): Familiarity with Agile, Waterfall, or Hybrid methodologies and how testing fits into these processes.
3. Core Skills and Competencies:
- Test Case Design: Ability to design, document, and execute test cases based on functional and technical specifications.
- Bug Tracking: Experience using bug-tracking tools such as JIRA, Bugzilla, or Trello to report, track, and resolve issues.
- Testing Types: Proficiency in different types of testing, including:
- Functional Testing
- Regression Testing
- Integration Testing
- Performance Testing
- Load/Stress Testing
- User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
- Attention to Detail: Strong attention to detail in detecting issues and ensuring that all requirements are met before product release.
- Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to think critically to identify root causes of defects and work with development teams to resolve them.
4. Technical Skills:
- Programming/Scripting Languages: Familiarity with programming or scripting languages such as Java, Python, JavaScript, or Ruby for writing automated tests.
- Automation Tools: Experience with test automation tools such as Selenium, Appium, TestNG, JUnit, or Cucumber.
- Database Knowledge: Proficiency in querying databases using SQL to validate data, perform backend testing, and analyze results.