Qualities of a Good Software Tester

This article covers essential testing skills along with qualities that can make you a good software tester. We have also covered the characteristics of a bad software tester.

What makes you think you are good at testing? How do you qualify as a Tester? The question still bangs in my ears whenever it comes to an interview.

This was the question that the interviewer asked me at the beginning of my career as a software tester. The interviewer asked some aptitude questions as usual and suddenly he threw this question at me. I was almost speechless.

Most of the time, we think we are good at something because we are doing it, or maybe we presume we are good at it.

Attributes of a Good & Bad Software Tester

Having spent close to ten years in the industry, I have gained a deep understanding of the question’s importance. Today, I will present a list of points I’ve compiled to validate my proficiency in testing.

As an additional point, you are welcome to include your input on the list, and we will be open to accepting it.

Qualities of a Good Tester

So, here you go. Please prepend the condition “you are good at testing when” to each point and read through:

#1) Understanding Priorities

The software tester unknowingly gains effective time management abilities, starting with the crucial understanding of prioritization. Most times, you are assigned a module or functionality to test, along with a fixed timeline, and are required to provide the corresponding output. These regular challenges make you understand how to prioritize things.

As a tester, you need to understand the tasks that require testing and those that should be given less priority, the tasks that should be automated and those that should be tested manually, the tasks that should be taken up first, and the tasks that can be done at the last moment. Once you are a master of defining priorities, software testing will be really easy.

However, my dear friend, comprehending priority is a skill that can only be acquired through experience. Therefore, patience and keen observation are the most valuable tools.

#2) Ask Questions

Asking questions is the most important part of Software Testing. If you fail at it, you are going to lose an important bunch of information.

You can ask questions to understand:

• Requirement
• Changes done
• How the requirement has been implemented
• How the bug was fixed
• Bug fix effects
• Product from other perspectives, like development, business, etc.

It’s beneficial to understand the overall picture and to define the coverage.

#3) Create Several Ideas

As I have written in almost all my posts, Software Testing is about ideas. If you can generate several ideas to test the product, you stand out from the crowd as most of the time people feel self-satisfaction after writing ordinary functional and performance test cases.

In my opinion, the actual work of a tester begins only after they have finished writing standard test cases. The more you contemplate the product’s versatility, the more ideas you’ll generate to test it, leading to confidence, customer satisfaction, and lifelong experience.

So, be an idea generator if you want to be good at testing.

#4) Analyzing Data

As a tester, you are expected to do more than just testing. You need to understand the data collected from testing and analyze them for the particular behavior of the application or product. Hearing about a bug that can’t be reproduced usually makes me silently smile.

No bug is non-reproducible. If it occurred once, that means it’s going to pop out for the second time. But to reach out to the root cause, you need to analyze the test environment, the test data, the interruptions, etc.

Also, as we are aware, in automation testing, the focus is often on analyzing test results. Creating and running scripts is relatively easy, but the crucial part lies in analyzing the data generated post-execution.

#5) Report Negative Things in a Positive Way

Yes, you read it correctly. A tester needs to learn tactics to deal with everyone around and needs to be good at communication. Being told that they were completely or partially wrong never makes anyone feel good. The reaction varies depending on how you suggest doing something or fixing it with better ideas, without an egoistic tone.

Also, details are important to provide details about what negative you saw and how it can affect the product/application overall.

No one would deny rectifying it. 🙂

#6) Good at Reporting

Throughout the entire day, you tirelessly worked, executing numerous test cases and documenting their pass/fail status in test management tools. What would be your status at the end of the day? No one would be interested in knowing how many test cases you executed. People want a short and sweet description of your whole day’s task.

Henceforth, structure your status report to the client as: summarize your activities in three sentences at most, provide bug numbers for the issues you encountered, and outline your upcoming tasks.

#7) Flexible to Support Whenever it’s Required

The duty of a software tester does not end after reporting a bug. If the developer cannot reproduce the bug, you are expected to support reproducing it because then only the developer can fix it.

Also, tight timelines for software testing make many testers ignorant of quality. The right approach should be proper planning and an extra effort to cover whatever is required.

#8) Co-relate Real-time Scenarios to Software Testing

When you can co-relate testing with real life, it’s easy. Habituate yourself to think or constantly create test cases about how to test a train, how to test a vegetable, how to test a monument, and how it helps soon. It will help your mind to generate ideas constantly and relate testing to practical things.

#9) Constant Learner

Software testing is challenging because you need to learn new things constantly. It’s not about gaining expertise in a specific scripting language; it’s about keeping up with the latest technology, learning automation tools, learning to create ideas, learning from experience, and ultimately constantly thriving.

Suggested Read => 10 Tips to Survive and Progress in Software Testing

#10) Wear the End User’s Shoes

You are a good tester only when you can understand your customers. The customer is GOD and you need to understand his/her needs. If the product does not satisfy customer needs, no matter how useful it is, it will not work. It is the tester’s responsibility to understand the customer.

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Characteristics of a Bad Tester

In this section, we will take an in-depth look at the characteristics that make a tester a “bad tester”. One should be away from these characteristics in their testing career to bring out the best in them.

Which Characteristics Can Make You a Bad Software Tester?

Everyone wants those positive characteristics and factors to be implemented in their career or life but no one usually focuses on the traits or qualities that they need to avoid in their career.

Basically, being aware of the negative things/factors that would ruin your life or career, will help you in being a better person.

Given below are a few characteristics that make any tester a “bad tester”:

#1) Poor Communication

As testing starts early in the SDLC, during the requirement analysis, a tester’s role is important and the customer is expecting inputs from them. Hence, the testers should have good communication skills so that they can provide clear and concise details to the customer.

Not only during the initial phase but overall, the testers should be able to communicate effectively whether it is verbal or through email with the client, development team, or any other team.

The list given below highlights a few points which contribute to poor communication:

• Unclear requirements and technical knowledge.
• Lack of energy to communicate.
• Fear of rejection of input or thoughts.
• Cultural diversity.
• Feel vulnerable.
• Lack of preparation.

#2) Lack of Technical Knowledge

Along with that strong communication, if a tester has strong technical knowledge of the software and domain knowledge then it makes a good impression on the different parties who are involved in the project.

If a tester has no or little technical knowledge then it is an obvious doubt about the quality of the software.

And at times during group discussions, the developers use technical terms and talk more in terms of technical stuff about the project.

It would be difficult for the tester to understand these technical terminologies and it will, in turn, have a great impact on the project.

Given below is a list of factors that affect technical knowledge:

• Lack of training programs in the workplace.
• Incompetent trainers.
• Lack of a learning attitude.
• Lack of practice.
• Lack of energy or enthusiasm.

#3) Report a Bug Without Analysis

During testing, a tester has to report a bug/issue immediately once they notice that the actual result does not meet the requirement. It is important to report a bug but before that, a tester should investigate the cause of the bug.

So it is usually a good approach to investigate the cause of the bug and if possible to perform a test twice before reporting a bug. The tester should not report any issue identified during testing as a bug, rather they should analyze and investigate the issue before reporting it as a bug.

Given below are the factors that you need to analyze before reporting any bug and they are the ones that cause an invalid defect:

• Invalid Test Data
• Unstable environment
• Incorrect test step
• Unclear requirements

#4) Not Following Quality Processes

Every organization has different quality processes which help them to implement the project successfully. Individual and team performance is usually measured using these processes. Testers who are not following such processes may compromise on the quality which thereby will result in customer dissatisfaction.

Given below are a few examples of not following the process:

• I am not using the correct template for the test artifacts.
• I am not following the review process.
• The older version of the document was referred to during testing due to a lack of version control.

#5) Testing Performed on “Assumption”

There are a number of software-related things that a tester assumes and performs testing on.

These assumptions consist of technical, non-technical software flow and there are chances that these assumptions may go wrong and the testers might miss the critical defect.

So never test any application based on assumptions, make clear and understandable requirements from the developers or the business analyst.

If you are not clear on a specific requirement then ask your doubt without any hesitation. Otherwise, the defect missed due to such assumptions may be a huge cost to the project.

The list given below includes common assumptions during testing:

• The developer has more knowledge of the application and they have made the code correctly.
• Assuming the statements or requirements without referring to any document.
• No discussion or approval assuming that specific functionality is out of scope for testing.

#6) Lack of “Test to Break” Attitude

Testing is primarily a process to find a bug in the system. The bugs are hidden bugs and every tester should think positively and negatively to identify such bugs.

Hence, the testers should develop such an attitude towards the application under test.

For this, they should not assume anything rather the tester needs to test the maximum possible flow or scenarios which will prove that the system is not working as expected.

If testers only test what is given in the requirement i.e. happy path or only positive scenarios then they might miss the critical defects that are hidden in the system or seeded during the development.

The following factors affect the “Test to Break” attitude:

• Think positive and must have no negative thoughts about the system under test and its workflow.
• No exploratory testing or ad-hoc testing approach.
• Make an assumption about the system behavior rather than checking the actual requirements.
• Not attentive while testing.
• Testing only normal or happy path flow.

#7) Stagnant Testing Skills

The software industry is changing every day and there are a lot of emerging technologies and tools that can be used during software testing.

It is the tester’s responsibility to get updated knowledge on the tools. Also, it will be beneficial for them if they learn the new technology, and tool and implement it in their project.

A bad tester just completes his/her task and does no more learning about the tool, technology, language, etc.

They do not go beyond their limit and learn new things, nor look for new information in the software industry.

The following points cause Stagnant testing skills:

• Lack of pro-activeness to learn the application.
• Getting bored at work.
• Feeling it as a monotonous job and doing nothing new in the day-to-day testing life.
• You may be in a “comfort zone”.
• I have not yet decided on my career objectives or goals.

#8) Lack of Customer Insight

It is the tester’s responsibility to test if an application is working as per the requirement or not. Also thinking “out of the box” they need to consider the end-user point of view while testing.

A bad tester will not think beyond the requirement and identify the bugs.

A bad tester cannot understand the customer and their needs. A bad tester hesitates to ask any doubt or query, this may be because of a lack of confidence or lack of technical knowledge.

Every tester needs to understand clearly and while testing must always think about what the end user’s point of view would be while using this application and how easy the software will be to use etc.

#9) Carelessness

At times, testers may become lazy while testing an application but remember that such habits will make you a bad tester. During testing, the tester needs to ensure that he is providing precise details on the reports, defects in the test cases, etc.

Below are a few examples of carelessness while testing:

• Forgot to add a snapshot.
• Defects are reported with incorrect or too little information.
• Provide lengthy reports instead of precise reporting.
• Writing an incorrect test case or missing a step in a test case.
• Lack of listening skills due to which not all the information gets captured.

#10) Testing Can Be Performed by Anyone

If a tester thinks that testing is an easy job and can be performed by anyone with little knowledge then they are not clear about the basic testing concepts and what is the need for “Testing”.

A tester with such an attitude or mindset is a threat to a project as it will compromise on quality.

Testing is a skill that you can gain with study, experience, etc. I am not providing an exhaustive list here, but every tester should have the skill, learning attitude, strong communication, technical knowledge, test-to-break mindset, etc.

A combination of all such qualities will make you a good tester and you will be an asset to the project and organization.

Bad testers have the following assumptions about testing:

• Testing does not require any skill.
• Testing is an easy job so it can be performed by anyone.
• There is no future or growth in Testing or as a Tester.
• Testing is a monotonous job and nothing new is involved in day-to-day work or activity.

How to Get Rid of Bad Characteristics

There are so many characteristics that will make you a “bad tester”. You can get rid of all those characteristics, but you need dedication, detailed study, and concentration while testing.

Also, you can appear for certification exams in your area which in turn will help you to gain more knowledge and it will be helpful to your project as well.

You need to go beyond your limits and learn new technology and tools, gather domain knowledge, etc. Different testing tools are available in the market which you can learn on your own or with the help of some training.

You can implement this knowledge in your regular project activities as well.

You need to prove yourself as a proactive tester by asking different interesting, logical queries, by implementing an innovative idea, or by creating a small tool/utility using macros or automation tools that will save everyone’s time

These are some of the different characteristics of a bad tester. Most of these are also applicable to any other related careers as well. If you wish to make a successful testing career then you need to avoid these characteristics or you need to get rid of them as quickly as possible.

Hope you will eliminate the above characteristics to prove yourself as a Good Tester!

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10 Skills to Become a Great Tester: How to Excel in Testing

There is always room for improvement and making things better. If starting as a QA fresher and spending a few years in the field has not changed you from a tester to a good/great tester, this article is for you.

Testing, reporting, and finishing a task is something anyone can do after a while with experience and training. But, being a tester is so much more.

Be a great tester to rise and shine in the field.

What can get you there? Let’s find out how a tester can be a great tester!

#1) Positive Attitude

A positive attitude is a key agent to succeed in any field and Software Testing is not an exception.

Great testers are:

• Always ready to put in extra effort
• Help make the product quality better
• Aid in hurdle-free delivery
• Support meeting

Great testers keep a positive attitude. They care. They understand the power of positivity.

To instill a positive attitude, testers should be given ownership of tasks, prompt appreciation, and interesting assignments.

Suggested Reading => 16 Characteristics of a Great Software Tester

#2) Good Communication

It helps to overcome critical problems easily. You can understand problems easily, document better, and convince effectively.

A great tester has excellent communication skills and uses them to ask questions, to present his opinions, and discuss critical scenarios/impacts thoroughly.

Good communication skills can be acquired easily by joining communication training sessions and practicing the same regularly. Please note that good communication does not mean writing or speaking fluent English alone, although that helps.

#3) Multi-Tasking Abilities

Multi-tasking abilities are the demand of today’s era.

A great tester must juggle multiple activities, such as:

• Generate and execute test ideas
• Design test cases
• Write effective bug reports
• Work on multiple projects and provide updates.

Not only that, but you should also prioritize and schedule your activities accordingly.

Multi-tasking abilities need practice and the right mindset.

#4) Quick Learner

A great tester is quick and a self-learner.

Learning new things shouldn’t be a requirement, but a desire. You should be able to update yourself with new technologies, processes, tools, skills, etc. regularly.

Teaching quick learning is impossible, but developing it is possible through patience, planning, practice, and perseverance.

#5) Passion for Testing

You’ve got to love your job. A passion for delivering quality, providing a better user experience, generating new ideas, etc. is critical.

‘A passionate tester is always better than a technically sound developer.’

It is an absolute game-changer. You will never be bored. Something to test will never escape your attention. You should never report a case without thoroughly researching it. Ignoring corner cases is something you will never do. Above all, you will no longer view testing as a thankless job. 🙂

#6) Team Player

Being a team player is a must for every job, but it takes on a whole new dimension because we have to deliver bad news. To do this well, you have to be understanding and giving. Don’t play the blame game. Stay positive.

Rejuvenating this skill is very important to be a great tester and a good human being.

#7) Think and Act as an End-user

Quality ultimately means end-user satisfaction.

Irrespective of what the requirements say, think about the end-user impact. This is easy because we are software users too, even though we are professional testers.

With continuous study, observation, and comparison, the end user’s perspective can be cultivated.

#8) Analytical Abilities

Our primary responsibility is to help make software as bug-free as we can. Every bug follows a pattern, and a great tester is always good at observing that pattern and reporting all the bugs of the same pattern.

In-depth analysis and creativity help to nurture good analytical abilities.

#9) Be an Inspiration and a Role Model

You are right; this has nothing to do with testing. But I believe we have plenty of scope to spark inspiration in people we interact with every day. You might be the last one in a queue, but in a few minutes, there will always be someone behind you. So, no matter what position you are in, people are looking up to you.

If the team lead often gets into arguments with the developers, naturally the team will too. If a team member does not follow a template, the others might think it is OK to not follow a template.

Being aware that every action of ours resonates somehow with another around us should make us aspire to inspire without even trying.

There are plenty of ways to leave your mark on otherwise mundane tasks:

• Be the best at what you do
• Being on time
• Paying attention to detail
• Coming up with new best practices
• Finding a problem that could have caused a major breakdown
• Learn a new skill and volunteer to teach your peers
• Be courteous in your communication
• Gather a reputation for being the best tester/best defect reporter/or best metric generator.

#10) Practice Empathy

Testers may not find this attribute necessary yet again. This is significant considering the discussions about the responsibility of testers in safeguarding and resolving defects.

But testers have to have the quality to feel and not just be automatons. It helps with the testing process too.

For example, Let’s take a brand-new application that is just being integrated as a trial run. Would you just come crumbling on it, wage a war, and report that it is fit for nothing? Or would you test it sympathetically and try to find problem areas so you can help the developers aid further improvement?

Let’s look at it from a real-world example perspective. You have successfully built a chair. For the first time, would you jump into it or cautiously sit? It’s the last one, right? Once you feel secure, you can begin introducing unconventional weights and other elements.

Testing in the initial stages has to be subtle, slow, and kind.

Also, empathy can help you be a better team player – not only within your team but with external teams as well. When in doubt, be kinder than you need to be.

Suggested Read => Writing a QA Software Tester Resume

Conclusion

We hope this list has helped you to identify the areas for improvement as a software tester.

We hope, we have covered a majority of the points that make a skilled tester. How about you? By the way, did we miss something?

We would love to hear from you. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.