What does a QA engineer do? Everything you need to know

As a quality assurance (QA) engineer at DECODE, my responsibilities are often varied and complex. 

They require a deep understanding of the software development process, testing methodologies, and exceptional communication skills.

That’s what you’ll need too if you want to effectively collaborate with the rest of the development team.

Here, I’ll explore everything you need to know to become a QA engineer, the skills you need, and the responsibilities you’ll have.

So, let’s get to it!

What is a QA engineer?

We’ll start with the most obvious question – what is a QA engineer?

A QA engineer ensures that a software product is bug-free and meets quality standards before launch.

Our job is to catch and fix bugs as soon as possible after they happen to prevent costly fixes down the line.

Here’s what the usual QA process looks like:

So, that’s our process – but what are the actual, day-to-day responsibilities of a QA engineer?

Let’s find out!

QA engineer responsibilities

Here, we’ll cover all of the main responsibilities you’ll have as a QA engineer.

Preventing issues

As a QA engineer, my primary responsibility is to work closely with the design and development team to ensure the final product meets the highest quality standards. 

To achieve this, I begin by identifying and reporting any issues that arise during the design and planning phases. 

I can help prioritize and resolve potential issues by providing feedback to the team, including: 

•  Requirement analysis
•  UI/UX reviews
•  Risk assessment

Requirement analysis is also one of the crucial steps in software development that involves identifying and documenting stakeholders’ needs and expectations.

It helps ensure that the final product meets users’ needs and satisfies business requirements. 

QA plays an essential role in requirement analysis by validating the requirements and ensuring that they are testable and measurable.

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UI/UX reviews are a part of the QA process that focuses on verifying that the software design meets the intended functionality and user requirements.

It involves testing the software design for usability, accessibility, and other design-related factors to ensure that the end-users can easily use and navigate the software. 

Usability testing should be given extra importance here because user experience is crucial for your app’s success.

Here’s a list of just a few benefits usability testing provides:

To further understand why usability testing is important, check out this article.

By conducting a thorough UI/UX review before development starts, software teams can ensure that the final product is:

• User-friendly
• Meets user needs 
• Provides a positive user experience.

It also helps identify design flaws early in the development process, which can save time and money in fixing issues later.

Risk assessment is another important process in software development that involves identifying potential risks and preventing issues early.

Quality assurance plays a crucial role in risk assessment by analyzing potential risks associated with the software development project and providing feedback on how to mitigate them. 

By conducting regular risk assessments throughout the software development process, I help software teams identify and manage potential risks before they become major issues, ensuring project success and delivering high-quality software products.

Creating test plans

Creating test plans is a critical responsibility of a QA engineer.

The test plan must be designed to verify that the software meets 2 criteria:

• The acceptance criteria 
• The customer’s requirements. 

To create a successful test plan, I usually need a deep understanding of the software’s architecture and intended use. 

This includes not only functional testing but also non-functional testing, such as performance, security, and usability testing. 

By creating detailed test plans, I can identify potential issues and risks early in the development process. This allows for faster and more efficient issue resolution. 

Collaboration with developers and product owners is essential during the creation process to ensure that the test plan aligns with: 

• Software design
• Acceptance criteria
• Business objectives

This collaboration can also help identify potential issues and risks early in the development process for faster resolution of issues.

To create detailed test plans, I use either Azure Test Plan or TestRail, where Azure Test Plan is integrated with Azure DevOps platform, where TestRail provides independent test management functionalities.

Executing tests

Executing tests is a crucial step in the software testing process that follows the creation of a test plan.

It involves running predefined test cases to verify the functionality and quality of the software product. 

This step involves executing various types of testing:

•  Functional testing
•  Acceptance testing
•  Regression testing
•  Performance testing 
•  Security testing 

Functional testing involves testing software functionality to ensure it works as intended.

Acceptance testing focuses on verifying whether the software meets the customer’s requirements. 

Regression testing involves retesting the software to ensure that changes or fixes to the code do not introduce new issues.

Performance testing checks the software’s performance under different load conditions.

Security testing checks the software for vulnerabilities and potential threats.

By thoroughly and accurately executing tests, I can identify any issues that need to be addressed by the development team,

This way, I help ensure that the final product meets the required quality standards.

Identifying and reporting issues

A significant part of the QA role involves identifying and reporting issues during the test execution process.

When issues are found during the test execution, I am responsible for identifying and reporting issues called bugs. 

This is done by using a bug-tracking system like Jira or Azure, allowing the development team to prioritize and allocate resources to resolve issues in a timely manner. 

The bug tracking system also maintains a history of bugs found and resolved, which can be used to identify trends and areas for improvement in the testing process.

Managing bugs

Once identified and documented in a bug tracking tool, bugs are prioritized based on their severity and impact on the product’s functionality. 

First, we address the high-priority bugs that have a significant impact on product functionality.

During the resolution phase, the development team fixes the issues, and I test to verify that they have been resolved. 

The fixes are then retested to ensure that the solution works as expected and that the bug has been resolved. 

Bug management also involves tracking and reporting on the status of the bug.

I need to regularly update the status of each bug, ensuring that the team is aware of the progress. Bug reports are also used to track the overall quality of the product and identify areas that require further attention.

Automating tests

In addition to manual testing, a QA engineer has a critical role in creating and managing automated tests. 

Automated tests have many benefits, such as:

• Accelerating the testing process
• Increasing test coverage
• Minimizing human error
• Allows testers to focus on more complex testing

This ultimately leads to uncovering more bugs that are hard to find only with manual testing.

To simplify automation testing across different platforms and application types, I rely on the following tools:

• Selenium 
• Appium 
• Behave 
• Playwright
• Test farms: BrowserStack, SauceLabs

Additionally, automation allows QA engineers to continuously run tests, ensuring that the software is always in a stable and functional state while reducing the testing time and effort.

In the image above, you can see some the benefits of automated testing.

Continuously improving the testing process

As a QA engineer, I’m responsible for continuously improving the testing process. 

This includes keeping manual test plans and automated tests up to date, ensuring they are modified to reflect any changes in the acceptance criteria or the design of the software. 

It also involves staying up to date with the latest testing methodologies and technologies and implementing them into the testing process to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. 

By continually refining the testing process, a QA engineer can identify areas for improvement and introduce new strategies and tools to ensure that the software development team can deliver high-quality products in a timely and efficient manner.

How to become a QA engineer

So, now that you know what QA engineers do, I’ll give you a couple of tips on how to become one.

Get relevant education

A degree in computer science or a related field is often required to become a QA engineer.

Many QA engineers have a background in software engineering, and that gives them a solid foundation for understanding development processes and methodologies.

It also helps them understand the basics of coding and problem-solving, which is crucial for QA roles.

But, a computer science degree isn’t an absolute requirement – I don’t have one, for example.

What’s even more important is that you take the right courses and get the right certifications.

They’ll help you master the fundamentals of QA and start your career on the right track.

But, that’s just the beginning – you also need practical experience.

Gain practical experience

Like Julius Caesar once said, experience is the best teacher.

And gaining practical experience is the best way to become a real QA engineer.

Practical experience trumps theoretical knowledge and will help you stand out from other junior engineers.

So, how can you gain that experience?

I’ll highlight 2 of the best ways you can get it – internships and participating in open-source projects.

Internships will expose you to testing tools and real QA processes and give you a chance to ask questions and learn from senior engineers.

Participating in open-source projects will give you hands-on experience and expose you to different tools and technologies.

And that’s the best way to learn how to use them, which I’ll cover next.

Learn QA tools and technologies

Learning the tools of the trade is essential if you want to become a QA engineer.

But, you need to learn the right tools.

I mentioned many of them earlier, but to recap, here are the tools I use (and you should learn):

• Bug and issue tracking – Jira, Azure
• Creating test plans – Azure Test Plan, TestRail
• Automated testing tools – Selenium, Appium, Playwright
• Test farms – BrowserStack, SauceLabs

If you can show that you have real experience with tools like these, you’ll definitely improve your chances of getting hired as a junior engineer.

But, there’s one other step that’s just as important as the rest I covered – building your soft skills.

Build your soft skills

QA isn’t just about writing and executing tests.

As a QA engineer, I’ve worked closely with developers, designers, and non-technical stakeholders on a variety of projects.

And you will, too – that’s why building your soft skills is so important.

source: The Balance

As you can see from the soft skills in the above image, communication is the most important soft skill – you need it for teamwork, networking, and conflict resolution.

If you’re able to clearly communicate with the rest of your team, you’ll have a much easier time collaborating with them.

On top of that, you’ll also progress faster in your career, which is exactly what you should want.

QA engineer skills you need to hone

I’ll now cover the top skills you need as a QA engineer.

Attention to detail

Attention to detail is a key skill you need to develop as a QA engineer.

That’s because you need to be able to spot minor issues that can lead to significant problems down the line.

And that’s important because the sooner you catch a bug or defect, the less it costs to fix.

If you find and fix an issue during requirement analysis, it’s up to 100 times cheaper than fixing it after a product is already deployed:

source: Functionize

So, that’s a pretty compelling reason why you should develop a keen eye for detail.

It will be one of the best moves you make in your career.

Analytical skills

As a QA engineer, you’ll likely work on some pretty complex projects in your career.

The software you’ll test will have a lot of moving parts and you’ll need to understand how they interact with each other.

And strong analytical skills will help you do your job better and faster.

Our job is to find and fix the root cause of issues in a software product – sometimes that means finding a needle in a haystack.

The best tip I can give you is to learn how to break down complex problems into manageable parts.

This way, you can focus on one issue at a time, which makes them much easier to solve.

Programming

You don’t have to be an expert developer, but you do need to have some programming and coding knowledge to be a QA engineer.

And with the rise of automated testing, that’s even more important nowadays.

You need to have enough coding knowledge so you can write and execute automated tests.

I would recommend learning these languages:

• Python
• Java
• TypeScript

They (especially Python) are the most commonly used languages for automation test scripting, so knowing them is a must.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is another key skill you need to develop to be a great QA engineer.

Honing it will help you stand out from your peers and open a lot of doors for you.

So, why is critical thinking so important in QA?

For starters, it will help you find the root causes of bugs and issues and create effective, long-term solutions.

Also, it will help you design test cases that cover all possible scenarios, including edge cases that aren’t immediately obvious.

On top of that, you’ll get better at prioritizing which bugs to fix first and making informed decisions during testing.

And I’ve barely scratched the surface

Resources to help you become a QA engineer

So, now that you know what we do, I’ll share some courses and learning resources I’ve found to be helpful.

The top ones I’d recommend are:

• ISTQB

ISTQB offers globally recognized certifications in software testing and they’re a great way to validate your skills and improve your career prospects.

• Ministry of Testing

Ministry of Testing is a community-driven platform where you can keep up to date with industry trends and share knowledge with other QA professionals.

• Test Automation University

Test Automation University offers free, high-quality courses on automated testing tools and techniques and is a great resource if you’re just getting into it.

• UX design in practice: Accessibility and Collaboration

And finally, the UX design in practice course might seem like the odd one out of the bunch, but there’s a good reason I’ve included it.

Knowing UX principles will help you become a better QA engineer because QA isn’t just about testing code.

Our job is to ensure the products we work on meet quality standards and usability is key to true quality – that’s why knowing basic UX principles is so important.

QA engineer: FAQs

Want to become a QA engineer?

Now that I’ve covered everything there is to know about our role, I hope I’ve convinced you to take the leap and become a QA engineer.

If I have, you should start with the courses and learning resources I’ve mentioned earlier and go from there.

And if you want to learn more about our QA processes, feel free to check out our other blogs on that topic.

Happy learning!