It is important to note that hiring a QA engineer is much like hiring anyone on your development team. You will want much of the same qualities that show professionalism in each member. That said, a quality assurance engineer needs to have more experience and show more leadership skills then other people on the team. So here is a list of the qualities you should look for when hiring a QA engineer.
First, you should look for personal traits that lend themselves to intelligence and mental rigor. The job of a QA engineer is tough brain work. You want someone who has the brainpower and stamina required for the work itself. Not just the aptitude to do what is asked, but also the astuteness it takes to know what more to do.
Next, is the candidate qualified? Do they have the certifications for the job? While intelligence is great, having the right certifications will keep you from having to ‘on the job train’ your quality assurance engineer. Training your QA testers on the job is one thing, but on the job training your QA leaders is not a good business practice. Remember Get[Devs] can find you qualified and experienced candidates.
The drive to debug without fear. Let’s face it, when you use a great QA team during development, the only bugs that will get through are the really tough ones to figure out. You want a QA engineer that has no fear of getting into that code and getting it fixed, not someone who will ignore your customers problem because they are afraid to touch it.
The ability to focus and finish the job. If your candidate is as focused on the job during the last 10% of testing as he is during the first 10% of testing, then you have a keeper. This is because of the nature of software testing. Much of the time, you aren’t finding any problems. So, it can get boring. But if you have someone who can press on through the boring and get to the nitty gritty if it is to be found, then you have a great QA engineer.
The ability and the willingness to communicate bad news. No one wants to know there is something wrong with the software but, finding problems is a big part of a QA engineer’s job. You don’t want someone who is afraid to tell you what is going on. You want someone who will bring you the cold hard truth and hopefully a few suggestions on how to fix it. Add the ability to articulate exactly what the bug is doing to the development team, which is also very important. While developers may see that as bad news, the team knows it is imperative to find and fix bugs as soon as possible.
A decent QA engineer is able to handle the stress that comes with the job. Maybe they play ball or go to the gym after work. Whatever they do to reduce stress is something they do as a priority. When you hire leaders like this, you have a cohesive workplace where the job gets done.
Your new quality assurance engineer should be able to multi-task. This person is going to lead your QA testers, having on-going dialog with your development team and report to their lead. On top of that, your software is not just growing in one direction, so there are many things to test and do. You will want someone who is capable of juggling those tasks successfully.
Someone who has a willingness to learn your new software program, website or mobile application inside and out. They do not need to be a programmer. Actually, it is better if they are not to keep the lines between the development team and the quality team drawn; but they should understand all of the logic behind the programs parts.
The capability of prioritizing the job. Not everything can be done at the same time. You will need to be able to trust that your QA Engineer knows how to get things done in the order that is most logical.
These are the types of Quality Assurance Engineers Get[Devs] can find for your QA team. Let us know exactly who your need by filling out one of our forms and we will get back to you promptly.