In the IT outsourcing industry, demand for skilled QA engineers is among the top increasing. Due to research, there will be more than 308,390 positions needed for QA Engineers by the year 2029. These numbers have spoken out the truth that finding and hiring a skilled QA engineer is getting more and more challenging.
In this post, we’ll help you with several hiring tips as well as give advice on how to conduct interviews when looking for a QA engineer so that you’ll find the final piece in the puzzle.
What is Quality Assurance (QA)?
Due to Techtarget, quality assurance (QA) is any systematic process of determining whether a product or service meets specified requirements.
QA creates and maintains specified standards for creating or producing reliable softwares. By increasing consumer trust and credibility, as well as streamlining operations and increasing productivity, a quality assurance system gives a business an edge over the competition.
The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a driving force behind QA procedures and mapping the processes needed to accomplish QA. QA is usually associated with the ISO 9000 international standard. Many IT outsourcing companies use ISO 9000 to guarantee that their quality assurance system is in place and functioning.
Who Is QA Engineer? What They Do In IT Outsourcing?
A QA engineer is responsible for overseeing every step of the software development process, including design, development, testing, debugging, and delivery. They monitor the quality of the software throughout the development process to ensure that it satisfies the customer’s needs. A QA engineer is also in charge of designing the tests used to ensure that the software is free of bugs.
Preventing a poor user experience is essential to an IT outsourcing product’s success, and software testing is the best way to ensure that. In addition, a low-quality product with software problems that go unnoticed might result in financial losses.
A QA engineer is responsible for creating measurements that may be used to prove that a software product is of high quality. Function, dependability, portability, usability, and maintainability are some of the features with associated measurements.
Roles of a QA engineer In An IT Outsourcing Team
A QA engineer’s job is to collaborate with the software development team, offering feedback on how the product should work to be useable and appealing to clients. A QA engineer is responsible for testing the product after each specified stage to ensure that it meets all of the requirements before moving on to the next phase. To ensure that the final product is accessible, usable, and functioning, a QA engineer in an IT outsourcing team is responsible for building the test scripts for the final project.
Tasks of a QA engineer (from daily to weekly):
- Find out what clients want, and then create software testing approaches to meet those goals.
- Create QA testing strategies that are simple to develop and execute.
- Work closely with all stakeholders of the IT outsourcing company in software development to come up with innovative ideas.
- Establish testing scripts for each level of the product software development process.
- Measure quality at every step of the product’s creation and lifespan.
- Identify and fix any bugs
- Make a note of any problems or actions that depart from the software’s intended functionality.
- Ascertain that the software testing tools and methodologies are up to date with current requirements. And ensure that it is suitable for a thorough examination of the project.
- Perform functional and maintenance testing, as well as re-testing bugs.
What Skills You Should Look For In A QA Engineer?
The job of a QA engineer requires a broad range of skills, especially for those who work in IT outsourcing industry. A QA engineer must be able to manage people well in addition to managing quality assurance procedures and technology. They are required to have the following skills:
1. Communication Skills
Managers, clients, and developers all rely on QA engineers to keep the lines of communication open. They communicate with managers and clients in order to understand their needs and give them information about the project’s progress. Even before they start designing and developing it, they have a clear idea of what the software will do. As a result, a QA engineer must have excellent listening skills and the capacity to process information fast.
A QA engineer, on the other hand, works directly with developers and testers in IT outsourcing team. They plan and monitor development, recommend improvements to the testing process, fix errors, and keep the team on schedule. In addition, they do research and present their findings to their management. As a result, a QA engineer must be able to express their ideas to the rest of the team verbally or on paper.
2. Time Management
Engineers in the Quality Assurance (QA) department operate under tight timelines. They plan and write up processes for their team. In order to provide timely and high-quality software releases, these are essential. Additionally, they may be in charge of writing reports or creating automated testing scripts to monitor development and testing. A QA engineer with strong time management skills can succeed in IT outsourcing despite their heavy schedule.
3. Detail-orientation
In order to ensure that the final product is of the highest possible quality, the QA engineer creates several use cases, develops test scripts, and detects defects early on. For this, they must be well-versed in technology and able to notice smallest details that might have an impact on the software. They have to be detail-oriented as a result of meticulous record-keeping of the procedure and test outcomes.
4. Problem-solving And Analytical Skills
The QA engineer finds bugs and problems that may harm performance during the development of software. They then provide suggestions for improvements and keep track of the debugging process. To test the product and uncover flaws early on, a QA engineer creates several use cases. They are also responsible for addressing any concerns that stakeholders may have while the project is in development or testing. It’s therefore essential for a QA engineer in IT outsourcing team to identify and handle problems.
5. Team-player
A QA engineer is generally in charge of a team of IT outsourcing testers and developers. Moreover, they interact closely with managers and clients in order to better understand what they require. It is the responsibility of the QA engineer to ensure that their team sticks to the timelines that they set. They work on a project with a group of individuals, therefore being able to keep the group together and grow is essential.
6. Technical Knowledge
A QA engineer often has a good understanding of numerous technologies in order to effectively detect bugs, recommend adjustments and resolve difficulties. They also keep up with the standards and IT outsourcing processes. The following are examples of the technical skills that QA engineers have to acquire:
- Understand functional and smoke testing, as well as performance, load, security, API testing, and end-to-end testing.
- Familiar with web technologies, software development, and testing with the aid of programming languages
- Experience with a variety of quality assurance testing tools
- Develop and execute automated tests with specialized software platforms
- Using project management software, implement IT outsourcing agile working methods
- Utilize quality assurance management tools.
The QA Engineer rates will be varied due to their competencies and skills. You can check for the genral rate of them in every area here: IT OUTSOURCING RATES: OVERVIEW AND GLOBAL REPORT BY REGIONS IN 2022
Interview Questions You Should Ask When Hire QA Engineer in IT Outsourcing
Even though the QA’s resume is impressive, you still have to review their competency and other indicators to ensure that you choose the right one. These questions can help you determine whether or not a QA is competent for a certain task. Here are some examples of questions to ask during an IT outsourcing interview to assess a candidate’s abilities.
1. When you start a new IT outsourcing project, how do you approach it?
This question enables recruiters to determine whether or not an applicant is capable of taking on a new challenge or project. It’s also a good way to see whether you have a methodology and testing plan in place that can help you solve problems and improve your product.
2. How would you design your test cases?
This question assesses if they are able to develop test cases that completely validate all of the software’s requirements. It guarantees that the final product stays on track and has all of the features that the clients want.
3. How do you handle the task if you don’t like the ideas or requirements?
Since opinions will differ throughout IT outsourcing process, this question will check candidate’s soft skills (collaboration, conflict management, etc.)
4. How well-versed in exploratory testing are you?
When a test case does not cover everything, this exercise tests a candidate’s ability to think creatively. In the search for IT outsourcing QA engineers, this is a crucial question to ask as the ability to use one’s imagination and creativity when testing complicated situations manually is an absolute need.
5. What QA tools are you currently using in your IT outsourcing project and why?
It examines how well they know about testing tools and whether or not the tools they like are those that your firm prefers. In addition, the tools they use may be more efficient than the ones you’re currently using, which is a plus.
See more ways to build your own IT Outsourcing Team here: A COMPLETE GUIDE ON HOW TO HIRE AN IT OUTSOURCING TEAM IN 2022
Bottom Lines
The demand for QA testers in IT outsourcing is growing at a faster rate than ever before. Quality software products are now the new normal, as end-users reject lesser goods. A QA engineer’s job is to come up with metrics to guarantee that the software is ready for use before it is released.
Despite the difficulty of finding a skilled quality assurance engineer, a business may use a variety of methods to do so. Innotech, a company that gives access to top-notch engineers and developers, is another alternative.
————————–
With 14+ years of experience, 200+ projects done, and a team full of talented individuals, Innotech Vietnam can be a reliable partner if you are looking for an IT Outsourcing company.
There is a lot of information about the clients Innotech now serves on our website. We attempt to provide you with the sense of security you need to enjoy enhancing your business with us.
Contact our team of experts if you have any queries or concerns about outsourcing and we’ll be more than pleased to assist you.
Mail: [email protected]
