The software industry is versatile and is constantly changing with time. Moreover, the challenges posed by digital transformation requires constant upgradation of skill sets. There is a constant need for innovation and need for excellent means to achieve quality.  

Software Development Engineers in Tests (SDET) are, thus, expected to deliver effectively in development as well as in testing. An SDET is expected to showcase expertise in agility, robustness, agility, resilience, and performance. They are expected to even contribute toward designing the software by reviewing it.

Here are some of the skill sets SDETs should have:

Managing people and their expectations: The development cycle, essentially, surrounds peoples, partners, clients. The SDETs are expected to manage within stringent timelines, strict guidelines to achieve a given goal. Client satisfaction is of utmost importance in the software industry and SDETs must ensure that their skills are at par with the customer requirement. They go through regular classes and training to ensure that they are never out of the market.

Giving automation its due importance: Automation is the latest buzzword! You cannot expect a tester or a developer to progress if he is stuck in the mundane manual testing. With automation, things are not just faster, but also accurate. There are multiple tools available in the market, both Licensed and open source to conduct and monitor test automation. It is important for an SDET to understand the objective of automation and why it is important for the business.

Keep business agility in mind: The Agile and DevOps methodologies accelerate the businesses. Testers and developers have to understand that they have to be versatile and should work toward flexibility as consumer preferences keep changing and applications will get more complex and layered. Therefore, there has to be added focus on collaborative approach, more video conferencing, meetings, tutorials, and more. SDETs have the responsibility of building a culture that makes testing teams more approachable for changes.

Looking beyond the obvious: SDETs should be ready for unforeseen situations and should gear up for challenges that come with Agile testing methodologies. It should be understood that software testing and QA are integral to the software development cycle. Times have changed and so have the requirements and the goals of the testing industry. It is important that the perspective of the clients is kept in mind and their requirements are analysed and executed. Testers should use their experience and skills to understand whether the test case requires something more than just manual or agile testing.

Scope of work should be clear: It is important that we all have our goals clear. And, it is specifically important in the testing industry. Unless the testers are clear about their goals and what they are looking for, there is no way that accuracy can be achieved. It is therefore important to drill the clients for their requirements and then get started. Get to the basics, starting the end users, peak usage periods, configurations it will operate on, devices it will be used on and much more. The demands will be different for different sites-e-commerce, shopping, public, and private sites.

Decide what you want to use- Automation testing or manual testing. If it is an e-commerce site, ensure to do a Stress Testing or Performance Testing. If it is a financial application, the SDET will have to emphasize on security testing or vulnerability testing.

To summarize it all, the test er should be well versed in DevOps and Agile Methodology, Automation, Web and Mobile technologies, SDLC, Rational Analysis and Logical Thinking, social networking, programming, test planning and documentation, customer support, and more.

QualiTest Group is the world’s largest software testing and quality assurance company. QualiTest offers quality assurance and software testing services, and is committed to the highest standards of quality in every project.