Careers in Software Testing

Software testing is an activity of finding out errors in software or evaluating the quality of the product (which is under test), before handing it over to the clients. It is a part of the process of software development. A professional assigned for the job looks at the product to meet business and technical requirements and works on its proper implementation. He/she also checks the possible risks involved at the implementation of the software/product. While testing software, one has to concentrate on both functional and non-functional aspects of testing. He/she has to find out the defects, failures and compatibility of the software. The person is also given the responsibility of static and dynamic testing, software verification, validation and software quality assurance.

Software testing involves various methods, which are divided into black box testing and white box testing. Black box testing includes equivalence partitioning, boundary value analysis, all-pairs testing, fuzz testing, model-based testing etc. On the other hand, white box testing consists of different types such as API testing, code coverage, fault injection methods, mutation testing and static testing. The scope of software testing in India has widened over the years, predominantly due to the boom in business and knowledge process outsourcing.

Course Details
Many technical institutes in India are offering course in the field of software testing. These programs are mostly offered as certificate courses. The aim of the courses is to train students to work efficiently in all the areas of software testing. It requires technological background of the students. Therefore, to be eligible for the UG courses, one has to pass in 10+2 level examination with science stream and graduation in BE/B.Tech, from any recognized University.

Career Prospects
After pursuing relevant course, one can work with a software testing organization as testing engineer, senior test engineer, QA (quality assurance) automation engineer, quality tester, software tester, mainframes testing engineer, QA lead, QA engineer, senor QA tester, Product QA / QC Engineer, Validation and Verification Engineer, Firmware Test Engineer, Performance Tester, Wireless testing engineer etc.

Top Colleges Offering UG/PG/Other Courses
There are very few institutes in India that impart course in software testing. National Institute of Computer Systems (Pune), AmitySoft (Chennai), Indian Institute of Software Testing (Chennai) are among the few institutes that offer training in software testing. Generally, organizations dedicated to software testing recruit people and impart training for fifteen days or a month, before hiring them for the job.

Remuneration
Remuneration in the field of software testing differs from one organization to the other and also on the process handled by the professional. Generally, the salary package of software testing professional ranges from Rs 300000 to Rs 600000 per annum. They are also given incentives, depending upon their performance.