If we have to go by definition then Quality
Assurance (QA) is the resource designation who acts as a technician in the
programming world. He/she is responsible for making sure that the list of
protocol is followed to validate and verify the design, implementation and the
relevant functionality as per the end user. Tester is also responsible for
planning out the approach in terms of how the testing will be done.QA will
define the set of test cases which will be used during the test execution
process.
What are the roles
& responsibilities of QA?
Very often people thing QA means he/she is just responsible
for finding defects/bugs in the system. But the fact of the matter is QA is
responsible for several other tasks like:
·
Analyzing the specifications received from
Business Analyst or Client.
·
Creating the test plan document
·
Creating test scenarios and the test matrix
·
Creating/setting up the test bed.
·
Maintaining full defect tracking work flow.
·
Planned communication with the entire team about
the each step by step progress of the testing.
·
Managing and executing testing status meeting.
These are the most common roles & responsibilities of QA
but not limited to.
Can anyone become a
quality assurance analyst?
If you are a detailed oriented person and like to
investigate the things then you can think of becoming a QA. The most important
skill is the soft skill because no matter what kind of industry you are working
on QA has to maintain a very powerful relation with the entire team. So in nut
shell QA should have a good analytical ability and interpersonal skills other
than being aware of the quality assurance and basic programming concepts.
How much programming
I need to know to become a QA?
To become a QA anyone is required to have the basic
programming’s knowledge. As long as an individual anyone understand the
concepts of the programming such how to write basic queries in database to pull
the data/record along with the complete concepts of software testing.
Can I prepare myself
for QA without any formal training?
Answer to this question is very simple. Anyone can prepare
them self by just going through the free resources available over the internet
these days. But that’s not the real world challenge. The challenges comes when
you apply for the job and appear for the interview. Interviewer is going to ask
the questions which are more situation based. Until and unless one have worked
on a project its very less likely to imagine and create the situations by your
own. This is the reason even though you are prepared using the free resources
but it’s just the 20% of the overall preparation. Then what about the remaining
80%? The remaining 80% you will be prepared by your mentor. You mentor could be
any one such as a family member working in the same field, a training who
shares there experience with you and fill all the gaps before you apply for the
job.