The accelerated agile ways of working are slowly replacing the previous waterfall model and manual testing. This increases the demand for automation testing in organizations and that requires highly skilled automation testers. Hiring a highly qualified automation tester is very essential for any application to be successful. By using their skills they will help in testing the application better and will be able to catch and fix defects before applications are released.
Sometimes an application with a single bug can cost huge to the organization. To avoid such mishaps, and disastrous possibilities, qualified automation testers come into need. They design and write automation test scripts, use automation framework, debug test cases, investigate the problems that arise post-testing, handle Selenium Environment setup, and many others.
Automation testing plays a very important part in an organization’s success. It is the best way to increase test effectiveness, efficiency, and coverage of testing. It not only saves time and effort but also improves accuracy and enables to reach a larger audience in a shorter time. When strategies like (proper planning, monitoring, and control) are implemented correctly automation becomes an asset to the organization. And all of these can be achieved if the organization is already having a highly skillful automation tester.
But the question here is that with just basic knowledge of testing can a tester be said that he is qualified for the position of a successful automation tester. Automation testing is a challenging career that requires unique skills, to keep the application on time and within tight deadlines.
If you are looking for a career to be an automation tester, here is the list of must-have skills that you need to adopt to become an asset to your organization and increase your overall worth. Let’s find out those skills.
- Proficiency in multiple programming languages
Before going into the automation domain you need to be clear that without some basic understanding of programming languages there is no way to write logical automation test scripts. Automated test tools mostly used programming languages like (C/ C++, Python, Java, Perl, HTML, CSS, scripts, etc. Having a background in programming will help the automation tester to improve communication with developers and will also simplify your automation scripts.
Coding is a part of a successful testing career. For automation testers, if they are to design automation frameworks and write and execute automated tests it becomes important for them to know the coding basics.
However, having an experienced automation tester in the team adds a bonus advantage, as their previous test experience can be utilized in designing test cases and test suites.
- Mastery with automation testing tool
The current agile age demands speed as well as quality. Clients worldwide need an organization to provide a good quality bug-free application fast, this is the reason behind the rise of automation testing. Being a skilled automation tester you need to already have the tools in the bag as every organization will expect you to have knowledge and expertise in the automation tool.
The main reason behind using automation testing tools in most organizations is the benefit they provide. So to get better exposure you need to explore the leading test automation tool available in the market. This will provide them with their architecture knowledge, their environment, the workability of your application under test, and many more. Also, it will help you to decide which tool is fulfilling most of your automation testing needs. One of them you can try out is LambdaTest.
Automation platforms like LambdaTest is flexible and enable the user to record any error and fix them depending on how the error is affecting the application. Other than this its scalability allows the exchange of information between the team members.
LambdaTest is one of the most preferred platforms to perform automated as well as manual testing. It offers online an ultra-fast, scalable and secure online Selenium grid, which users can utilize and run their tests on a combination of more than 3000 browsers and OS with their respective versions. It supports all the latest and legacy browsers.
Supporting all major browsers, Selenium has become a legend in the world of automation testing. The introduction of Selenium WebDriver ensures flawless execution of browser-based web application automation testing. It is important for you as an automation tester to have working experience or knowledge of Selenium and LambdaTest will provide you that user experience while letting you work on a scalable cloud Selenium Grid.
- Understanding the application
Being a skilled automation tester you must know the application under testing inside and out.
Application details needed to be taken care of are-
- The programming language used during application development.
- Platform or device requires the application is meant to run.
- All the expected features and functions expected from the application when accessed
- whether manual testing execution has been done in the application or not.
- How many manual hours have been spent while testing the application?
- Whether any critical bugs are left unfixed during the last release.
- The expected time for the testing phase needs to be completed and the application will go live.
Above mentioned points are just a few, based on the complexity and the nature of the application it may vary. Now it’s your task to button up the application that you are going to test via automation testing so that you have a better understanding of the application.
- Previous experience in Manual testing
Automation testing is not a replacement for manual testing. There are cases that only manual testing can cover and automation testing does not. The time you have spent in manual testing previously will help you reach an expert level and keep up with the competition of automation tests. If you have expertise in both manual and automation testing you will be able to stand as a foolproof reliable tester.
There is no way to avoid coding as automation test scripts are just like pieces of code that carry bugs. So having a manual testing background instead of depending entirely on automation will help you to make sure that there are no false positives or negatives as test results after a script is executed. This makes it clear that automation testing needs experienced manual testers. Sometimes visual issues are difficult to detect using automation scripts but human perspectives matter means the human eye can detect them easily.
Certain scenarios are not applicable in automation testing and a manual approach will once again become compulsory if your testing phase demands you to check how an application’s gesture or touch feature is working. Doing this via automation will be costly and the results may carry inaccuracy too. By the time test automation script writing of such user control scenarios is done manual tester will complete the entire testing as well as bug fixing.
By all these, it does not mean that manual testing overpowers automation testing, it still has its own place and is time-saving too. Performing the repetitive tasks of the same scenario on wider level automation testing will be an ideal choice. However, understanding theoretical level problems, manual testing skills are required. As an automation tester if you also carry manual testing experience it will become easy for you to get to the source of the problem by thinking from the end-users perspective.
- Excellent time management, problem-solving, and reporting skills.
Automation testers work in a fast-paced environment that demands excellent time management. By determining the sequence of tasks and planning the team’s available time and dividing it into smaller blocks of time, will enable them to understand the key responsibilities and time to complete them in a better way. Managing time will lead to higher quality work and overall productivity with an improved automated testing process. This leads the team to meet and beat the deadlines consistently
Moreover to be a successful automation tester you need to have in-depth knowledge in configuring automated tools before actually starting using them. As an automation tester, you must have good problem-solving skills to resolve situations like false positives and false negatives. Mostly these issues occur due to insufficient knowledge for configuring test scripts.
You must also possess skills like good communication and regular reporting, this will lead to better coordination of the overall status of the application under test, like critical bugs in the application, defect closure status, release timeline, etc. Which in turn helps in making better decisions where needed.
Automation testing courses and certification add a bonus to qualification criteria
To be a multiskilled automation tester you must possess a combination of technical knowledge, technical expertise, and testing skills to test all aspects of the application’s quality, such as functionality, performance, security, etc. This is to quickly deliver a super quality application. You can develop mentioned qualities and skills with multiple available automation testing courses.
Course certification will help you to build a strong profile and make you stand out from others while applying for an automation tester job. This will also help to enhance the knowledge base in terms of automation testing.
I am quite sure that acquiring above mentioned skills will help you to advance from beginner to lead in today’s market, and you will surely be a valued resource in your organization.
