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The differences between associate quality assurance engineers and quality assurance testers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an associate quality assurance engineer and a quality assurance tester. Additionally, a quality assurance tester has an average salary of $74,140, which is higher than the $70,931 average annual salary of an associate quality assurance engineer.
The top three skills for an associate quality assurance engineer include QA, quality standards and java. The most important skills for a quality assurance tester are manual test cases, regression, and test scripts.
| Associate Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $70,931 | $74,140 |
| Hourly rate | $34.10 | $35.64 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 159,146 | 82,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An associate quality assurance engineer is a crucial part of any company or business that provides products and services to customers. All company products are tested and evaluated through quality assurance to test if it meets market standards and can be useful for people. The associate quality assurance engineer is someone who helps with the QA lead in managing all department tasks. Other included tasks are regularly updating reports, writing assessments, and offering a new management solution to resolve an issue.
A quality assurance tester, also known as QA tester, has different responsibilities depending on the line of work or industry involved. In a computer development setting, they are in charge of working and coordinating with technical engineers. They have to conduct regular tests for new software and programs, identify inconsistencies, and find areas for improvement. Furthermore, a quality assurance tester must produce reports from the tests, which can be the basis of progress for further developments.
Associate quality assurance engineers and quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Associate Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $70,931 | $74,140 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $90,000 | Between $55,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Belk | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Finance |
There are a few differences between an associate quality assurance engineer and a quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Associate Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between associate quality assurance engineers' and quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Associate Quality Assurance Engineer | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2% | Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |