Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between associate quality assurance engineers and test engineers 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 test engineer. Additionally, a test engineer has an average salary of $79,832, 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 test engineer are python, C++, and C #.
| Associate Quality Assurance Engineer | Test Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $70,931 | $79,832 |
| Hourly rate | $34.10 | $38.38 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 159,146 | 228,974 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| 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.
Test engineers are professionals who observe and record the quality of products, which includes functionality, durability, speed, and safety. They are responsible for checking the materials and procedures thoroughly throughout the production cycle. It is their duty to run tests on different criteria to identify and fix technical issues. They analyze reactions to determine the causes of malfunctions and recommend potential improvements. Moreover, they test products before they are launched to ensure customers get high-quality and functional products.
Associate quality assurance engineers and test engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Associate Quality Assurance Engineer | Test Engineer | |
| Average salary | $70,931 | $79,832 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $90,000 | Between $60,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Belk | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between an associate quality assurance engineer and a test engineer in terms of educational background:
| Associate Quality Assurance Engineer | Test Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between associate quality assurance engineers' and test engineers' demographics:
| Associate Quality Assurance Engineer | Test Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2% | Male, 81.7% Female, 18.3% |
| 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% |