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The differences between junior quality assurance testers and senior quality assurance engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a junior quality assurance tester and a senior quality assurance engineer. Additionally, a senior quality assurance engineer has an average salary of $106,802, which is higher than the $62,660 average annual salary of a junior quality assurance tester.
The top three skills for a junior quality assurance tester include QA, manual test cases and regression. The most important skills for a senior quality assurance engineer are QA, java, and python.
| Junior Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $62,660 | $106,802 |
| Hourly rate | $30.12 | $51.35 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 92,642 | 254,258 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A junior quality assurance tester is responsible for facilitating different quality assurance, such as integration and performance testing of software systems. They handle the communication process between stakeholders and clients and resolve issues like bugs, viruses, and other unwanted software. They also develop and maintain a collaborative partnership with different agencies and software developers. They usually work with a supervising quality assurance tester and with other business groups to complete testing.
A senior quality assurance engineer oversees the testing procedures conducted in software development, ensuring technical accuracy and efficiency. They are primarily responsible for working alongside software designers and quality engineers, reviewing quality control reports, inspecting specifications, and devising particular test procedures. Moreover, it is also essential to troubleshoot issues and identify any inconsistencies or bugs. As someone with more experience in the team, they must supervise and serve as a mentor to the younger quality assurance engineers in the joint effort to develop efficient software.
Junior quality assurance testers and senior quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Junior Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $62,660 | $106,802 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $93,000 | Between $82,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | Burlingame, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Cnsi | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a junior quality assurance tester and a senior quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Junior Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between junior quality assurance testers' and senior quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Junior Quality Assurance Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.1% Female, 50.9% | Male, 68.0% Female, 32.0% |
| 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% |