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The differences between junior quality assurance testers and software testers 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 software tester. Additionally, a software tester has an average salary of $78,580, 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 software tester are test results, regression, and test scripts.
| Junior Quality Assurance Tester | Software Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $62,660 | $78,580 |
| Hourly rate | $30.12 | $37.78 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 92,642 | 208,853 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| 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.
The responsibility of software testers involves the quality assurance of software development and deployment. Software testers conduct manual and automated tests to make sure that the software is developed for its purpose. They remove the issues and bugs within a product before deployment to users. Their responsibilities include software and systems analysis, risk mitigation, and software-related issue prevention. They should have skills in automation, programming, social networking, logical thinking, and mobile and web technology.
Junior quality assurance testers and software testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Junior Quality Assurance Tester | Software Tester | |
| Average salary | $62,660 | $78,580 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $93,000 | Between $61,000 And $100,000 |
| Highest paying City | Burlingame, CA | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | Cnsi | Nordstrom |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a junior quality assurance tester and a software tester in terms of educational background:
| Junior Quality Assurance Tester | Software Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| 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 software testers' demographics:
| Junior Quality Assurance Tester | Software Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.1% Female, 50.9% | Male, 62.1% Female, 37.9% |
| 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% |