How To Become A Junior Test Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a junior test engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

If you're looking to break into the engineering field, but you find that you're still developing important industry skills, a Junior Test Engineer could be a great foot in the door. This position will help you better understand the pressure and work environment you'll face in your field.

As a Junior Test Engineer, you'll need to be quick and efficient when working with design and test teams to review product quality. Analysis and observation skills should be second-nature to you as optimizing strategies and operations will be your primary tasks and developing and conducting tests for the products. You and your team will need to have quality communication to keep this process moving smoothly.

While this is typically an entry-level job, many companies will still be looking for a bachelor's degree in the industry. Coming in with previous work experience and internships will help your chances greatly and give you a better opportunity for more advanced tasks. This can be either a part-time or full-time position, and on average, many Junior Test Engineers can expect to make about $30 per hour.

ScoreJunior Test EngineerUS Average

Salary

5.4

Avg. Salary $69,443

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

4.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 11.99%

Black or African American 6.24%

Hispanic or Latino 8.82%

Unknown 4.70%

White 67.73%

Gender

female 34.76%

male 65.24%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

5.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a junior test engineer

Explore junior test engineer education requirements

Most common junior test engineer degrees

Bachelor's

76.2 %

Master's

11.3 %

Associate

9.3 %

Start to develop specific junior test engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	11.73%
Test Results	7.04%
C #	5.85%
C++	5.71%
Linux	5.63%

Complete relevant junior test engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New junior test engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a junior test engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real junior test engineer resumes.

Research junior test engineer duties and responsibilities

Involve in tracking the defects between components and managing them through QC tool.
Perform smoke testing, functional testing, front end testing, regression testing and also support client acceptance testing
Utilize sequential processing and single XML for transactions.
Identify, analyze, and document defects on Jira.

Prepare your junior test engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your junior test engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a junior test engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable junior test engineer resume templates

Build a professional junior test engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your junior test engineer resume.

Apply for junior test engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a junior test engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do junior test engineers rate their job?

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Junior test engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2020

Pros

I like testing because it can be interesting. Things can change but also stay the same. I like routine but not repetition doing the same thing. Testing isn't the best job but a good job.

Cons

Some things you test can be really picky to pass. It's likely they will always fail the first time. Some test seem to always pass and seek insufficient. I always look at productivity but also efficiency. So if not necessary by customer and always passes I can't see why a part of the test he removed especially if another part of the test will fail if it does. Options I am always open to.