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The differences between junior testers and functional 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 tester and a functional tester. Additionally, a functional tester has an average salary of $76,647, which is higher than the $70,002 average annual salary of a junior tester.
The top three skills for a junior tester include test results, test scripts and manual test cases. The most important skills for a functional tester are java, test cases, and web application.
| Junior Tester | Functional Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $70,002 | $76,647 |
| Hourly rate | $33.65 | $36.85 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 44,154 | 37,146 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A junior tester has strong critical thinking skills and is very much familiar with automation. They must be a team player; they work with others to create and test out a software program. They monitor and report issues, like system bugs, and help to fix them. Most of the time, a junior tester works at a company that is related to software, web application, java games, or video games.
A functional tester's main responsibility is to validate the behavior of an application and analyzed the requirements of the clients. They are skilled in Java and database design for software development. The tasks they do are complex, including scanning IDs of the receiver and serial numbers on each unit, testing the units to make sure they work properly, and checking for any defects and damages. They are also trained in using numerical codes for passing or failing each unit and writing serial numbers on the production tracker.
Junior testers and functional testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Junior Tester | Functional Tester | |
| Average salary | $70,002 | $76,647 |
| Salary range | Between $52,000 And $93,000 | Between $61,000 And $94,000 |
| Highest paying City | Arlington, VA | Bellevue, WA |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | Washington |
| Best paying company | QSSI | Cerner |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Technology |
There are a few differences between a junior tester and a functional tester in terms of educational background:
| Junior Tester | Functional Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between junior testers' and functional testers' demographics:
| Junior Tester | Functional Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.2% Female, 40.8% | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% |
| 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% |