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The differences between junior 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 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 $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 senior quality assurance engineer are QA, java, and python.
| Junior Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $70,002 | $106,802 |
| Hourly rate | $33.65 | $51.35 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 44,154 | 254,258 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| 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 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 testers and senior quality assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Junior Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $70,002 | $106,802 |
| Salary range | Between $52,000 And $93,000 | Between $82,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | Arlington, VA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | California |
| Best paying company | QSSI | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a junior tester and a senior quality assurance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Junior Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between junior testers' and senior quality assurance engineers' demographics:
| Junior Tester | Senior Quality Assurance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.2% Female, 40.8% | 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% |