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The differences between junior 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 tester and a software tester. Additionally, a software tester has an average salary of $78,580, 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 software tester are test results, regression, and test scripts.
| Junior Tester | Software Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $70,002 | $78,580 |
| Hourly rate | $33.65 | $37.78 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 44,154 | 208,853 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| 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.
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 testers and software testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Junior Tester | Software Tester | |
| Average salary | $70,002 | $78,580 |
| Salary range | Between $52,000 And $93,000 | Between $61,000 And $100,000 |
| Highest paying City | Arlington, VA | Sunnyvale, CA |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | QSSI | Nordstrom |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Technology |
There are a few differences between a junior tester and a software tester in terms of educational background:
| Junior Tester | Software Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| 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 software testers' demographics:
| Junior Tester | Software Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.2% Female, 40.8% | 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% |