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The differences between principal test engineers and automation test 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 principal test engineer and an automation test engineer. Additionally, a principal test engineer has an average salary of $116,493, which is higher than the $85,353 average annual salary of an automation test engineer.
The top three skills for a principal test engineer include python, C++ and java. The most important skills for an automation test engineer are java, python, and jenkins.
| Principal Test Engineer | Automation Test Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $116,493 | $85,353 |
| Hourly rate | $56.01 | $41.04 |
| Growth rate | 3% | - |
| Number of jobs | 96,539 | 125,816 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Principal Test Engineers test automation tools and frameworks like Selenium, Appium, and Ranorex. They make sure that the software their companies offer is safe and reliable for consumer use. Being a principal test engineer requires testing to influence better software design, promoting good engineering practice, security, testability, scalability, drafting bug prevention strategies, and reliability. They are responsible for defining test goals, preparing and executing system-level functional tests, providing new project forecasts based on the provided information, and improving the current test solutions by reducing the test time, repeat tests, and yield analysis.
Automation Test Engineers are licensed professionals who work with clients on various IT or engineering-related activities. They are part of the growing automation industry. They create software solutions related to the automation of processes, and they work with clients to identify automation opportunities based on the existing software, hardware, and other processes. They have to understand their clients' needs and find the appropriate software solutions based on the clients' needs. Automation test engineers help design these software solutions. The majority of their work is related to testing these software solutions. They conduct quality checks to ensure that the software solution is working properly. They also check whether the software solution truly addresses the clients' needs.
Principal test engineers and automation test engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Test Engineer | Automation Test Engineer | |
| Average salary | $116,493 | $85,353 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $159,000 | Between $64,000 And $112,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Mateo, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a principal test engineer and an automation test engineer in terms of educational background:
| Principal Test Engineer | Automation Test Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between principal test engineers' and automation test engineers' demographics:
| Principal Test Engineer | Automation Test Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.8% Female, 10.2% | Male, 73.8% Female, 26.2% |
| 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% |