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The differences between quality assurances and quality assurance 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 quality assurance and a quality assurance tester. Additionally, a quality assurance tester has an average salary of $74,140, which is higher than the $51,313 average annual salary of a quality assurance.
The top three skills for a quality assurance include test cases, food handling and java. The most important skills for a quality assurance tester are manual test cases, regression, and test scripts.
| Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $51,313 | $74,140 |
| Hourly rate | $24.67 | $35.64 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 69,366 | 82,396 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
The primary role of quality assurance specialists is to inspect the quality system's implementation and perform quality assurance audits. They are responsible for monitoring and recording results from procedures and processes within manufacturing industries. They are also responsible for some other tasks, including keeping up-to-date manufacturing and auditing documentation, training less experienced QA team members, and creating standard operating procedures. To be a quality assurance specialist, you must have a high school diploma, organizational skills, and strong attention to detail.
A quality assurance tester, also known as QA tester, has different responsibilities depending on the line of work or industry involved. In a computer development setting, they are in charge of working and coordinating with technical engineers. They have to conduct regular tests for new software and programs, identify inconsistencies, and find areas for improvement. Furthermore, a quality assurance tester must produce reports from the tests, which can be the basis of progress for further developments.
Quality assurances and quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average salary | $51,313 | $74,140 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $92,000 | Between $55,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cupertino, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Meta | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a quality assurance and a quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:
| Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 47% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between quality assurances' and quality assurance testers' demographics:
| Quality Assurance | Quality Assurance Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2% | Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8% |
| 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% |