How to hire a quality tester

How to hire a quality tester, step by step

Here's a step-by-step quality tester hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a quality tester job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new quality tester
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a quality tester do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a quality tester, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A quality tester's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, quality testers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list shows salaries for various types of quality testers.

   Type of Quality Tester	Description	Hourly rate
   Quality Tester		$16-48
   Test Analyst	The duties of a test analyst depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. In the information technology setting, a test analyst is responsible for testing computer software or hardware to ensure its quality before being released in the market... Show more	$26-42
   Quality Assurance Representative	Quality assurance inspectors are responsible for inspecting, testing, and sampling products, materials, or parts for any defects and deviations from company standards. They are tasks to reject any materials, equipment, and products that don't meet specifications... Show more	$11-37

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Test Results
   • Test Scripts
   • QA
   • Regression
   • Data Integrity
   • Java
   • Selenium
   • Developer Software
   • SDLC
   • PL/SQL
   • Web Services
   • UAT
   • Jira
   • Back-End

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage departmental inventory and troubleshoot testing, reporting and inventory issues.
   • Defect logging and tracking through QC.
   • Used Unix commands and utilities to monitor server side activities and performance.
   • Create test plans and test procedure templates and guidelines to be used by the QA team.
   • Involve in testing and validating the HTML front-end code for the web application across multiple browsers.
   • Communicate with the QA team to work on design and develop the test strategies via telephone and email.

   More quality tester duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your quality tester job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A quality tester can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, quality testers' average salary in vermont is 56% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level quality testers 65% less than senior-level quality testers.
   • Certifications. A quality tester with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a quality tester's salary.

   Average quality tester salary

   $60,350yearly

   $29.01 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level quality tester salary

   $35,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average quality tester salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$83,649	$40
   2	Oregon	$61,542	$30
   3	Texas	$51,436	$25
   4	Louisiana	$46,461	$22
   5	Georgia	$44,672	$21
   6	Maryland	$44,415	$21
   7	New Jersey	$44,314	$21
   8	New York	$43,518	$21
   9	North Carolina	$42,222	$20
   10	Iowa	$41,539	$20
   11	Kansas	$41,436	$20
   12	Illinois	$41,318	$20
   13	Colorado	$40,072	$19
   14	Wisconsin	$37,019	$18
   15	South Carolina	$35,534	$17
   16	Ohio	$35,506	$17

   Average quality tester salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Tech Mahindra	$75,213	$36.16	1
   2	Plascore	$72,441	$34.83
   3	ABB	$70,992	$34.13	31
   4	United States Gypsum Company Inc	$69,773	$33.54
   5	Windsor Windows & Doors	$68,448	$32.91
   6	Intone Networks	$63,975	$30.76
   7	Xceltech	$63,518	$30.54
   8	Software Professionals	$61,354	$29.50
   9	USG	$60,848	$29.25
   10	Welocalize	$60,189	$28.94	29
   11	ITW	$59,600	$28.65	44
   12	DISYS	$57,276	$27.54
   13	International Systems Technologies	$57,215	$27.51
   14	Mega Fluid Systems	$52,821	$25.39
   15	ACS Solutions	$51,907	$24.96
   16	Randstad North America, Inc.	$51,385	$24.70	8
   17	ALTEN Cresttek - An ALTEN Group	$51,001	$24.52
   18	Dover	$49,708	$23.90	24
   19	Matrix Service Company	$47,388	$22.78	5
   20	Kelly Services	$44,132	$21.22	76

4. Writing a quality tester job description

   A good quality tester job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a quality tester job description:

   Quality tester job description example

   • Work as a part of a team or independently with minimal supervision
   • Interpret technical information from manuals to support equipment setup and calibration
   • Produce products that conform to the company documentation and quality standards
   • Mechanical aptitude and clear understanding of pneumatic schematics, piping and instrument diagrams, mechanical drawings, and BOM's
   • Electrical aptitude and understanding of electrical schematics and symbols
   • Maintain a safe and clean work environment in a 5S work system
   • Conserve resources by using equipment and supplies
   • Always adheres to KESG's standards of safety and quality
   • Document safety and quality actions and observations when required
   • Completion of test report documents
   • Facilitation of equipment, testing, troubleshooting, and repair of system problems
   • Collaborate with manufacturing and quality groups to ensure quality standards are achieved with every product
   • Interact with a diverse group of management, engineers, and technical staff
   • Ability to troubleshoot problems as they arise

   General and Communication Skills:

   • Ability to clarify priorities with lead or supervisor
   • Strong attention to detail and time management skills
   • Professionalism
   • Ability to deal with changing priorities daily
   • Ability to work closely with personnel from other departments

   Physical Requirements:

   • Ability to sit, stand, walk, bend, and lift up to 50lbs for the duration of the workday

   Education/Experience:

   • High school diploma/GED required
   • Advanced verbal and written communication skills
   • Ability to read and interpret documents, engineering drawings, schematics, and P&ID's
   • Use of mechanical and electrical inspection tools, instruments, and devices
   • Mechanical and electrical troubleshooting experience
   • Working knowledge and the ability to test and troubleshoot AC/DC power circuits
   • Working with HMI's and PLC's

   Benefits:

   • 401(k) matching
   • Medical, Dental, Vision insurance
   • Short Term Disability Insurance/Long Term Disability Insurance
   • Employee Assistance Program
   • FSA and HSA
   • Generous Paid Time Off
   • Tuition reimbursement

   PI193657043

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right quality tester for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with quality testers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit quality testers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your quality tester job on Zippia to find and recruit quality tester candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit quality testers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview quality tester candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new quality tester

   Once you've decided on a perfect quality tester candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a quality tester?