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The differences between senior performance engineers and 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 senior performance engineer and a tester. Additionally, a senior performance engineer has an average salary of $110,382, which is higher than the $65,202 average annual salary of a tester.
The top three skills for a senior performance engineer include java, jmeter and linux. The most important skills for a tester are java, test results, and web application.
| Senior Performance Engineer | Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $110,382 | $65,202 |
| Hourly rate | $53.07 | $31.35 |
| Growth rate | 11% | - |
| Number of jobs | 95,530 | 52,595 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Senior Performance Engineers are responsible for optimizing production systems to support traffic growth and new products. Their duties include creating a best practice framework for performance monitoring, scalability, and dependency handling, as well as developing testing infrastructure for post-deployment of production. They are responsible for designing alerts and dashboards, addressing performance issues, conducting root-cause analysis, defining process architecture, and facilitating site reliability in determining requirements for product scalability. Senior Performance Engineers also develop training programs to mentor operation services personnel.
The role of technical testers is to test computer software for defects, bug errors, or any issues that may come across by an end-user. They mainly conduct product testing and prepare reports about any problems or recommendations for improvements. Other responsibilities include reviewing test plans, assessing and analyzing product specifications and requirements, and mapping out testing strategy. Technical testers also frame the test environments or support network management staff and system administrators. Qualifications for this position include knowledge of the database or structured query language, proficiency in Linux commands, and proficiency in defect tracking tools.
Senior performance engineers and testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Performance Engineer | Tester | |
| Average salary | $110,382 | $65,202 |
| Salary range | Between $83,000 And $146,000 | Between $42,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Mateo, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Maryland |
| Best paying company | Netflix | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a senior performance engineer and a tester in terms of educational background:
| Senior Performance Engineer | Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | - |
Here are the differences between senior performance engineers' and testers' demographics:
| Senior Performance Engineer | Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 76.2% Female, 23.8% | Male, 63.0% Female, 37.0% |
| 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% |