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Senior software tester vs senior software engineer

The differences between senior software testers and senior software 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 senior software tester and a senior software engineer. Additionally, a senior software engineer has an average salary of $114,494, which is higher than the $88,967 average annual salary of a senior software tester.

The top three skills for a senior software tester include java, test scripts and regression. The most important skills for a senior software engineer are java, python, and javascript.

Senior software tester vs senior software engineer overview

Senior Software TesterSenior Software Engineer
Yearly salary$88,967$114,494
Hourly rate$42.77$55.05
Growth rate-21%
Number of jobs197,882338,989
Job satisfaction-3
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4439
Years of experience44

Senior software tester vs senior software engineer salary

Senior software testers and senior software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Software TesterSenior Software Engineer
Average salary$88,967$114,494
Salary rangeBetween $68,000 And $115,000Between $86,000 And $151,000
Highest paying CityCupertino, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyLinkedInThe Citadel
Best paying industryTechnologyRetail

Differences between senior software tester and senior software engineer education

There are a few differences between a senior software tester and a senior software engineer in terms of educational background:

Senior Software TesterSenior Software Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Senior software tester vs senior software engineer demographics

Here are the differences between senior software testers' and senior software engineers' demographics:

Senior Software TesterSenior Software Engineer
Average age4439
Gender ratioMale, 48.6% Female, 51.4%Male, 81.4% Female, 18.6%
Race ratioBlack 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, 4.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 31.8% White, 50.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage11%8%

Differences between senior software tester and senior software engineer duties and responsibilities

Senior software tester example responsibilities.

  • Work in an agile scrum methodology where requirements are broken down to user stories.
  • Create test cases and test steps for each user stories assign for testing in JIRA.
  • Perform unit and system tests on UNIX platform of CAS.
  • Verify that eXLC process is actively utilize throughout the SDLC process.
  • Report, document and followed-up on the change requests using the defect-tracking tool JIRA.
  • Help UAT testing team during critical functionality testing for fare quotes, pricing discount and ticketing.
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Senior software engineer example responsibilities.

  • Work with Microsoft TFS to manage work items and source control.
  • Lead team in development of a custom reservoir simulation data mining and visualization tool.
  • Used and written maven scripts to manage dependencies and to build and deploy the application locally and in DEV environments.
  • Develop Unix scripts for cross cap system integration system, enhance the existing Unix scripts to achieve better performance and throughput.
  • Configure and manage Debian Linux kernel security and networking components.
  • Collaborate with project manager in tracking and managing project development process following SDLC and RBPM methodologies.
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Senior software tester vs senior software engineer skills

Common senior software tester skills
  • Java, 12%
  • Test Scripts, 5%
  • Regression, 5%
  • Test Results, 5%
  • QA, 5%
  • Apache Tomcat, 5%
Common senior software engineer skills
  • Java, 13%
  • Python, 6%
  • JavaScript, 5%
  • Architecture, 5%
  • Database, 4%
  • GIT, 3%

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