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Senior software tester vs software test engineer

The differences between senior software testers and software 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 senior software tester and a software test engineer. Additionally, a senior software tester has an average salary of $88,967, which is higher than the $85,338 average annual salary of a software test engineer.

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

Senior software tester vs software test engineer overview

Senior Software TesterSoftware Test Engineer
Yearly salary$88,967$85,338
Hourly rate$42.77$41.03
Growth rate--
Number of jobs197,882243,382
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

Senior software tester vs software test engineer salary

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

Senior Software TesterSoftware Test Engineer
Average salary$88,967$85,338
Salary rangeBetween $68,000 And $115,000Between $63,000 And $115,000
Highest paying CityCupertino, CASan Mateo, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyLinkedInApple
Best paying industryTechnologyTelecommunication

Differences between senior software tester and software test engineer education

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

Senior Software TesterSoftware Test Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyCalifornia State University - Long Beach

Senior software tester vs software test engineer demographics

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

Senior Software TesterSoftware Test Engineer
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 48.6% Female, 51.4%Male, 68.6% Female, 31.4%
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, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between senior software tester and software test 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.
  • Show more

Software test engineer example responsibilities.

  • Balance risk, regulatory impact and business needs to achieve efficient and effective solutions for QC process improvement.
  • Manage entire Linux virtual machine farm utilizing KVM and Virt-Manager
  • Manage test case defect management reporting utilizing JIRA and Bugzilla
  • Develop UI automation test infrastructure using python and selenium.
  • Design test scripts using Java and participate in automation code-reviews.
  • Involve in integrating the test suites to Jenkins to execute them automatically after every successful deployment.
  • Show more

Senior software tester vs software test engineer skills

Common senior software tester skills
  • Java, 12%
  • Test Scripts, 5%
  • Regression, 5%
  • Test Results, 5%
  • QA, 5%
  • Apache Tomcat, 5%
Common software test engineer skills
  • Python, 9%
  • Java, 7%
  • Test Automation, 6%
  • C++, 6%
  • C #, 6%
  • Regression, 4%

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