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What is a senior tester and how to become one
If you are curious about knowing how the product, in its various stages of production, is tested, then this is the position for you. As a senior tester, you will serve the purpose of guiding junior testers and testing the product during its production cycle for quality purposes.
Some of the duties and responsibilities that you will be performing in this capacity include inspecting raw materials and machinery, creating test environments, and analyzing results to identify any faults or causes of malfunctions. Moreover, you will also gather product requirements, monitor all production stages to ensure safety and quality, run quality control on components and final product, and document technical issues and solutions. Essential skills required to complete these tasks are interpersonal, analytical, attention to detail, leadership, delegation, and communication.
Educational requirements for the position include a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, or a similar field, although a master's degree will be given preference. Moreover, prior work experience as a test engineer or a similar position of over four years is also required. The average hourly pay for this position is $31.68, which amounts to an average of $65,897 annually.
Avg. Salary $84,660
Avg. Salary $59,228
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%
Asian 11.99%
Black or African American 6.24%
Hispanic or Latino 8.82%
Unknown 4.70%
White 67.73%
Genderfemale 32.55%
male 67.45%
Age - 43American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 43Stress level is manageable
7.1 - high
Complexity level is intermediate
7 - challenging
Work life balance is fair
6.4 - fair
Senior tester career paths
Key steps to become a senior tester
Explore senior tester education requirements
Start to develop specific senior tester skills
Skills Percentages Java 9.56% Test Results 8.07% Linux 4.92% Jira 4.50% Ruby 3.42% Complete relevant senior tester training and internships
Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior testers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior tester based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior tester resumes.Research senior tester duties and responsibilities
- Participate in retrospective meetings actively suggesting great ideas to improve the scrum process to achieve better results.
- Manage departmental inventory and troubleshoot testing, reporting and inventory issues.
- Execute UNIX /LINUX commands to check error logs files.
- Prepare test cases for other UI screens/modules of the application.
Get senior tester experience
Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior tester. The most common roles before becoming a senior tester include tester, quality assurance tester team lead and quality assurance analyst.Prepare your senior tester resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior tester resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior tester resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose from 10+ customizable senior tester resume templates
Build a professional senior tester resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior tester resume.
Apply for senior tester jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a senior tester job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How did you land your first senior tester job
Are you a senior tester?
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Average senior tester salary
The average senior tester salary in the United States is $84,660 per year or $41 per hour. Senior tester salaries range between $62,000 and $114,000 per year.
What am I worth?
How do senior testers rate their job?
Senior tester reviews
I like testing because it can be interesting. Things can change but also stay the same. I like routine but not repetition doing the same thing. Testing isn't the best job but a good job.
Some things you test can be really picky to pass. It's likely they will always fail the first time. Some test seem to always pass and seek insufficient. I always look at productivity but also efficiency. So if not necessary by customer and always passes I can't see why a part of the test he removed especially if another part of the test will fail if it does. Options I am always open to.
Working with technology.
Automated testing is more in demand than manual testing.
New field to work with compassion.
Low pay structure as compared to the efforts put in.
Updated January 8, 2025
