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The differences between senior testers and functional 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 tester and a functional tester. Additionally, a senior tester has an average salary of $84,660, which is higher than the $76,647 average annual salary of a functional tester.
The top three skills for a senior tester include java, test results and linux. The most important skills for a functional tester are java, test cases, and web application.
| Senior Tester | Functional Tester | |
| Yearly salary | $84,660 | $76,647 |
| Hourly rate | $40.70 | $36.85 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 36,535 | 37,146 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Senior testers are professionals who supervise junior-level testers that conduct testing for computer software for errors or any problems faced by end-users. These testers must attend discussion meetings to review and analyze business requirements and technical specifications with developers and business users. They must work with the quality assurance (QA) team to identify discrepancies and test the new application. Senior testers must also gather test results and document all defects to create the test completion document as per the requirement of end-users.
A functional tester's main responsibility is to validate the behavior of an application and analyzed the requirements of the clients. They are skilled in Java and database design for software development. The tasks they do are complex, including scanning IDs of the receiver and serial numbers on each unit, testing the units to make sure they work properly, and checking for any defects and damages. They are also trained in using numerical codes for passing or failing each unit and writing serial numbers on the production tracker.
Senior testers and functional testers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Tester | Functional Tester | |
| Average salary | $84,660 | $76,647 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $114,000 | Between $61,000 And $94,000 |
| Highest paying City | Portland, OR | Bellevue, WA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | Washington |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Cerner |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior tester and a functional tester in terms of educational background:
| Senior Tester | Functional Tester | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between senior testers' and functional testers' demographics:
| Senior Tester | Functional Tester | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 67.5% Female, 32.5% | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% |
| 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% |