Software test engineers are professionals who ensure that software is doing what it is designed to do consistently. From their title, one major duty of a software test engineer is to test out the software. They carry out a variety of both automated and manual tests to ensure the software is consistently producing the desired results. After tests have been carried out, you have to come up with reports about the outcome of the test, which will aid decision-making. You are also to collaborate with developers and other colleagues. Sometimes, you could be called to monitor the work of other testers.

Generally, software test engineers hold a bachelor's degree in software engineering or computer science. Having a master's degree gives you an edge and makes you eligible for leadership positions. Software test engineers are not only expected to be shrewd, but you have to be a great communicator. Paying attention to detail, the ability to handle stress well, and multitasking are some other skills you must possess. The median salary per year is $83,070.

What Does a Software Test Engineer Do

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a software test engineer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 9.0% of software test engineers included python, while 7.3% of resumes included java, and 5.8% of resumes included test automation. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

Learn more about what a Software Test Engineer does

How To Become a Software Test Engineer

If you're interested in becoming a software test engineer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 70.3% of software test engineers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 17.5% of software test engineers have master's degrees. Even though most software test engineers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

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Software Test Engineer Career Paths

Average Salary for a Software Test Engineer

Software Test Engineers in America make an average salary of $85,338 per year or $41 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $115,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $63,000 per year.
Average Software Test Engineer Salary
$85,338 Yearly
$41.03 hourly

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Roles and Types of Software Test Engineer

The role of a software test engineer includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general software test engineer responsibilities:

  • The test engineer will have the following roles
  • Construct and maintain existing automated test suites that will validate various wireless jasper service define test strategy
  • Collaborate within a team environment in the development, testing

There are several types of software test engineer, including:

Software Engineer

Role:

Software Engineers get to apply lots of different areas of study into their everyday work. Whether it's science, engineering, mathematics, computer science, or even design, these engineers are able to use lots of different methods and techniques in their line of work.

Essentially, software engineers design, develop and test software applications for computers. They usually work in offices or labs during their average 40-hour workweek. Even though they use a wide range of study, typically software engineers only require a Bachelor's degree, although a Master's degree is appealing to most employers.

  • Average Salary: $100,260
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Test Engineer

Role:

If you want to earn an annual average salary of $74,632, you can try being a Test Engineer. Not only that, but you can also excel and try other roles related to being a Test Engineer. You can be a Software Engineer, a Project Engineer, a Systems Engineer, and a Manager of Systems Engineering.

If you are a Test Engineer, you will be observing and recording product quality like durability, safety, speed, and functionality. You will check the materials of the product and procedures done to come up with this product. You will be running tests and identifying technical issues.

Most Test Engineer applicants today include Test Scripts, C++, Hardware, Python, and Test Equipment in their resumes, so you might want to brush up your skills and knowledge on these things. This way, you are at par with other applicants and have a good chance of getting hired since you know relevant things about the field.

  • Average Salary: $79,832
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Software Development Engineer

Role:

While playing games, using specific apps, or merely using your cell-phone, do you ever think who develops them? Well, it's the Software Development Engineer who works day and night to make your screen interaction better and bolder. But trust us, the effort is paid quite well because as a Software Development Engineer, you can make, on average, $56 per hour.

Becoming a software development engineer, however, is not possible without hard work and patience. You need hours and hours of practice after acquiring the required knowledge. Thus, to become one, you must at least get a bachelor's degree. But you will find that more than 45% of the practicing professionals have a master's degree!

As a Software Development Engineer, you will be hired for a 9-5 job, but you don't need a physical office to work. In fact, most of the companies will ask you to work in your comfort zone while completing your projects effectively.

  • Average Salary: $109,147
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Software Test Engineer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active software test engineer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where software test engineers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Software Test Engineer Jobs By State

Software Test Engineer Education

Software Test Engineer Majors

Software Test Engineer Degrees

Bachelors

70.3 %

Masters

17.5 %

Associate

8.3 %

Top Colleges for Software Test Engineers

1. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

3. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

4. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,992

Enrollment

33,495

5. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

6. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

7. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Pomona, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,353

Enrollment

24,841

8. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

9. Minnesota State University - Mankato

Mankato, MN • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,184

Enrollment

11,675

10. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

Top Skills For a Software Test Engineer

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Software Test Engineer diversity

Software Test Engineer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
69%
Female
Female
31%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among software test engineers, 31.4% of them are women, while 68.6% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among software test engineers is White, which makes up 67.7% of all software test engineers.

  • The most common foreign language among software test engineers is Spanish at 21.8%.

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Best States For a Software Test Engineer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a software test engineer. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, Maryland, and Nevada. Software test engineers make the most in California with an average salary of $104,836. Whereas in Washington and Maryland, they would average $95,352 and $87,891, respectively. While software test engineers would only make an average of $87,632 in Nevada, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Software Test Engineer Jobs: 4,810
Highest 10% Earn:
$128,000
Location Quotient:
2.39

2. California

Total Software Test Engineer Jobs: 14,269
Highest 10% Earn:
$146,000
Location Quotient:
1.77

3. Delaware

Total Software Test Engineer Jobs: 416
Highest 10% Earn:
$112,000
Location Quotient:
1.2
Full List Of Best States For Software Test Engineers

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Top Software Test Engineer Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ software test engineers and discovered their number of software test engineer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Tech Mahindra was the best, especially with an average salary of $80,023. Larsen & Toubro Infotech follows up with an average salary of $76,917, and then comes Microsoft with an average of $121,615. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a software test engineer. The employers include Autodesk, John Deere, and Veeva Systems

Most Common Employers For Software Test Engineer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Google$130,869$62.92580
2Microsoft$121,615$58.471,074
3Expedia Group$119,946$57.67241
4Cisco$114,409$55.0091
5Nokia$108,978$52.39156
6AT&T$107,356$51.6184
7Citrix$106,057$50.99188
8Arista Networks$105,819$50.87188
9Hewlett Packard Enterprise$95,957$46.1386
10Versa Networks$93,267$44.8491

Software Test Engineer Videos

Becoming a Software Test Engineer FAQs

Is A Software Tester A Software Engineer?

No, a software tester is not a software engineer. A software engineer builds things. Then the software tester tries their best to break it. Both roles play a critical part in designing a quality piece of software engineering.

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