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Software test engineer vs contract software engineer

The differences between software test engineers and contract 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 software test engineer and a contract software engineer. Additionally, a contract software engineer has an average salary of $102,925, which is higher than the $85,338 average annual salary of a software test engineer.

The top three skills for a software test engineer include python, java and test automation. The most important skills for a contract software engineer are java, software development, and database.

Software test engineer vs contract software engineer overview

Software Test EngineerContract Software Engineer
Yearly salary$85,338$102,925
Hourly rate$41.03$49.48
Growth rate-21%
Number of jobs243,382322,978
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 70%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age4439
Years of experience44

Software test engineer vs contract software engineer salary

Software test engineers and contract software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Software Test EngineerContract Software Engineer
Average salary$85,338$102,925
Salary rangeBetween $63,000 And $115,000Between $76,000 And $138,000
Highest paying CitySan Mateo, CA-
Highest paying stateCalifornia-
Best paying companyApple-
Best paying industryTelecommunication-

Differences between software test engineer and contract software engineer education

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

Software Test EngineerContract Software Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 70%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeCalifornia State University - Long BeachMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Software test engineer vs contract software engineer demographics

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

Software Test EngineerContract Software Engineer
Average age4439
Gender ratioMale, 68.6% Female, 31.4%Male, 89.8% Female, 10.2%
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, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage11%8%

Differences between software test engineer and contract software engineer duties and responsibilities

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

Contract software engineer example responsibilities.

  • Implement a centralize configuration system for managing application settings, consisting of a desktop application with a WCF backend.
  • Develop API to allow diagnostic modules to be invoke from different languages and browsers.
  • Complete rewrite of network interfaces (TCP/IP/UDP) and API's to kernel level functions.
  • Work on development of XML reports from older technology for distribution to branches and managers.
  • Develop various reports in PDF format using various XML technologies to reflect contact and quote data.
  • Integrate outsourced UI into existing application.
  • Show more

Software test engineer vs contract software engineer skills

Common software test engineer skills
  • Python, 9%
  • Java, 7%
  • Test Automation, 6%
  • C++, 6%
  • C #, 6%
  • Regression, 4%
Common contract software engineer skills
  • Java, 8%
  • Software Development, 7%
  • Database, 6%
  • JavaScript, 6%
  • Http, 5%
  • API, 4%

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