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Test specialist vs senior quality assurance tester

The differences between test specialists and senior quality assurance 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 test specialist and a senior quality assurance tester. Additionally, a senior quality assurance tester has an average salary of $93,770, which is higher than the $76,761 average annual salary of a test specialist.

The top three skills for a test specialist include test results, test cases and java. The most important skills for a senior quality assurance tester are test cases, QA, and regression.

Test specialist vs senior quality assurance tester overview

Test SpecialistSenior Quality Assurance Tester
Yearly salary$76,761$93,770
Hourly rate$36.90$45.08
Growth rate--
Number of jobs58,42381,916
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 57%Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

What does a test specialist do?

A test specialist is responsible for evaluating and running diagnostic tests for system networks and applications to ensure stability and efficiency according to the quality standards. Test specialists analyze the system's features and write findings reports for improvement and technical resolutions. They also help system engineers in developing infrastructures and designing servers to support business operations and maximize productivity. A test specialist must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in identifying malfunctions and inconsistencies before the actual launch of deliverables.

What does a senior quality assurance tester do?

A senior quality assurance tester manages junior quality assurance staff. They test documents, lead testing procedures, and ensure customer satisfaction. They also work with an engineering development team to make updates to software.

Test specialist vs senior quality assurance tester salary

Test specialists and senior quality assurance testers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Test SpecialistSenior Quality Assurance Tester
Average salary$76,761$93,770
Salary rangeBetween $61,000 And $96,000Between $73,000 And $118,000
Highest paying CityColumbia, MDSeattle, WA
Highest paying stateMarylandNew Hampshire
Best paying companySony Interactive Entertainment AmericaSagarsoft
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between test specialist and senior quality assurance tester education

There are a few differences between a test specialist and a senior quality assurance tester in terms of educational background:

Test SpecialistSenior Quality Assurance Tester
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 57%Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common majorBusinessComputer Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Test specialist vs senior quality assurance tester demographics

Here are the differences between test specialists' and senior quality assurance testers' demographics:

Test SpecialistSenior Quality Assurance Tester
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 62.1% Female, 37.9%Male, 56.4% Female, 43.6%
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 test specialist and senior quality assurance tester duties and responsibilities

Test specialist example responsibilities.

  • Create weekly drive routes and work with RF engineers to achieve desire coverage.
  • Manage defects and finalize testing documents to meet standards of IBM's QA process.
  • Validate the UI and backend of web base applications that are used to manage medical information.
  • Lead UAT testing for the local project, as well as maintained test activity logs, reporting status to management.
  • Deal with clients or their representatives during the entire SDLC, UAT and post releases.
  • Defect reporting and tracking using ALM.
  • Show more

Senior quality assurance tester example responsibilities.

  • Manage client expectations, provide clear, and concise communication in timely manner to support customers need through the SDLC.
  • Perform inter-departmental audits documenting ISO compliant results with associate corrective action requests in order to achieve company-wide certification.
  • Involve in creating automation test suites for progression & regression testing in SoapUI.
  • Involve in execution of test cases in test lab - QC (ALM) and track defects.
  • Conduct and coordinate integration and user acceptance testing (UAT) prior to the release of new data feeds into production.
  • Create functional, negative, smoke and regression test cases base on application requirements and application specification.
  • Show more

Test specialist vs senior quality assurance tester skills

Common test specialist skills
  • Test Results, 7%
  • Test Cases, 7%
  • Java, 6%
  • Test Data, 4%
  • Test Scripts, 4%
  • Regression, 4%
Common senior quality assurance tester skills
  • Test Cases, 7%
  • QA, 5%
  • Regression, 4%
  • Test Scripts, 4%
  • PL/SQL, 3%
  • Java, 3%

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