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Tester vs senior quality assurance tester

The differences between testers 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 tester and a senior quality assurance tester. Additionally, a senior quality assurance tester has an average salary of $93,770, which is higher than the $65,202 average annual salary of a tester.

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

Tester vs senior quality assurance tester overview

TesterSenior Quality Assurance Tester
Yearly salary$65,202$93,770
Hourly rate$31.35$45.08
Growth rate--
Number of jobs52,59581,916
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

What does a tester do?

The role of technical testers is to test computer software for defects, bug errors, or any issues that may come across by an end-user. They mainly conduct product testing and prepare reports about any problems or recommendations for improvements. Other responsibilities include reviewing test plans, assessing and analyzing product specifications and requirements, and mapping out testing strategy. Technical testers also frame the test environments or support network management staff and system administrators. Qualifications for this position include knowledge of the database or structured query language, proficiency in Linux commands, and proficiency in defect tracking tools.

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.

Tester vs senior quality assurance tester salary

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

TesterSenior Quality Assurance Tester
Average salary$65,202$93,770
Salary rangeBetween $42,000 And $99,000Between $73,000 And $118,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASeattle, WA
Highest paying stateMarylandNew Hampshire
Best paying companyAppleSagarsoft
Best paying industryTelecommunicationTechnology

Differences between tester and senior quality assurance tester education

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

TesterSenior Quality Assurance Tester
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common college-Stanford University

Tester vs senior quality assurance tester demographics

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

TesterSenior Quality Assurance Tester
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 63.0% Female, 37.0%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 tester and senior quality assurance tester duties and responsibilities

Tester example responsibilities.

  • Manage requirements and maintain test repository using QC.
  • Manage departmental inventory and troubleshoot testing, reporting and inventory issues.
  • Network scanning using tools like NMap and Nessus.
  • Perform unit testing using Junit for class, method, & web services testing.
  • Perform functionality testing, UI testing, integration testing, regression testing, system testing and browser compatibility testing.
  • Analyze new test cases or test cases from regression test suites store in ALM to pick the automation candidates.
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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

Tester vs senior quality assurance tester skills

Common tester skills
  • Java, 10%
  • Test Results, 5%
  • Web Application, 4%
  • Test Scripts, 4%
  • QA, 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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