What kind of technical skills and experience define a senior engineer? Let me share my perspective on senior engineers.
Extensive Industry Testing Experience#
Ideally, experience in both traditional and internet companies is preferred. If not, at least engage with senior test engineers from these companies to understand their testing approaches and broaden your perspective.
Strong Testing Fundamentals#
Master necessary testing theories, be familiar with testing processes, requirements analysis, and test case design methods. Develop test plans based on project needs.
Strong Business Acumen#
Proficiency in functional testing requires strong business understanding. This allows you to design test cases from a product perspective, identifying issues beyond basic functionality and providing constructive feedback and suggestions to the product team.
Familiarity with Relevant Testing Tools#
Many tools are used in software testing. Understanding and using these tools allows you to effectively choose the appropriate tools based on company requirements and project needs, improving work efficiency.
- Management Tools: e.g., JIRA, Testlink, Wiki, Confluence
- Continuous Integration: Jenkins, Bamboo, Travis CI, etc. Understand their differences and implementation.
- Automated Testing: Understand how to perform automated testing for web and mobile platforms, and the tools involved. Familiarity with Selenium, WebDriver, Appium, Robotium testing frameworks, and programming languages used for developing automated test cases (Python? Java? JavaScript?). Know how to choose and implement these tools.
- Performance Testing: Understand Jmeter and LoadRunner, two major performance testing tools, and how to conduct performance testing.
Strong Coding Skills#
Strong coding skills enable rapid mastery of automated testing and even the development of testing platforms. Furthermore, this allows for quick familiarization with automated test cases written in Java, Python, Javascript, etc., when transitioning to a new company.
Language Proficiency#
This includes communication and foreign language skills. Communication is an essential skill for testers. Good communication ensures developers understand the issues and accept your suggestions, and allows you to better understand requirements from product personnel. While English is mainly required in foreign companies, learning English is beneficial because many technical resources and materials from the open-source community are in English.
Therefore, becoming an excellent senior test engineer requires many skills. Let’s work hard together! 💪