What Is a QA Tester? Skills, Requirements, and Jobs in 2025

A website crash can be chaotic. Software glitches can drive users away. You have probably experienced firsthand the frustration of flawed technology. As a quality assurance (QA) tester, also called a software tester, you can help prevent adverse events and ensure websites and applications run smoothly. Learn more about a career as a QA tester, including job duties, career outlook, and average salaries.

What is a QA tester?

A QA tester works with software or a website to ensure it runs properly. In this job, you will try to prevent faulty apps or other technology glitches, which can diminish the customer experience. QA testers accomplish this by running various manual and automated tests while the product is in development. The goal is to try and break the product or force it to malfunction. It empowers developers with the knowledge to make product adjustments before it goes to market.

What do QA testers do?

QA testing is an essential part of the software development life cycle. It ensures that an organization's product is as high-quality as possible. As a QA tester, you will contribute to the organizations you work for in the following ways:

• QA saves time and increases efficiency: QA testing throughout the development process can help you identify issues early on. Fixing bugs and other problems early in a product’s life cycle can be much less complicated. It is also easier for developers to adjust code they have worked on recently.

• QA testers help protect brand reputation. They use their skills to anticipate what might go wrong and prevent problems. This prevents a business from releasing a product that glitches, crashes when too many people use it at once, or otherwise provides a negative user experience (UX).

• QA testing allows products to grow safely: Scalability is essential to QA testers. A crucial part of your role is to ensure that added features won't compromise security or UX. With effective testing, you'll have a product ready to launch and scale later.

• QA is essential to product safety: QA testers ensure the product meets user expectations and government and industry guidelines. You will follow specific procedures to test, document, evaluate, and report your findings.

A day in the life of a QA tester

QA testing typically occurs in cycles throughout the product’s development. Your job as a tester involves several responsibilities. First, whether you're doing manual or automated testing, you’ll need to know how to plan to test, develop and execute test cases, and evaluate and document test results. Along with reviewing test procedures and developing scripts, you’ll research new technologies, tools, and testing procedures. Working closely with the product and development team and other stakeholders in QA processes, you'll ensure a product is of excellent quality and low risk.   

Job outlook for QA testers

The QA tester is important in all industries that develop products and provide services online. The Government of Canada Job Bank predicts a moderate outlook overall for workers in this field. Some provinces, such as Manitoba, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, have good job prospects for QA and software testers.

How much do QA testers make?

The median hourly wage for QA testers in Canada is $23.52 CAD [1]. Additional pay may include commissions, profit sharing, or bonuses.

Alternate job titles and salaries for QA testers

Within the QA testing field, you can take on various job roles. Some, along with their expected median hourly wage, include: 

ㅤ

• QA engineer: $40.87 CAD [2]

• Test engineering manager: $60.58 CAD [3]

• Software testing engineer: $51.64 CAD [4]

• Test automation engineer: $51.64 CAD [5]

What is QA testing?

You will have various types of tests to carry out in this role. Seven different types of QA testing exist, including the following:

1. Unit testing

The QA tester often starts with unit testing, where you test individual software functions or unique testable product parts. You can better identify necessary fixes by breaking the testing into small, manageable parts. After you test individual units, you can move on to component testing, which connects many units of code.

2. Integration testing

Next, you must check that the various code components work together. Integration testing combines different units of code and tests them concurrently. Developers need to do more work if they don’t work when integrated.

3. System testing

Also known as end-to-end testing, this testing stage looks at functionality more holistically. System testing aims to mimic what users experience with the product. 

4. Performance testing

A small team works with the software or website when in development. Yet, when the asset launches, it may have to handle hundreds of users simultaneously. Performance testing confirms that the code can keep up. It compares performance on different user systems and pressures the application to identify bottlenecks or other concerns.

5. Regression testing

In this stage, you check what happens to the product after implementing changes. It ensures that fixing one problem doesn’t create new ones. 

6. User acceptance testing

Performed near the end of development, user acceptance testing (UAT) verifies the product or application does what its developers meant it to do, as expected.

7. Mobile testing

Acknowledging that many users are on mobile devices, this testing checks that the product or application can function. For example, mobile testing considers smaller screens, less memory, battery usage, and what happens if someone gets a call while in that app. 

How to become a QA tester

Many employers expect QA testers to earn a bachelor's degree in computer science, math, or engineering. However, some employers require QA testers to hold a master's degree. Software testers often study computer science, business, computer applications, or information technology. You can also become a QA tester without a degree by meeting other employer qualifications, like industry certifications or hands-on experience.

Recommended degrees and graduate certificates for QA testers

• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of London

• Master of Computer Science from the University of Illinois 

• Graduate Certificate in Computer Science from the University of London

QA tester certifications

Earning a certificate can expand your knowledge and prepare you for more advanced job opportunities, even if you already have a degree. Find a certification or additional credentials like Professional Certificates suitable for your desired industry, area of expertise, and experience level.

For beginner QA testers (little to no experience with coding or testing):

• Google IT Automation with Python Professional Certificate

• Continuous Delivery & DevOps by the University of Virginia

• Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL), Test Analyst, Test Automation Strategy Agile Tester, and Strategic Test Management certifications offered by the International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB)

For intermediate QA testers (those with some coding experience or a relevant two- to four-year degree):

• Software Testing and Automation Specialization by the University of Minnesota

• Certified Associate in Software Testing (CAST)

For advanced QA testers (those with a four-year degree or a two-year degree and a few years of experience

• Certified Associate in Software Testing (CAST) for a foundational understanding of QA testing

• Certified Test Engineer (CSTE) to establish your competence in QA practices and principles

• Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA) to show your expertise in bug database software and version control and different client and server architectures

• Certified Software Quality Manager (CSQM) demonstrates a professional level of competence in QA 

QA tester job requirements

QA testers are often analytical thinkers who can think flexibly and creatively. Your job is discovering errors and finding bugs and glitches, so critical thinking is crucial. You’ll also need solid written and verbal communication skills to efficiently track, troubleshoot, and report defects and errors. QA testers should understand the four main software testing models.

Software testing models for QA testers to know

The four main software testing models include:

• Waterfall: In the Waterfall model, the classic software development life cycle (SDLC) model, you complete one phase before starting the next. This lifecycle begins with a feasibility study. Requirement analysis and specification determination follow. Then, design, coding, and unit testing occur, followed by integration and system testing. This model ends with maintenance.

• Iterative Development: A variation on the SDLC, the Iterative Development model takes a more cyclical approach. This model repeats the planning and requirement, analysis and design, implementation, testing, and evaluation stages incrementally, which is thought to help improve the next iteration faster.

• Agile: Agile is a team-focused approach to QA that prioritizes customer value. This concept typically leverages the incremental, iterative approach. Everyone works in short sprints to adapt to changes in software development and collaborates to figure out the best strategies to meet the project goals.

• Extreme Programming: As a QA tester, you may work in an Extreme Programming environment. An iteration of Agile, this approach also stresses customer satisfaction. Instead of being driven by a deadline or predetermined stages in a model, this QA testing model identifies ways to solve problems as efficiently as possible to get the software to the user sooner. Testing starts as early as possible in an Extreme Programming model.

Prepare to become a QA tester with Coursera

If computer science interests you, then a career as a QA tester can be rewarding. Build the essential skills you need for this role on Coursera. Consider completing an online introductory course like the University of Alberta’s Software Product Management Specialization on Coursera. Or, if you're ready for more advanced concepts, hone your skills with a Software Development Lifecycle Specialization by the University of Minnesota.