Software Tester without a Tech Degree: The Ultimate Guide

If you are planning to launch or switch your career to tech and feel a little bit lost where and how to start, then you came to the right place. In case you also do not have a tech degree, this blog might be very useful for you. I became a software tester without a tech degree. My legal career did not allow me to work remotely, so I left law and started my own business. I was able to work remotely in my business. Running it by myself proved to be very overwhelming though. Based on my experiences I decided that I:

a) preferred working for somebody and having job security,

b) while having the freedom to work from anywhere in the world.

That is exactly what the IT world offered me.

Is Software Testing a Suitable Career for You?

For you to know whether you will enjoy this kind of job, you need to understand what a software tester does on daily basis and what skills he/she needs. I will help you to understand what my job duties are and what skills I am using to fulfill these duties. After that, you will do some soul searching. You will imagine yourself working as a software tester and applying your skills on the job. This is an important exercise to do since you will probably work in your new career for some time and you do not want to get yourself into something you might hate. So please be honest with yourself when reading this article so that you don’t end up spending time and money recklessly.

Software Tester Responsibilities

Software testers do test software 🙂

“Duh..” You probably knew this already, but what does that mean exactly? As a QA tester, you will check that the web or mobile application:

1. meets the expected requirements, and
2. is free of any bugs or defects that would hinder its proper use.

This seems pretty simple and straightforward, right? Unfortunately, in reality, it can be quite complicated. The reason is that there are so many moving parts to any web/mobile app and its features that you as a software tester need to take care of.

Software testers do tests features

For example, when I test a simple search input in the user interface (UI), I am checking that

1) search input has an expected design (it has a certain color, size, margin, and place on the page);

2) people with disabilities can use the search input (colors of search input and background have a required contrast, words in and around the search input have a certain minimum size, the disabled person can navigate the search input with a keyboard, and a screen reader can read how to use the search input to the disabled person out loud);

3) search input use provides expected results (when you type a word into the search input your browser sends a request to the server and then the browser receives the search outcome from the server and displays it in a specific place on the screen; it will also show only a specific number of items found and the action of displaying will be fast);

4) it sets a cookie to track the user (cookies allow for a better user’s experience by saving the browsing information);

and more…

My daily testing duties in Nutshell

And this is exactly what I do day in day out…

I test every new feature added to our work project. I have to look at every feature from multiple angles while keeping different types of users in mind. As our project at work is kind of a living organism the requirements for testing keeps changing over time and I have to keep up. At the end of each sprint (which in my case is 14 days), I have to test all features developed during that time together (smoke testing).

When I do not have any new features to test (usually at the beginning of every sprint), I explore the entire project and test whether everything is still working well. I usually find some bugs or defects caused by adding more features to the app. Our client includes new features into the live project at the end of each sprint and monitors the web application. That is why they can also find bugs and defects in the live app (in production). When they bring up a bug/defect to my attention, I have to validate it. That means I need to check whether the bug exists. After that, I assign the bug to the product owner to give it a priority when it should be dealt with.

I also write

1. test cases, plans, and strategies on how I test the app and its features;
2. bug/defect tickets when I find them;
3. presentations on how to improve testing and general team cooperation;
4. testing documentation so that anybody who comes after me understands what and how to test.

Software Tester Skills

To be able to fulfil the above-described software testing duties, I believe that you need to possess the following qualities:

1) Great communication

Although it might not look like it, software testing is all about communication. You will have to write test cases, plans, and strategies, update testing documentation, communicate with the client, scrum master, product owner, designers, and developers. All these encounters will require tact, great listening skills, diplomacy, and empathy on your side.

2) Sharp analytical mind

This will allow you to break a complex software system into smaller pieces to understand them better and to write test cases for them. If you are not sure whether you possess analytical skills, you can test yourself right here.

3) Outstanding time management and organizational skills. This one is huge. Unless you are working on a big project with a team of other QAs, you will be usually assigned as the only software tester to your project. But there will be multiple developers on your team and you have to work with all of them. So imagine you have to test features coded by each of the developers while the client is sending you bugs, emails regarding bugs, and you still need to update the testing documentation. This might get quite overwhelming. You need to be able to bring a system to this madness. I always focus on one task at hand only. I found out that if I multitask I can make mistakes. So I rather let somebody wait for my answer but do my job right.

4) Orientation to detail

To be successful as a software tester, you need to have an eye for detail. Remember, you are the one who makes sure that every little feature works perfectly and has an exact pixel margin. I would say that I was a medium detail-oriented person. To get better at it, I started to write steps on how to do certain testing. I also started to use a task management system. Everybody is different but I believe that you can become more detail-oriented when you focus on it. 

5) Big picture thinking

While you need to be detail-oriented you always have to see the bigger picture. Whenever I work on a new feature, I always try to understand the business point of view behind it as well as the user experience connected to it. Why was this introduced? How it makes me feel like a potential user when using the web app? Will this feature make me want to buy a client’s service or product or rather annoy me so that I will leave the website? 

6) Can do attitude

Software development and its testing is evolving with an enormous speed. There are new tools made as you read this article. To become a great software tester, you will need to have a can-do attitude. You will be constantly learning new testing ways and tools. That means you have to love learning and be prepared to watch testing trends. You will never be at a point when you know it all and that might scare some people. Also, please remember that testing is never done. Usually, you will be working on a web app continuously so there might never be an end to it. You have to learn to celebrate your little wins on the way and always be ready for bigger mountains to climb.

7) Be curious and enjoy testing

Curiosity killed the cat but makes for a great tester. If you love to understand why certain things work a certain way then you will usually be successful as a software tester. Child-like curiosity will allow you to have fun while doing your software tester job. On the other hand, you do not need to be a perfectionist to enjoy a great quality product. And actually, it’s better if you are not a perfectionist, otherwise, you might suffer as a software tester. You need to deliver a great quality promptly on time. Being passionate about what you do usually shows when you do it. I talked to multiple hr people and they always complain that it is hard to get good quality testers. Most of them lack the passion for the job. So remember that when looking for one ;-).

I wrote an article on 10 essential skills of a successful software tester.

Software Tester Career Suitability Test

You have been reading for a long time already and hopefully, you are starting to understand whether you would enjoy working as a software tester. I prepared a little test for you. Click on the button and you will be redirected to a random web page. Browse through the page and let me know in the comments what you found wrong about it (hint: try to order the CBD skin milk 😉

So how did you like it? Some websites are rather funny, right? Btw. if you got this far in reading my article that means you are enjoying yourself, and also would probably enjoy testing. Congratulations!! Let’s jump into the nitty-gritty of what you need to know to become a software tester without a tech degree.

Changing Your Career to Software Testing 

If you are thinking about launching or switching your career to IT as a software tester, you will need a plan on how you will proceed. Why have a plan you ask? Well, having a plan will help you to stay on your path and achieve your goal faster. It will also help you to manage and organize your time well – the skill you will need to be a great software tester. If you want to make a plan for your IT career change then sign up for your roadmap and workbook here and read my post on your IT career switch. On the other hand, if you are not 100% sure whether you should do the career change, it is always a good idea to talk to a career change counselor and maybe take some career change tests to get to know yourself better. I have collected some information for you to make the right decision for yourself.

Hardware for Your Software Tester Journey

When you work as a software tester you use a laptop and cell phone for the testing. Therefore, even when you are preparing for your future software tester career, you will need to own a laptop and a smartphone to train your testing skills. If you are not sure what kind of laptop and smartphone you should get for your testing study, you can check out my special article here. In case you live with your partner or kids, it might be harder to find a quiet place at home to study. I know it very well, my partner is playing his trombone as I am writing this :-/. Such a problem can be easily solved with noise-canceling headphones. 

Software Testing Fundamentals

Now when you have your laptop, headphones, and career change plan, you can jump into learning software testing fundamentals. Please don’t read them only but try to apply them as well as that might come up as an interview question for your nest software tester job. Also, read them carefully and understand the underlying principles. They will help you greatly to achieve your dream of becoming a great software tester.

Software Testing Courses

There are plenty of software testing courses you can take online. Some are better than others. Depending on your budget you can choose mass video courses or more tailored courses for your need. While the tailored courses might be more expensive they will usually help you learn faster.

Software Tester’s Mentor

When starting a completely new career, it is always wise to find a mentor from that industry. This might not be that hard as it looks like. If you have LinkedIn, start reaching out to people who work as software testers, especially at the companies where you would like to work one day. Do not be scared to ask questions. In my experience, people like to talk about themselves :-). Every person is also flattered when a stranger approaches them and asks for their opinion. So don’t be scared to reach out! You can also meet like-minded people at local meet-ups and testing conferences. These are mostly online due to covid-19, but will still allow you to get a feel for the industry. 

Software Tester Portfolio

When you have learned the basics of testing, you might start thinking about building a portfolio for interviews. It is always a good idea to have something to show while applying for a job. Your software tester portfolio can have a form of a blog that you can monetize at some point as well.

Getting Your First Experience as a Software Tester

There are a lot of people who are trying to become software tester, so you need to stand out. Usually, the biggest hurdle when applying for jobs is not having any experience. However, even this problem can be solved.

Thank you for reading to the end of this article. I hope you learned something or that I at least piqued your interest. Please let me know in the comments.