Career Trends of Software Test Automation Engineering in 2019

Why You Should Be an Automation Tester

The career of test automation is growing day by day, not only because it reduces human effort but also because of its demands. When considering which direction to pursue in an automation testing career, here are a few advantages of test automation you should think about:

• It’s creative and challenging: Testing is like solving puzzles and problems, and automation testing will bring something new to you every day. By acting as the end-user, you’re the one who has to get creative when thinking of places there may be inconsistencies.
• You’re constantly learning: Once you start automating, there’s always more to learn. Your work will never be stagnant as you’ll be continuously growing and improving your practice.
• It’s a specialized skill: Following the misconception that everyone can test, most testers start in a similar field and find themselves being drawn to the role, but it requires in-depth knowledge of development patterns as well as good technical programming skills. Those who find it’s their calling are sure to fall in love with test automation.
• It’s rewarding: You’re essentially helping your company build products in less time with lower costs and greater quality. You’ll probably see your impact every day on the job.
• There’s a strong community: One of the best things about being an automation tester is the supportive and robust community, from StackOverflow to Twitter, where you can discuss the best practices and trending topics in the industry.

Why 2019 Is a Great Time to Be an Automation Tester

For the past several years, QA and test analyst job ads have stressed the need for test automation skills. Today, more and more components of the lifecycle are being automated and there is a focus on automating the entire lifecycle. It’s rare to see a job listing for a test role where there isn’t at least a demand for an understanding of test automation and at least one scripting language. At the time I’m writing this article, there are roughly 16,955 available jobs in "test automation engineering" on Indeed, 30,705 jobs on Glassdoor, and 5,580 jobs posted on LinkedIn. These numbers indicate the high demand for this skill, and consequently, high job security. Keep in mind the fact that as an automation tester, you’ll always be needed and will find no lack of leading companies trying their hardest to recruit you, and there are constantly opportunities to grow in your career to reach a managerial level.

Moreover, if you want a high-growth and high-paying career, test automation engineering/automation testing is also the way to go. The global test automation market was valued at approximately $15.87 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach approximately $54.98 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 23.01% between 2017 and 2022. The national average test automation engineer salary is $105,630 in the United States.

What Do You Need to Prepare for Your Automation Testing Career?

To excel in this field, testers must be aware of automation tools and modern techniques that are being used in the testing industry. This doesn't mean you're being asked to be programmers, but it does require automation testers to have a programming background. Programming skills can help testers communicate better with developers and participate in unit testing. As automation tests are closely connected with code, the knowledge of the programming language that the team works with is one of the critical requirements for a tester. If the product is written in Ruby, then the tester needs to have Ruby experience on their resume. Besides definite programming languages such as Java, C/C++, Ruby, Python, and Perl, some other required skills include knowing SQL and relational databases, experience with HTTP/HTTPS, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML and testing APIs. Additionally, knowing one of the frameworks (i.e., Cucumber for Ruby) is definitely an advantage.

You can initiate your test automation path by referring to some popular software testing blogs and forums like Utest, Software Testing Help, Stickyminds, and Ministry of Testing to get you started. These sites help educate and inspire teams of all types and sizes to test automation.

As I mentioned, the more technical and test automation skills you have, the more marketable you'll be as a tester. However, anyone who is serious about a career in testing would do well to pick up a powerful automation tool. Most available test automation tools in the market are developed with a programming mindset. Some of the most popular tools include:

• Selenium
• Katalon Studio
• UFT
• TestComplete
• SoapUI

Learn more about the above-mentioned tools here.

Other ways to gain solid knowledge in test automation are joining local meetups and conferences such as STAREAST, STARWEST, Agile Testing Days, and QualityJam. Last month, I had a chance to join a webinar co-hosted by Katalon Studio and ToolsQA about the software testing trends of 2019. I found this webinar to be amazing and practical, and I would suggest you try to register for similar events.

The article was originally posted at Test Automation Resources