Making Sense of Job Titles

There are lots of different job titles in the world of QA, and if you're not yet a dyed-in-the-wool QA professional, they might not make a lot of sense to you. Here's an overview of some common QA job titles and where they fit in.

QA Tester / Junior QA Engineer:
So you're too clumsy (or your mouth is too big) to wait tables, you've tried working at the front desk but you can't seem to send a fax or make a copy without jamming up the machine, and frankly, you're much better at being served your coffee than making it for someone else. Everyone in the company has a nicer car than you? Time to get started in the wonderful world of QA. If you're lucky and persistent, you might manage to talk your way into a job in the QA department. Expect to make $8 - $15 an hour to start. Ask questions. Don't complain. Learn everything you can. It's so worth it.

Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer:
This is the catch-all QA title. You install software, you drink coffee, you use the software, you drink coffee, you break the software, and then you tell someone about it. One of the fun parts of QA is that you get to play detective, finding and refining steps to cause a problem until you can repeat it in the shortest number of steps - and then best of all, someone else has to fix it. This job is sometimes called "Quality Engineer" or "QE", but usually only by the kinds of people who insist on referring to bugs as "defects".

QA Analyst:
Unless you work for a financial or a biotech company (where this is a standard title), ask for a "QA Engineer" title. When it comes time for your next job search, you'll be glad you did. Even though it's a minor detail, having the word "engineer" in your title conveys a certain amount of respect and skill. Respect and skill are very important when it's time to negotiate your next raise.

Senior QA Engineer:
If you've got more than 3 years of experience under your belt, you're probably a Senior QA. There are two kinds of Senior QA Engineers: the best are those who have already paid their dues as leads, and enjoy a lot of status by having seniority on the team without as much direct responsibility. They mentor the junior team members and often have a lot of history about a product. They're often the coolest people on a team. Then there are the QA Lifers, having years of QA experience but no motivation or ability to take on the responsibility of a lead. It's my personal experience that the QA Lifers typically have the highest incidence of poor hygene. Take it or leave it.

Lead QA Engineer:
Typically the most overworked individual on a software team. The Lead QA Engineer is responsible for coordinating the test effort of the entire QA team for any given product. QA Leads report on the state of the software at team meetings, manage the bug database, create test plans, lobby engineers to fix bugs, and help decide what bugs will be deferred and what bugs must be fixed before shipping. This is often a well-paid job with a lot of responsibility, but beware: it's also a very difficult job, and the work is never done.

QA Manager:
Oversees management of the entire department, typically handles hiring and firing, giving reviews and raises, and purchasing approval. Also handles interdepartmental communication, such as with technical support. In smaller companies, the QA Manager may be the most senior individual in the QA department, while in larger companies, a QA Manager may be responsible for only one area of the company's testing, such as for technology, content, website, or ecommerce backend.

Director of QA:
Senior manager who oversees the QA managers. Acts as the interface between the QA department and the executive team: usually takes the fall for bad releases, reports find/fix metrics to the rest of the company, and is responsible for budgetary and financial matters.

Got something to add? Got a complaint to air? Talk back – take it to the newly-restored QAPrincess forums.

Until next time,

~Lorna