Career Growth with SDET: How SDET Helps You Develop a Successful IT Career?
It’s one thing to be a QA tester or to perform software development tasks. But did you know? There’s an entire field of study that allows you expertise in both software development and software testing. A Software Development Engineer in Test is basically a “developer” who works with the “testing” team, boasting the skills of both a developer and a software tester. This unique skillset offers excellent career opportunities in the future, promising a salary of well over $100,000 a year. Want to know how exactly? We’ve covered it all right here.
This article encompasses everything you need to know about the SDET career path. So, let’s get started:
This article encompasses everything you need to know about the SDET career path. So, let’s get started:
What is an SDET and What Does SDET Stand for?
SDET refers to Software Development Engineer in Test. Microsoft first introduced SDET to replace repetitive manual processes with some automation in order to boost productivity and dependability for the applications being tested.
Who is an SDET Engineer and What Does an SDET Do?
An IT professional known as an SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) is capable of performing equally well in both development and testing positions. SDETs participate in every stage of the software development and testing processes. The knowledge of SDET professionals is solely focused on the process of software testing and development's testability, robustness, and performance.
SDET Roles and Responsibilities
An SDET professional takes responsibility for the following roles.
- Developing diverse test environments and acceptance tests.
- Configuring the Smoke and Regression Tests' daily reports.
- Creating and managing bug reports in defect tracking software such as Jira.
- Participating in discussions about product design and contributing ideas on how to test functional components, product designs, and planning or estimating.
- Producing documentation for test plans, test strategies, and test case development.
- Understanding the flow of the code, how it interacts with each separate component, and giving developers input on the code's quality.
- Interpreting client needs and product goals to carry out pertinent tests.
- Checking the SMART business needs (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Testable)
- Setting up test frameworks and automating tests for various application platforms, including Web, Desktop, Mobile, and API
- Conducting thorough tests, including User Acceptance Testing, Performance Testing, Integration Testing, Component Testing, Unit Testing, and others, to make sure the team is providing the client with a high-quality product.
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Is SDET a Good Career in the Near Future with a Market-Competitive Salary?
An SDET is in high demand because of its unique ability to grasp both the software development and testing phases of the software rendering lifecycle.
You might be wondering why SDET testing is so crucial at this point.
Imagine that Paypal, the largest international payment platform, has a software bug. Wherein the programmer accidentally added an extra "0" to the sending amount, resulting in every user sending $1,000 instead of $100, and because there are millions of transactions per minute. There is a possibility that the company could lose BILLIONS in just a minute, damaging its reputation irreparably and causing customers to leave their platform.
A career as a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) has bright future potential. It is one of the most sought-after positions in the tech sector as employers seek out SDET unicorns, who act as all-rounders by combining the abilities of a developer and a tester. Find our difference between SDET vs Developer in our blog. Although an SDET's functions and responsibilities are obviously challenging, they also guarantee success, especially in terms of a significant compensation package. The average SDET salary in the USA is $117,000 per year. The usual range is therefore ranges from $90,000 to $140,000. Additionally, a person's education, skills, credentials, and years of experience will surely have an impact on their final remuneration package.
You might be wondering why SDET testing is so crucial at this point.
“Customers will dislike testing your product if you don't like doing so.”
– Techno Study
Imagine that Paypal, the largest international payment platform, has a software bug. Wherein the programmer accidentally added an extra "0" to the sending amount, resulting in every user sending $1,000 instead of $100, and because there are millions of transactions per minute. There is a possibility that the company could lose BILLIONS in just a minute, damaging its reputation irreparably and causing customers to leave their platform.
A career as a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) has bright future potential. It is one of the most sought-after positions in the tech sector as employers seek out SDET unicorns, who act as all-rounders by combining the abilities of a developer and a tester. Find our difference between SDET vs Developer in our blog. Although an SDET's functions and responsibilities are obviously challenging, they also guarantee success, especially in terms of a significant compensation package. The average SDET salary in the USA is $117,000 per year. The usual range is therefore ranges from $90,000 to $140,000. Additionally, a person's education, skills, credentials, and years of experience will surely have an impact on their final remuneration package.
SDET Career Path
Typically, the SDET career ladder begins and develops in the following way:
Test Architect / Solutions Engineer – A test architect or solutions engineer primarily creates the overall framework for several projects, develops test standards, and can also manage delivery. These people are the go-to people for many projects, assisting them in achieving test results and delivering a thoroughly tested, defect-free product.
- SDET-1 – A junior-level SDET with automation script writing skills.
- SDET-2 – A seasoned SDET with the ability to create reusable tools and automation frameworks.
- Sr SDET – In addition to being individual contributors like SDET 1 and SDET 2, senior-level SDETs are also capable of conducting code reviews.
- Take part in design discussions and offer ideas for improvements that would be acceptable.
- Take part in the product's overall testing plan.
- Create execution pipelines, take part in CI/CD delivery models, etc.
- SDET Manager – Sr. SDET or SDET Manager options are available after the experience level of SDET2. In addition to their duties for the core of their position, SDET managers also have management and leadership duties.
Test Architect / Solutions Engineer – A test architect or solutions engineer primarily creates the overall framework for several projects, develops test standards, and can also manage delivery. These people are the go-to people for many projects, assisting them in achieving test results and delivering a thoroughly tested, defect-free product.
How to Become SDET With an Ideal Skillset?
Let's look at some advice, fundamental tools, and technical abilities that must be taught to succeed in their roles in order to become a successful SDET.
We learned about the characteristics a Software Development Engineer in Test has to have in the previous section to excel in their positions. They should be able to communicate, interact, and contribute in whatever form is required by the team or product. They should also have an open mentality and be adaptable.
Here is a summary of some typical tools and technologies that SDETs should become familiar with:
Anybody who uses cloud computing systems such as Microsoft Azure, Google GCP, or Amazon AWS should be aware of them.
We learned about the characteristics a Software Development Engineer in Test has to have in the previous section to excel in their positions. They should be able to communicate, interact, and contribute in whatever form is required by the team or product. They should also have an open mentality and be adaptable.
Here is a summary of some typical tools and technologies that SDETs should become familiar with:
Anybody who uses cloud computing systems such as Microsoft Azure, Google GCP, or Amazon AWS should be aware of them.
- SDETs should feel at ease working with teams that use the agile Sprint/Scrum approach and should be familiar with, understand, and apply agile development methodologies.
- They ought to be familiar with the underlying ideas behind security testing. This includes understanding fundamental coding standards, which guarantees that the program doesn't include any fundamental security problems. All of these basic ideas can be found in OWASP, which is an excellent resource.
- You can use this JMeter lesson to learn the fundamentals of performance testing as well as how to create simple scripts utilizing free and open-source performance testing tools like JMeter. This is advantageous because performance testing and other non-functional requirements are tasks that SDETs are also required to do.
- At least one front-end automation framework should be familiar to them because it is the most convenient and popular in selenium.
- A basic grasp of Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI / CD) concepts and should be familiar with CI tools like Jenkins/Bamboo, etc. Front-end testing for online applications is the holy grail, and practically all organizations use the Selenium framework for automating UI tests.
- Understanding these technologies is essential because SDETs are typically required to handle deployment-related difficulties as well.
- Understand the SOLID model (Single Responsibility, Open/Closed Principle, Liskov Substitution, Interface Segregation, and Dependency Inversion) and be conversant with the fundamentals of Object-Oriented Programming.
- Knowledge of the broad client-server model and web application architecture.
- They ought to be familiar with version control systems like Git. Additionally, they must be knowledgeable about the ideas behind code reviews and pull requests.
- Should be familiar with White box testing tools and methodologies, such as mocking frameworks (Mockito), as they may be expected to contribute to developing unit tests when necessary.
- Become familiar with clients for API testing like POSTMAN
- They should be competent in at least one scripting language because they should be able to build reusable code and scripts. Python is the simplest to learn and may be used for a wide range of activities, automation frameworks, etc.
- Highly skilled at troubleshooting problems; understand troubleshooting tools like Chrome Web Debugger, which are very useful for troubleshooting web applications and looking into network logs for a test app.
- Must have a thorough understanding of testing methodology, testing kinds, and principles.
Benefits and Cost of SDET Certification
Techno Study's SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) team is made up of knowledgeable experts who are proficient in both software development and quality engineering. Due to the majority of firms shifting toward an engineering culture, SDET engineers are in high demand. In order to provide their finest work to the software development IT business, testers, automation engineers, and quality engineers have been transitioning into Certified SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) jobs by enrolling in the SDET Professional Course by Techno Study.
Certified industry professionals from the software development and automated testing industries created this SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) Professional Course to give you in-depth knowledge of the software development and testing ecosystem tools.
You can become an SDET Professional quickly by taking the Techno Study's certified SDET Professional course. You will gain knowledge of REST API automation, Database automation tests and frameworks, Selenium Web Driver, Advanced Java (JSP and Servers), and Core Java.
Certified industry professionals from the software development and automated testing industries created this SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) Professional Course to give you in-depth knowledge of the software development and testing ecosystem tools.
You can become an SDET Professional quickly by taking the Techno Study's certified SDET Professional course. You will gain knowledge of REST API automation, Database automation tests and frameworks, Selenium Web Driver, Advanced Java (JSP and Servers), and Core Java.
FAQ
In the United States, a certified SDET can expect to make an average annual salary of $117,000. Therefore, the typical salary range is $90,000-$140,000. The salary a person obtains is likely to be affected by their level of education, their skills, their certificates, and their years of experience.
Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) careers have a promising future. It is one of the most sought-after positions in the tech sector as employers seek out SDET unicorns, who act as all-rounders by combining the abilities of a developer and a tester.
SDETs have been around for a while. However, their function has notably changed with time. Due to the high demand in the test automation sector, a growing number of testers will adopt the SDET position in order to succeed. Software testers may occasionally be needed to automate the test cases used for testing utilizing the software automation tools created by SDETs. The preparation of the test automation tools for general use by the testing team is the responsibility of SDETs.
An SDET has solid programming and testing skills. A QA tester, on the other hand, is involved in creating and running test cases automatically or manually. Due to the strong emphasis on functional testing, testers have few programming abilities. Additionally, SDETs are highly skilled programmers. Only when development is complete does a QA tester test the software. SDETs are involved in all phases of development, including designing, developing, and testing.
The job outlook for a Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) is promising. The answer is in your favor because 73% of bootcamp graduates claim to have jobs as developers after the bootcamp.Employers are always on the lookout for "unicorns" with the skills of both a developer and a tester, and the role of SDET has become increasingly desirable as a result.
The duties and obligations of an SDET may seem daunting, but they ultimately ensure success, not least because of the high salary that comes with the job. In the United States, an SDET may expect to make an annual income of around $117,000. The average range, then, is between $90,000 and $140,000. A person's salary will also likely be affected by their level of education, professional certifications, and years of experience.
The duties and obligations of an SDET may seem daunting, but they ultimately ensure success, not least because of the high salary that comes with the job. In the United States, an SDET may expect to make an annual income of around $117,000. The average range, then, is between $90,000 and $140,000. A person's salary will also likely be affected by their level of education, professional certifications, and years of experience.