Job roles in Quality Engineering shift. It is unavoidable. And, while change can be frightening, there are numerous advantages to having a QE function rather than an old-style QA role. Here are the fundamental differences between QE roles:
Increased team interaction
The conventional developer/QA divide established the stage for conflict. "Why can't you test faster?" yelled one of the developers. "Why didn't you code better in the first place?" the QA team screams back.
More involved in the structure's definition
As a QE, you will be tasked with creating parameters for testing and development. Before writing a single line of code, one of the first tasks will be to establish and design the testing environment. It is critical to be analytical when analyzing the proposed requirements or narrative. Any uncertainty can eventually cause issues for you and the rest of the delivery crew.
More focused on test automation
Test Automation is fundamental to the QE role. The exact parameters of a QE role may differ from business to business, but knowledge and comfort with test automation will be pretty difficult to do without. In many Agile shops, developers will be well used to creating their own unit tests, though it is unlikely that they will be as familiar with every type of testing and test automation they will need. For those of you who are less familiar with test automation, it is important to re-skill and re-tool to keep up with the inevitable progress to an increasingly test automation focused development world.
More exploratory testing
While much QA testing can be rigid and routine, that is not always the way in QE. As Test Automation takes the place of many routine testing tasks, it opens the door for more exploratory testing. In essence, it can be a much more creative and self-directed role. It can also require more thinking on your feet, as you need to work out creative solutions to new problems as they emerge.
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