Career Mapping in Software Testing: insights into the professional profile

• José W. R. A. Filho UFERSA
• Francisco A. Andrade UFERSA
• Jarbele C. S. Coutinho UFERSA
• Wilkerson L. Andrade UFCG

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sast.2025.14426

Abstract

Due to the inconsistency between the professional qualifications offered in academic training and the actual demands of the software industry, entering or qualifying for a career in Software Testing can be challenging for entry-level professionals. Combined with a lack of clarity regarding the desired requirements at different career levels in this field, the industry presents a lengthy list of hard skills that are essential for a career. It emphasizes the search for mid-level or senior-level professionals, which limits the hiring process. Therefore, this study goal to identify the professional requirements expected by the industry in the field of Software Testing. Thus were conducted: (i) a qualitative and quantitative study, based on the analysis of national and international job openings posted on professional social media; and (ii) a survey of professionals with technical experience in the Software Testing sector, to validate the results obtained in the previous study. The results were organized into Junior, Intermediate, and Senior levels, and categorized according to hard skills, soft skills, academic background, and certifications. Regarding technical skills, automation tools and agile methodologies, and interpersonal skills, communication, teamwork, and leadership stand out. Finally, this study contributes to a career path mapping in Software Testing, based on insights into the actual professional qualifications required for a professional in this field.

Keywords: Software Testing, Professional Qualification, Software Industry

References

Hilma Aludhilu and Erkki Sutinen. 2024. Bridging the Gap: Addressing Software Testing Challenges in Namibian Startups through a Tailored Training Approach. In Proceedings of the 7th ACM/IEEE International Workshop on Software-intensive Business. 79–86.

BRASSCOM – Associação Brasileira das Empresas de Tecnologia da Informação e Comunicação. 2021. Demanda de Talentos em TIC e Estratégia – Relatório de Inteligência e Informação BRI2-2021-007. Technical Report. BRASSCOM – Associação Brasileira das Empresas de Tecnologia da Informação e Comunicação.

Virginia BRAUN and Victoria CLARKE. 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, 2 (2006), 77–101. DOI: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa, Acesso em: 28 out. 2024.

Felipe CARVALHO et al. 2023. Investigating the Relationship Between Academia and the Information Technology Industry: A Systematic Literature Review. Lium Concilium 23 (2023), 12–35. DOI: 10.53660/CLM-2385-23S12, Acesso em: 7 ago. 2024.

Dário da Silva Darienço and Pedro Henrique Dias Valle. 2022. Um Ambiente Gamificado para o Ensino de Teste de Mutação. In Simpósio Brasileiro de Educação em Computação (EDUCOMP). SBC, 28–29.

Adriana Silveira de Souza, Juliano Lopes de Oliveira, Sofia Larissa da Costa Paiva, and Alexandre Marcos Lins de Vasconcelos. 2024. Software Engineering Competency Challenges. Anais do Workshop sobre Aspectos Sociais, Humanos e Econômicos de Software (WASHES) (2024), 181–186. DOI: 10.5753/washes.2024.3043

Maria Alice de Souza Macedo, Carla Bezerra, and Emanuel Coutinho. 2024. Uma Pesquisa Qualitativa do Contexto de Ensino em Requisitos de Software no Brasil. In Workshop sobre Educação em Computação (WEI). SBC, 669–679.

Wellynton Diniz, Adelma Andrade, Marcela Valença, and César França. 2024. Construção de uma ontologia para seleção de profissionais em TI. In Workshop sobre Educação em Computação (WEI). SBC, 818–829.

Isaac Souza Elgrably and Sandro Ronaldo Bezerra Oliveira. 2023. Uma Abordagem para o Ensino de Testes de Software utilizando Metodologias Ativas em Cursos Superiores de Computação. In Congresso Brasileiro de Informática na Educação (CBIE). SBC, 13–25.

Matthias GALSTER et al. 2022. What soft skills does the software industry *really* want? An exploratory study of software positions in New Zealand. Proceedings of the 16th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (2022), 272–282. [link] Acesso em: 10 ago. 2024.

Vahid Garousi and Alper Buğra Keleş. 2024. A pragmatic look at education and training of software test engineers: Further cooperation of academia and industry is needed. In 2024 IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation Workshops (ICSTW). IEEE, 354–360.

Marcos Kalinowski, Tatiana Escovedo, Fernanda Pina, Adriana Vidal, Ariane Pereira Da Silva, Ricardo Ponsirenas, and Daiana Garibaldi Da Rocha. 2023. Training the professionals that industry needs: The digital software engineering education program at puc-rio. In Proceedings of the XXXVII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering. 37–46.

Gustavo Bataglioni LAGOGRANDE. 2024. Os conhecimentos, habilidades e atitudes necessárias para se profissionalizar na área de testes de software. [link] Acesso em: 25 set. 2024.

Lucas Lins, Luan Accioly, Sidney Nogueira, George Valença, Ana Carolina Machado, Antônio Lira, and Sérgio Gomes. 2023. Evoluçao do Processo de Testes do TCE-PE: resultados preliminares de um projeto de BPM. In Simpósio Brasileiro de Sistemas de Informação (SBSI). SBC, 120–122.

Eduardo Henrique Nascimento, Roberta Coelho, Charles Madeira, Kláudio Medeiros, Lucas Silva, and Carlos Oliveira Neto. 2024. Definição e Avaliação de uma Abordagem Gamificada para o Ensino de Teste de Software. In Simpósio Brasileiro de Engenharia de Software (SBES). SBC, 455–465.

Cleverson Alves dos SANTOS. 2023. A importância do teste de software: por que deve ser levado a sério! LinkedIn: Cleverson Alves dos Santos. [link] Acesso em: 08 ago. 2024.

Jonas C Souza, Simone Borges, and Vinicius HS Durelli. 2022. Gamificação aplicada à aprendizagem de critérios de teste de software. In Simpósio Brasileiro de Jogos e Entretenimento Digital (SBGames). SBC, 775–784.