So any people who work in quality assurance for a living about? I was wondering if you can answer a few questions.

Pray tell, how do you get into the industry in this day and age? nearly all applications I see require years of experience as well as having to of worked on a game that got released. Surely if you had all that, you wouldn't be looking for a job.

Further more most applications list qualifications needed that are so extreme, you're over qualified. With the skills you need, if I went and got them I could be a coder basically. But that's not what I want to do, and don't see why I need such skills for a job that requires no coding.

If it carries on like this, surely the Quality Assurance departments will be under staffed as anyone who gets the needed qualifications will not do the job, just move onto coding.

So please, explain to me how you got into your job, what skills and courses you needed, what degrees and such.

Thank you in advance.

---

http://automission.deviantart.com/

I've been a tester for four years now so I hope I can help answer your questions.

Being a tester is likely the best way to get into the industry without a degree. Most studios do not require a special degree but the work can be difficult at times. QA commonly does not require prior experience ether, but it is a plus. Some even hire through temp agencies. But something that looks very on an application for QA is beta testing. It shows that you have enough of a passion for it, to do it for free.

Some places require some crazy stuff. I think Microsoft wants all of their testers to have software engineering degrees...yeah...to do QA.

To be honest a degree does not make you a tester. I'm one of the best testers in my company and I don't have any college degree. We have testers who were highly educated in the field and could not find a bug if it was jumping up in down in front of them.

I just monitored the game company websites and gamasutra. Every time I saw an opening for QA I put in my application. It only took one for me but I would recommend you stick with it. Getting your foot in the door is the most important first step.

PS: A lot of studios do not hire permanent testers. You simply get hired near the end of a game, then get laid off when the game/DLC passes submission.

Thanks for that, it's a insight. Unfortunately most job applications I've seen do require years worth of experience, so I'm hoping to find a company who will let me work for free to gain the experience and on the job knowledge.

I do have to ask, how much do you earn an hour doing your job? I assume you must be a assistant lead tester to be able to hold down a full time test job? Oh and one last thing, what exactly do you do in the down period between games?

 Do you get paid holiday or just take the time off until something is there to test?

---

http://automission.deviantart.com/

Beta testing is a great way to get your foot in the door. I wish all the luck in the world to you. If you are at it, it is a very fulfilling job.

Well I live in the American mid west so the cost of living is a little lower here. But I started off making $8 US Dollars an hour, then got a raise to $10 after a year and now I make about $13 an hour. You don't have to be in a leadership role where I am to get a full time gig, but I hear most studios that this is the norm.

As far as down periods, most test departments are cut back their staff after a game ends. My department however picks up games from other studios (but still in THQ) to help test. That or we start testing very early builds of unannounced games. Usually the earlier QA gets on a project, the less bugs the final product has.

Yes we get paid vacation, holiday and sick days. :-)

PS: First step to becoming a tester is to call defects bugs or issues rather than glitches. ;-)

Heh, slip of the keys that. So yeah that doesn't sound terrible.

Did you get on the job training or did you do courses outside of the job? So many Uk companies want you to understand things you'd only learn while doing the job, it makes it full of catch 22's.

---

http://automission.deviantart.com/

Meh. I will keep my opinion to myself about THQ...at least for as long as I still work there.

I got trained on the job, but really the talent needed for the job is all in the effort and judgment. A tester is both methodical and creative. I could go on for hours but I doubt you want my "tips for testing".

I think Microsoft wants all of their testers to have software engineering degrees...yeah...to do QA.

That's not for QA testers as such, but QA Engineers (I think is the term they use) who are people who write test harnesses, automated testing programs, monitoring systems, etc.

The Bag:

I think Microsoft wants all of their testers to have software engineering degrees...yeah...to do QA.

That's not for QA testers as such, but QA Engineers (I think is the term they use) who are people who write test harnesses, automated testing programs, monitoring systems, etc.

Ah. That makes considerably more sense. I have always heard about strict hiring standards at MS but I am glad to know this one is different than I have been told. Thanks.

The Bag:

I think Microsoft wants all of their testers to have software engineering degrees...yeah...to do QA.

That's not for QA testers as such, but QA Engineers (I think is the term they use) who are people who write test harnesses, automated testing programs, monitoring systems, etc.

Can't say for now, but when I worked at MS during the 90s there were STEs (software test engineers) and SDETs (software development engineers in test).  SDETs were the more technical and generally required a degree.  STEs were often contract workers and as such were paid hourly with no paid vacations.  SDETs were usually MS full-time employees (often called blue-badges).  As an SDET I wrote test/performance tools, harnesses, etc and was responsible for debugging issues so that I could write the most complete bug reports.  SDETs were usually judged on a similar criteria to SDEs (the actual product developers) when it came to interviews whereas STEs were judged more on their testing creativity.

I recommend getting a QA certification. In the US, I believe there is SQE and QAI