Quality Assurance (QA) engineers working at consultancy companies should embrace trying new technologies and solving problems. This role is best defined by two words: variety and challenges. QA engineers at consultancy companies must pay great attention to detail and check all of their actions meticulously to make sure everything is being done correctly. The position also requires equal focus on the quality of the software application and client expectations, and constant communication between all individuals and teams involved in the process.
Thinking about a job in QA? Here are some more details about this demanding yet rewarding position.
Expectations
Working as a QA engineer in a consultancy company demands very strong communication skills, flexibility and prioritization skills to help deliver a high-quality product in a timely manner. This role requires continuous improvement of both the process and working methods, which are not limited to testing or preventing defects but also consider the application’s lifecycle and ways to improve the product.
Challenges can arise from working with myriad intricate software applications and environments. As the complexity of the software and the multitude of targets that can be addressed increase, so do the technical and communication challenges. A good QA engineer should always plan for this complexity in each project and be prepared to handle these challenges.
Variety
QA challenges and projects become even more complex and varied at consultancy companies. In a consultancy company engineers work with multiple companies from different cultural backgrounds and different levels of technical experience. Sometimes there are significant cultural differences across projects and within a team, which can have a big impact on the overall quality assurance process. To overcome any obstacles, QA engineers must communicate frequently with each company to answer any questions that may occur during the project lifecycle and to keep it on track.
For each project, the QA engineer is expected to contribute to various parts of the process, which can include everything from client and internal team communications to delivering technical requirements. In addition, QA engineers must ensure technical requirements are communicated, tracked, planned, scheduled and executed correctly for each team. This is where attention to detail and prioritization skills are key, in making sure the correct communication is reaching the correct teams so the project runs smoothly and successfully.
In addition to the innate variety that exists within the QA role, there is a fair amount of diversity, with multiple clients of different sizes spread across numerous industries. While some clients write out the project specifications and define clearly the expected outcome of the software application, others don’t, creating another opportunity for a QA engineer to contribute to a new project.
Finally, QA engineers in a consultancy company constantly work with a variety of platforms and applications, from desktop to mobile projects and web-based to server-side. I see this as a positive—it keeps you on your toes and you constantly are gaining additional technical and architectural experience.
As a Quality Assurance consultant, you will be expected to work on a wide variety of technologies and communicate effectively under a variety of circumstances. While the position can be challenging, it’s never boring. And knowing the project is successful because of your work is extremely rewarding.