Recently I had interviewed some people for the software testing position in our team and I observed all are very good on the resume and had all keywords which a job recruiter looks for but they lack some important key skills a software tester should possess. So I thought to write a blog post on this.

So After spending years of time testing different products and software and spending time with some exceptionally good testers, I believe every software tester should posses these important skills :

1) Effective Communication:

Communication is one of the most important trait a tester should possess over any other skill. He/She should pass on information clearly and effectively to all the stake holders(developer, Product Manager, Test manager, Business Manager) involved about what he is testing, how he is testing , progress on the testing and also informing about the bugs he found. Testing team should be able to articulate all kind of information they receive and pass it to different peoples effectively. If communication is bad none of the reporting structure works.

2)Ability to think:

Thinking about testing is another important skill I feel everyone should have. Testing is not about checking and ticking the boxes ,it's about thinking and asking the questions about what is the problem or is the problem completely addressed or partially addressed. So tester should think behind the lines of requirements and test the product.

3) Analytical Skills:

Testing is not about testing only that the requirements are satisfied or not and if we don't dig deeper in to the functionality and analyze the different use cases that end user might encounter, we may end up having a lot of production issues. So Analytical knowledge is important for a tester.

4) Passion and Enthusiasm:

Every tester should be passionate and enthusiastic about the work he is doing .When we are passionate and enthusiastic about the work all the other things comes in to the place automatically because these attract all that needs. I know it's hard to be passionate everyday but we should focus more .

5) Time Management:

Every time I completed testing something, I feel testing can be done some more time. Most of the time developers gonna eat testing time and we end up having less time to test. Testing is one of the most demanding job because release process depends on this. So a software tester must efficiently manage workload, have high productivity, exhibit optimal time management, and organization skills.

6) Learning attitude:

Learning is important for testing because tester can do better job if he has good knowledge about the product he is working .So he should be always willing to know more about the enhancements and business purpose behind those ,ask questions to developers, ask questions to Product managers and learn more about requirements and functionality.