QA Testing vs Software Engineering Careers: How to Choose

Table of Contents

• 5 Key Takeaways 
• What is QA Testing? 
• What is Software Engineering?
• Should I Be a QA Tester or a Software Engineer?
• The Job: QA Tester vs Software Engineer
• The Tools: QA Tester vs Software Engineer
• How to Learn QA Testing vs Software Engineering

Trying to decide between a career in QA testing or software engineering? Both roles are essential in tech: software engineers build products, while QA testers make sure those products function flawlessly. If you're new to tech, then QA testing – especially Manual QA – can be a great way to get your foot in the door without needing to know much programming. On the flip side, if you love creating things and solving tricky problems, software engineering might be more your style. Let’s break down the key differences and help you figure out which path could be your perfect match. 

5 Key Takeaways 

• Software engineers build software products while QA testers test software products to ensure they are free from errors.
• Both QA testing and software engineering require coding knowledge using Python and other coding tools. (Manual QA testers will require the least programming knowledge — some manual QA roles require no coding at all!)
• For total tech beginners, quality assurance testing (especially Manual QA testing) is easier to learn and break into than software engineering.
• If you like building things and figuring out challenging puzzles, software engineering may be for you. If you prefer testing and critiquing products, QA testing might be a better option for you. 
• There are many coding bootcamps and QA bootcamps for career changers and recent high school graduates to choose from!

What is QA Testing? 

Quality assurance (QA) testing (also known as software testing) is the process of ensuring a software product is released without any bugs. QA testing requires great attention to detail and an in-depth knowledge of the Agile development process. QA testers run tests, analyze errors, and document their findings. 

What is Software Engineering?

Software engineering is a form of computer science that focuses on the design, development, testing, and maintenance of software applications. Software engineers build websites, mobile applications, business applications, software, computer games, operating systems, and more!

Should I Be a QA Tester or a Software Engineer?

Both QA testing and software engineering careers require skills in attention to detail, accuracy, clear communication, and technical prowess. So, how do you choose the best path for you? We’re breaking down these career paths into three categories:

1. What you can expect on the job. 
2. The typical tools you’ll be using.
3. How to learn QA testing vs software engineering.

The Job: QA Tester vs Software Engineer

A day in the life of QA testers and software engineers can look very different. A QA tester’s day will focus on running tests on software and products that software engineers build, while a software engineer’s day will mainly focus on designing, building, and maintaining software, websites, and digital products. Overall, software engineers need to understand how to translate an idea into an end product through principles of computer engineering. QA testers are not software engineers, but some software engineers do QA testing if there isn’t an established team. 

As QA Analyst and Test Pro graduate Guzal says, “This job requires you to go deep, be patient, and repeat… QA is a great place to start because you don't need to know coding. You can always learn later if you want but it's not necessary. Plus, the ability to work remotely and the flexibility of QA roles opens up a lot of possibilities.”

When recent 4Geeks Academy graduate Valerie landed her first software engineering job, she was responsible for handling a backlog of company projects. “I’m mainly working on maintenance and finding what is not working with their existing site,” she says, “but we are starting to implement new things, like making a widget so the sales team doesn’t have to use two sites to time their work.”

Typical Salaries for QA Testers vs Software Engineers

💰 Typical salaries of QA Testers average around $70K annually, with entry-level roles starting at $20 hourly and senior-level roles averaging at $50 hourly. 

Large tech companies like Meta and Tesla may hire QA testers for contract roles. Careerist graduate Roman offers this advice when it comes to salary expectations: “When I started the Manual QA job my salary jumped 1.6x! Now that I'm in automation it's more than twice what I made before joining any IT company. Moneywise, QA is really good, but you have to negotiate to get paid what you’re worth… At my first QA job, the first rate they offered me was $8 less an hour than my final offer! Don't be afraid to negotiate, even if you just came out of a bootcamp. People think $25/hr is okay and immediately agree because it's the first thing they got offered. You should negotiate and wait for a better offer.”

💰 Typical salaries of software engineers average at $116K, with a range of $63K-160K depending on skills, experience, location, and specialization, like Python or JavaScript. Software engineering jobs are in-demand across industries, but can be competitive to land. 

For Tech Elevator graduate Rick, software engineering was a way to instantly boost their earnings. “I'm already making double my salary from what I've made before, plus I’m on a trajectory of making quadruple that within a couple of years. It's a great feeling… I went from surviving and barely managing, to immediately financially thriving right after graduating [from the coding bootcamp]! I’m on my way to make more money than I’ll know what to do with.”

The Tools: QA Tester vs Software Engineer

Theory can only go so far when learning QA testing and software engineering. Tech professionals use tools to enact, expedite, and enable processes and each career path has different tools to perform specific functions. Software engineers use languages and frameworks to build and maintain something usable by an end user whereas QA testers use tools to ensure the end product is error-free. 

🛠️ Typical QA Testing Tools

QA Testers can specialize in Manual QA or QA Automation, but they must first understand Manual QA before advancing to QA Automation. Basic coding skills are important but not required to get started in a manual QA career. As Careerist graduate and Tesla QA Automation Engineer Roman says, “Manual QA is repetitive work that is slightly less challenging that doesn’t require coding. Automation is more complicated.” Some coding skills in Python or JavaScript are required to specialize in QA automation. 

Depending on their specialization, QA Testers may use:

• Python
• Selenium
• Postman and Newman for API testing
• Cucumber
• Cypress

QA testers can also utilize AI tools like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT to work more efficiently. AI can help QA testers with tasks like writing automation scripts!

🛠️ Software Engineering Tools

The tools a software engineer uses will depend on their level of experience, type of job, and the company they work for. Typically, software engineers may use tools and programming languages, such as:

• Python 
• JavaScript
• CSS
• HTML
• Django
• Flask
• Ruby 
• React.js

AI productivity tools like GitHub Copilot, Amazon CodeWhisperer, and OpenAI are also becoming popular with modern engineers! 

How to Learn QA Testing vs Software Engineering

Both QA testing and software engineering careers can be accessible to tech beginners and career changers. Anyone looking to break into QA testing or software engineering can enroll in a coding bootcamp or a QA testing bootcamp to ensure they build a strong foundation. QA testing bootcamps can typically be completed in 6-10 weeks in a part-time format, whereas a full stack coding bootcamp will often require a more intensive time commitment and last around 14 weeks. 

> Check out the 39 Best Coding Bootcamps

> Check out the 8 Best QA Testing Bootcamps

Starting as a manual QA tester would offer a tech beginner a solid introduction to tech, and be the easiest and shortest pathway to launching a new tech career. If a manual QA tester enjoys the work and wants to pursue a more challenging career, they can continue their studies to become an QA automation engineer or a software engineer.