9 Soft Skills Every QA Professional Needs

The dream team certainly is a goal of every employer and HR. Whatever business you run, the success depends on the people you hire. That’s why it’s so critical to make the right decision regardless you seek for developers, QA/QC, designers, content writers, or Project Managers. What’s more, the employees’ technical and soft skills matter a lot.

Of course, when choosing QA candidates, first and foremost you check degree, work experience in the relevant area, knowledge of QA processes, familiarity with specific databases and environments, test scripting skills, etc.

However, some employers or recruiters tend to neglect soft skills and thus miss chances to create a strong team. In the article, we’ll observe crucial 9 soft skills every QA needs to have. So, if you desire to make your team strong and powerful, it’s a must-read.

Top 9 Soft Skills Every QA Professional Should Have

Hiring the most qualified professionals is a time-consuming and tedious process. Sounds like a nightmare?

Take it easy! Here we are to help you.

Check our list of soft skills to look for to improve your team. Let’s elaborate on 9 critical QA soft skills.

Good Communication

It’s no secret that soft skills are critical to have and develop. Moreover, they are vital to the success of any project. Thanks to technological progress, today we have the capability to work with professionals over the globe.

Though the fact that lots of your teammates are located remotely, you still can communicate with them by means of online chat, phone, video calls, instant messaging apps, emails, or social networks.

Despite such a wide range of communication options available, it doesn’t improve communication skills automatically. Herewith, you can and should improve the soft skill by reading various blogs, observing how experts do this, attending various events, and listening to speakers.

So, you should pay attention to the ability to read, write, speak clearly, in a way that technical and non-technical contributors can understand your thoughts easily. 

Listening

This ability is very closely linked to the previous one. So, when you already have the skills to communicate well with other members of your team, it’s also crucial to learn to listen to other colleagues and understand what they want to say.

Strong listening ability combined with high technical acumen and knowledge can help you to detect and even prevent bugs and high-risk areas on the stage of discussions of the designs, development approaches, features.

Adaptability

The market and business change constantly. The project requirements can be also changed, and the timeline is adjusted. In addition to that, there is a common situation when a fix in one test results in a round of testing in already closed tasks/tickets/cases.

Saying nothing about that peers can join and leave the team. That's why having soft skills or improving them helps you to adapt quickly to any situation and become a strong team player.

Prioritization

This skill is linked to the above-mentioned one. The tasks can be endless, but still, they are to be done. If the QA wants to be proactive, work efficiently and get results, then it's critical to be highly organized, plan ahead and get the priorities right. That's a way to save hours, days and weeks of your time and meet the goal and final deadline date.

Teamwork

Teamwork is required for almost every industry ranging from logistics to IT. Employers, recruiters and HRs seek out candidates with strong teamwork skills. If you want to work well with colleagues and teammates, teamwork is essential. The better you work with others, the more successful your team will be in completing tasks.

In addition to that, being aware of the hobbies, interests, skills of your colleagues leads to strengthening relationships and building a friendly team that speeds up accomplishing goals.

Work Ethic

It’s obvious that work ethic is one of the most important soft skills to have not only for QA but for any worker. Such employees come to work on time, stay focused, complete tasks promptly, and stay organized. Good work ethic doesn’t mean being voted “Employee of the Month”.

It means applying your skills in the most effective way possible. That’s why you should focus on improving the skill and becoming more initiative during meetings, discussions, and you’ll get more satisfaction from your work.

Critical Thinking

Every QA should have critical thinking because it’s really crucial for software testing. Such aspects of the personality as an inquisitive mind as well as the desire to find the real root of the problem, know what questions to ask, etc. are usually preferable than even technical credentials.

Just because employees with mentioned strains, ultimately, can be a stronger team player as a result. Someone has it as a gift, others can upgrade the ability.

Great Decision-Making Ability

When you’re almost a master of critical thinking, it’s more than likely you’re a good decision-maker. Lots of questions are discussed with the teammates, clients on meetings, and you choose the most efficient way, solution. However, a situation can occur when you have no time to consult with anybody, and you should make a decision.

Are you ready to do that? It’s not easy, but it’s real to get the skill. Sometimes let your intuition or “sixth sense” be your guide. Anyway, then your technical skills alongside knowledge of the company and project needs are to be really strong.

Fast Learning and Want-to-Learn Attitude

As we’ve already mentioned, the business and market change pretty fast. So, you’d adapt fast and it’s impossible without a strong ability to learn quickly. New technologies, methods, techniques, approaches, features and more are to be learned in case you wish to be a professional. Of course, nothing will happen in case you don’t want to.

Herewith, a want-to-learn attitude is another crucial soft skill that you need to have too. Visit conferences, read blogs, attend courses and so on to upgrade your technical skills.

Bottom Line

So, after reading the article, you know that QA soft skills matter no less than the technical ones. The success of the project and business depends on the employees working independently and in the team. So, working with staffer or remote peer, all these 9 soft skills are crucial and all of them are connected with each other.

Herewith, if you wish to be or become a world-class QA professional as well as a strong team player, then you definitely should have all these skills from good communication to work ethic to a greater or lesser degree.