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Industry perceptions of the competencies needed by novice software tester

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Abstract

Regarding the caliber of newly-graduated professionals, the software industry expresses discontent. Therefore, software industries spend on training these individuals to improve software development process-related skills. According to various research studies, one reason for the lack of skilled graduates is a gap between industry and academia. One of the vital areas of software development where that gap exacerbates is software testing. The study aims to find skills (testing skills, Soft skills, and technical skills) that the software industry demands from novice software testers and assess their relevant importance. To find the skills that the software industry requires from fresh graduates, we have analyzed 160 job advertisements. The results revealed that the software industry focuses on testing skills and demands technical and soft skills, as 98% of advertisements require testing-related skills. Regarding soft skills, 92% of advertisements demanded soft skills. The novice tester must have strong technical skills as 78% of job advertisements require different technical skills. Moreover, the industry at present is also considering personality traits and educational attainment when hiring novice software testers. This study intends to identify the skill set for the novice software tester required by the Pakistan software industry. Results of the study indicate that software companies want to hire fresh graduates who are proficient in testing skills along with technical and soft skills. Therefore, there is a need to incorporate identified skills in software testing courses to better prepare computing graduates for the role of a novice software tester.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the [Github] repository, [https://github.com/BushraHamid/Job-Advertisement-data].

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Acknowledgements

The authors extend their appreciation to the Riphah International University for its support.

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  1. Riphah International University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Bushra Hamid & Naveed Ikram

  2. PMAS- Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

    Bushra Hamid

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  1. Bushra Hamid
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The original online version of this article was revised: In the original publication of this article, the author Bushra Hamid was only affiliated to "PMAS- Arid Agriculture University" instead of both " Riphah International University" and "PMAS- Arid Agriculture University".

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Hamid, B., Ikram, N. Industry perceptions of the competencies needed by novice software tester. Educ Inf Technol 29, 6107–6138 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-12055-2

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