Many IT companies use grades (they are also ranks, classifications, etc.) - this is a way of searching, evaluating, and motivating people. This system looks quite logical. If you're middle, you should know this, be able to do this, and your salary boundaries should be from that to this sum. And everyone would be happy if it really worked.
However, let's figure out who invented it at all and for what?
By the end of the 20th century, corporations became more interested in methods of effective team management. Then there was no single and understandable scheme for determining the relationship between the value that the employee brings to the company and his salary. Edward Hay was a psychologist and the owner of a consulting company. When he was evaluating the client's employees once again, the idea came to his head to develop a methodology that allows calculating these indicators. This is a point-factor system for evaluating positions in the form of tables. All requirements for the position are divided into factors and measurable parameters. Points are awarded for each parameter. The more points the parameter has the higher the grade and salary will be. Over time, similar techniques began to grow out of the Hay method and adapt to different types of companies.
The grading system in the IT sphere, according to the classics, consists of a three-level model - junior, middle and senior. However, there are also more interesting options: junior +, middle +, middle ++ — for the companies with a more structured system of grades. Often companies form the necessary skills to adjust grades for themselves. As a result, there are many juniors, middles, and seniors on the market, but they are all different. And because of this, requests for a + or ++ grade appear. Let's look at the main ones.
Junior QA Specialist
A young specialist with up to 6-12 months of testing experience. It is worth paying attention to him/her if you need an employee for basic tasks or if you are ready to grow Junior into a confident specialist.
Main tasks:
- Working with bug-tracker;
- Writing test cases and reports;
- Maintaining test documentation;
- Collecting product information;
- Interaction with the team.
A young specialist can be given additional tasks, but it is worth remembering the time resources that the team will spend.
Middle QA Specialist.
A mid-level specialist has work experience from 1 to 3 years. He/she can independently configure the test environment and works autonomously.
Main tasks:
- Making the list of test cases;
- Participation in product discussion with the team;
- Practicing different types of testing;
- Compilation of checklists, test plans, and bug reports;
- Working with tracking systems (for example, JIRA/Trello/ClickUp).
This is a confident specialist who can act as a mentor for juniors and newcomers to the team.
Senior QA Specialist
A competent specialist with at least 3 years of experience. He/she often acts as a team leader and is responsible for the work of the team.
Main tasks:
- Confident user of bug tracking systems;
- Analysis of the software development process and life cycle;
- Experience in the development of manual and automatic test scenarios;
- Automated testing;
- Working with databases and SQL.
The senior is responsible for a wide range of tasks and, as a rule, works with automated testing. Sometimes he/she needs knowledge of programming languages.
However, the boundaries of each grade are very blurred. For example, testers in the positions of "junior", "middle", and "senior", working in the same company, as a rule, sit on the same product. Within the needs and possibilities of one product, it is difficult to pump versatile skills. If the tester works with the application only on the desktop, then he/she is focused on testing this application. And yes, perhaps he/she is very good in this area — he/she knows the tools, approaches, how to check performance, etc. But if you need to do the same on the web or in a mobile application, then his/her grade will be lost, because, perhaps, there is no knowledge about the web, mobile, client-server architecture, etc. Well, who is he/she then? I she/she a Junior?
It turns out that the grading system is not entirely flexible and biased.
Some companies form their own requirements for each grade level. But this system only works within this company and for a specific product. And besides, we should agree that the requirement of solving problems is very vague.
From all of the above we can say that:
1. Grade does not say anything about the real level of knowledge and skills.
The senior may try to get a job in another place with more complex projects, but will not even pass on Junior. Because he doesn't have the right skills.
2. Grades limit the specialists.
Companies often use this system to link the salary to grade and length of service. And thereby limit the person. To move to a new stage, there must be a certain work experience for this or that kind of specialist. Sit and wait until you achieve the new grade. But does the number of years determine the level of knowledge?
3. Grades confuse everyone.
When looking for a job, many people consciously choose vacancies not by the level of knowledge and skills, but by the size of the salary, which seems to correspond to their grade. From this point, both sides will be disappointed.
What then to do and how to evaluate the tester in the company properly?
A company that does not tie salary to a position and experience gives a lot of space for self-development. If you want to grow and earn more, everything is in your hands: study, take on new projects, and work on complex tasks. For example, if the testers want to raise the salary, they should discuss with the management: which project to go to, what tasks to take, and what to learn.
A person studies, moves on to another project, or takes another project, because he/she has adjusted everything so well in the past project that his/her presence there is required in a smaller volume, and his/her salary grows with him/her. It's much better and more interesting than sitting, counting the length of service, taking aptitude tests, and knowledge that you will never use later. Or lose interest in the profession altogether by focusing on one project. And being dragged into one project, resting on the ceiling (top), people will leave the company.
Of course, it is difficult for someone to work without understanding what grade he or she has. Without clear instructions on what needs to be done; how much to work to get to a new level. And there is nothing wrong with this — this is a type of thinking. But I am sure that even without grading, both the company and the employees can achieve good results too. Because this approach attracts purposeful and free-thinking people to the team. And they are ready to act without any instructions.
The profession of a tester is not a profession that is determined by grade. And ingeneral, IT-sphere is impossible to evaluate professions just within the framework of the position and seniority. Our work is determined by knowledge and a constant desire to move forward. You need to have a broad outlook, and be interested in everything: from the behavioral psychology of the user to development. Every year projects become more complex and require new skills and knowledge. And in this situation, to rest against the fact that you have achieved everything and do not need anything else means to select a path to nowhere.
