What QA Salary Could I Receive?

by sumit
(india)

I have been placed as a fresher software tester. I would like to know what could be the salary for a fresher QA tester in India.

SQA Answer

Quality Assurance pay varies greatly and is influenced by a large number of variables. This is true anywhere that you are employed to do QA work. Factors that affect your pay include (and are not limited to):

Your Experience:
Since you say that you have been placed as a “Fresher” tester, I am guessing that you do not have previous QA experience. So for whatever other factors exist for you, chances are you will be offered the lowest possible compensation.

When starting out, it is very difficult to negotiate for premium compensation simply due to the lack of leverage that you have. Most companies pay as little as possible for their entry-level testers. This allows them to “churn and burn” as many bodies as possible and see who survives and who is useful. After this initial phase, you should have a chance to demand better pay since you will have experience and a body of work to show off.


The Company:
Some companies simply pay better than others. This is controlled at the owner and executive levels and can really set the tone for the productivity and efficacy of an organization. Money isn’t everything, but if people do make enough to feel safe, you can never move to the next level as a company.

Also, some companies prize their QA employees more than other companies. Quality is a factor that some companies identify as a core value and do their best to live up to delivering for their customers. Other companies simply try to get by with whatever “good enough” they can (which is often poor quality) – in that sort of environment, they don’t have a need or desire to pay for decent QA. When given the chance, choose the former.


The Type of Work:
There are many different roles to fill in the QA world. There are many different positions you can hold in a Quality Assurance department. Where you fit in affects what you make.

An entry-level tester performing black box testing on a website UI generally makes quite a bit less than an experienced QA Engineer who does white box testing on an Enterprise level system. The type and level of testing that you do, the depth and complexity of your interaction with the codebase, the amount of coverage you provide…these all factor in to your (ir)replaceability. The more unique you are, the more you can make.

The Software:
Are you testing a game for an independent startup? Or are you supporting the database system of a multinational financial giant? Guess which one pays more?

The financial viability and backing of what you test will often determine whether are offered premium pay for testing or are low-balled as an entry-level tester. But even if you don’t have experience testing, if you know how to use an automated testing tool, you may be able to earn more initially.

Testing a free website, a low-end game, or poorly financed anything, will just not pay as well as testing software for a major player in a multi-billion (or bigger) industry. Keep that in mind as you choose your industry focus.

The Economy:
As with all things, the health of the economy tends to be a deciding factor. The world, country, and local economic climate and stability heavily affect how much you will be paid.

Fortunately, even during this sever worldwide economic slowdown, the software industry continues to grow and progress, if not thrive. Though not the raging torrent of development that we see in some years, software development has not slowed all that significantly. There may be fewer startups that are being given blank checks, but there is still a great deal of work to be had…everywhere.

Sumit, I wish I could tell you exactly how much you could expect to make as a starting software tester in India. Unfortunately, I cannot find any definitive information that gives a precise range. Everything that I have heard and read over the years (in addition to my recent research) shows that there is a very wide range – all affected by the above factors. And I have never been employed in India, so I don’t have that experience to speak from either. Since I don’t want to mislead you, I will refrain from throwing out salary numbers that I cannot corroborate.

What I would recommend, since you have the job already, is to gain as much experience and free training as you can immediately (they are paying you to learn, right?). At the same time, I suggest you continue to look for positions that match what you are doing now. Find out how much they are paying.

If you can determine how much others in your position (or similar) are making, then you have some leverage to get your own pay adjusted. This is doubly effective if you have the opportunity to leave your current position for one that pays you more. You don’t have to accept the higher paying QA job, but you will have the information you need to give your company the opportunity to do the right thing and pay you more handsomely.

Congratulations on your new position and good luck in your endeavors! I hope that you are able to take advantage of the enormous opportunity being presented right now in the hi tech industry.

I hope you are grab a copy of my book to keep with you as you learn the ropes. Come back and visit often. Let me know how your journey is going and if you have more questions, just ask. I will do my best to give you as useful an answer as possible.

If there are any QA Professionals (or HR Professionals) that can help give Sumit insight into how much he should expect to make doing QA in India, please add a post. I would love to hear. And it will also help future visitors should the question ever arise again.

Thank you!
-Phil