The SDET vs. QA Dilemma: SOLVED

Decoding SDET vs. QA: A Closer Look at Their Roles and Responsibilities

If you’re in the market for software testing services, you may have come across SDET and QA. Both roles are important to ensuring the quality of software products. However, there are several reasons why you might consider hiring an SDET over a QA professional. 

  • Technical skills: SDETs are typically highly skilled in programming, automation, and other technical areas. This means they can create and maintain automated test suites, perform complex testing tasks, and identify and debug technical issues more efficiently than a QA professional.

  • Collaboration with developers: SDETs are often part of the development team and work closely with developers to create tests and improve the overall quality of the software. This collaboration ensures that issues are caught earlier in the development cycle and reduces the likelihood of bugs making it into production.

  • Scalability: Automated tests created by SDETs can be run repeatedly and at scale, making it easier to test a large and complex software system. This scalability is not always possible with manual testing performed by QA professionals.

  • Speed: SDETs can write and run tests much faster than a QA professional can manually perform testing tasks. This means that the testing cycle can be completed more quickly, allowing the development team to move on to new features and improvements.

Considering the unique blend of software development and testing skills that SDETs bring to the table, it’s no surprise that many companies are now prioritizing hiring SDETs over traditional QA testers. But what if you’re not sure where to start or how to find the right SDETs for your team? That’s where Provoke Staffing+ model comes in.

Get Started with Provoke Staffing+

Our Staffing+ model offers more than just screening and placement of candidates. We provide ongoing support, coaching, and guidance to our Provoke resources, and our leadership team stays engaged with both our team and yours. Through scheduled and ad-hoc check-ins, we ensure consistent delivery of high-quality results.

Here’s our process:

      1. 1. Intake: Instead of working with a recruiter who has likely never done the work itself, a Provoke Delivery Leader will work with you to understand your needs and requirements.  It’s critical that intake be done correctly: asking the right questions, validating our understanding, and providing the insight to help you better define the resource profiles you are looking for.
     
      1. 2. Procure: Provoke will take the information from Intake and procure a list of resources that we believe will be a great fit.  We’ll have several of our Delivery Leadership team vet resources against your needs to ensure you are getting the best-fit resources
     
      1. 3. Calibrate: We’ll present a few candidate profiles, usually within a week, to make sure that we’re on the right track with our Procure step.  Quite often, customers immediately agree to take on this first set of resources. In the rare case where we need to adjust, we go back to the Procure step to find better-fit candidates.  Provoke then coordinates interviews so that you can meet our resources.
     
      1. 4. Onboard: Once you’ve agreed to a set of resources, a Provoke resource will finalize any paperwork and begin to help our resources ramp up on your organization and project needs. We’ll work with you to ensure our resources get the proper forms filled out, physical and network IDs as needed, equipment, etc. to comply with your organization’s policies. Finally, we’ll make sure that an appropriate “kick-off” is scheduled and occurs so our resources can “hit the ground running” from day 1.
     
      1. 5. Execute: Provoke will hold formal and informal sessions with our resources to ensure they are delivering high-quality, timely results to you. We’ll provide them with subject matter expertise, knowledge, and guidance to help them be successful in doing work for you. As can happen at times, project needs can change where Provoke believes a different resource might be a different fit, at which time we will proactively raise and discuss with you.  Provoke will also hold regular sessions with you as our valued client to take on any feedback so that we can serve you better. Finally, as we partner, over time, we’ll take note of any observations and make recommendations to you that we believe will be helpful to you.

  • If you’re ready to take your software development and testing processes to the next level, it’s time to consider the benefits of hiring SDETs through Provoke Staffing+. Don’t wait any longer to enhance your team’s capabilities — contact us today to learn more about how we can help you achieve your goals.

    Discover your perfect match with our talented SDETs. Schedule a meeting and gain access to our exclusive network of experts today!