Quality Assurance–Quality Control – Certifications (Part 1)

As we make progress in Professional Career it is highly important to keep ourselves up to date with the industry. Learning new Tools and Technologies, attending Meet ups, Conferences, joining discussion forums, taking Certification exams and having essential credentials are a few of the ways to accomplish it.

Identifying an appropriate Certification is as important as becoming a Certified professional. In general; below are a few of the reasons why people want to become a certified professional.

• To get good Appraisal

• To get Promotion

• To increase job opportunities

Everyone has one or all of the above goals while taking a certification and nothing wrong with it. :) However; there are more things we should keep in mind while planning for a Certification.

• Area of interest (Technical/Functional/Management)

• Career goal and relevant plan for next 3-5 yrs.

• Total yrs. of experience

• Which Certification is really in line with area of interest, career goal, and experience?

These points are definitely helpful to ensure that we adhere to our career goal. We shouldn't plan for a Certification just because someone is suggesting for it or someone has done that Certification.

Below are the Certifications a Software Testing professional can go for. Every certification mentioned below has certain features, requirements, and benefits.  

Certifications by ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualifications Board) –

Foundation Level Certification –

http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/foundation-level/foundation-level-content.html

Agile Tester Extension –

http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/agile-tester-extension.html

Model–Based Tester Extension –

http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/model-based-extension.html

Advanced Level Test Manager –

http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/advanced-level/advanced-level-test-manager.html

Advanced Level Test Analyst –

http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/advanced-level/advanced-level-test-analyst.html

Advanced Level Technical Test Analyst –

http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/advanced-level/advanced-level-technical-test-analyst.html

Expert Level Test Management –

www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/expert-level/test-management.html

Expert Level Test Management –

http://www.istqb.org/certification-path-root/expert-level/improving-the-testing-process.html

Certifications by QAI (Quality Assurance Institute) –

Certified Associate in Software Testing (CAST) –

http://www.softwarecertifications.org/cast

Certified Software Tester (CSTE) –

http://www.softwarecertifications.org/cste

Certified Manager of Software Testing (CMST) –

http://www.softwarecertifications.org/cmst

Certified Associate in Software Quality (CASQ) –

http://www.softwarecertifications.org/casq

Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA) –

http://www.softwarecertifications.org/csqa

Certified Manager of Software Quality (CMSQ) –

http://www.softwarecertifications.org/cmsq

Certifications by IIST (International Institute for Software Testing) –

Certified Software Test Professional Associate (CSTP-A) –

http://testinginstitute.com/cstpa.php

Certified Software Test Professional Practitioner (CSTP-P) –

http://testinginstitute.com/cstpp.php

Certified Software Test Professional Master (CSTP-M) –

http://testinginstitute.com/cstpm.php

Certified Agile Software Test Professional Practitioner (CASTP-P) –

http://testinginstitute.com/castp-practitioner.php

Certified Agile Software Test Professional Master (CASTP-M) –

http://testinginstitute.com/castp-master.php

Certified Software Test Automation Specialist (CSTAS) –

http://testinginstitute.com/cstas.php

Certified Mobile Software Test Professional (CMSTP) –

http://testinginstitute.com/CMSTP.php

Certified Software Quality Manager (CSQM) –

http://testinginstitute.com/csqm.php

Certified Test Manager (CTM) –

http://testinginstitute.com/ctm.php

Certifications by ASQ (American Society for Quality) –

Certified Software Quality Engineer (CSQE) –

http://asq.org/cert/certifications

Certifications by iSQI (International Software Quality Institute) –

Quality Assurance Management Professional (QAMP) –

https://www.isqi.org/de/certview.html?CertificateID=16

Test Maturity Model Integration Professional (TMMi) –

https://www.isqi.org/de/certview.html?CertificateID=44

Mobile App Testing - Foundation Level (CMAP) –

https://www.isqi.org/de/certview.html?CertificateID=50

Mobile App Test Automation (CMAP) –

https://www.isqi.org/de/certview.html?CertificateID=52

In my future post (Part 2 of this); I will address Tools, Process specific Certifications.