1. What the Market Looks for in Testers
Brad LeFevre, Senior Account Executive

2. Brad LeFevre at a Glance
Senior Account Executive at TEKsystems
19+ years in the Lansing market and 22 years with TEKsystems in Michigan
Focus on IT Direct Placement Services
Contact Information:

3. My Family
DISC

4. TEKsystems At A Glance

5. 5 Questions to Answer
What skills sets are currently in high demand for testers?
What are hiring managers looking for out of software testers?
What changes have you seen in the industry with respect to testers?
How does the market look for software testers?
What advice would you give to testers to be successful in testing as a career?

6. How does the market look for software testers?
There are exponentially more job opportunities than active candidates
In the past twelve months, demand for QA skillsets has risen over 300%
According to the BLS, an estimated 100,000 new QA positions are set to be created by 2022, nationally

7. What are hiring managers looking for out of software testers?
You ask intelligent questions
You have good communication skills - share negative information in a positive way
check your motive
You continuously improve and are open to new ideas
You speak up and share your ideas

8. What changes have you seen in the industry with respect to testers?
Continuing shift toward agile development
Automation testing continues to rise
More programming experience
Having any programming experience is helpful for any software tester. Even exposure to programming techniques will help you communicate with the development team.

9. What skills are currently in high demand for testers?
Selenium
QTP
xUnit, JUnit, NUnit, TestNG, etc.
LoadRunner
JMeter

10. What advice would you give to testers to be successful in testing as a career?
Build good relationships with your team
Follow up and follow through
Keep your word
Get out of your comfort zone
Be teachable/coachable
Think like a customer or end user
Be a lifelong learner

11. Future Outlook

12. Future Outlook – Salary Data
IT is expensive and companies are willing to pay a premium for scarce skill sets.
In the last few years, salaries in the IT field have increased much faster (5-15 percent) than salaries in other fields (2-5 percent). Computer science graduates in the class of 2013 received an average starting salary of about $60,000.
Sources: 1(Salary.com, 2012), 2(Forbes), 3(Dice, 2013)

13. Advancing Your Career – Know What You Want
IT is opportunistic and salary alone is not enough. IT professionals are looking for a lot more from their employer.
IT professionals are motivated by jobs that are aligned with their skills, goals and interests, consistent employment and compensation.
Eighty-one percent of IT professionals would consider changing jobs for the opportunity to develop and enhance their skills.
Seventy-six percent of IT professionals would make a move for the chance to advance their careers.
Seventy-one percent of IT professionals would consider a new job based on salary.
Sources: 1(TEKsystems, April 2012), 2(TEKsystems, December 2011)

14. Questions and Comments
Really…anything you want to ask