Karriere

Skill-Gap-Checkliste für QA & SDET

Sich an einer QA/SDET-Zielrolle messen und Lücken priorisiert sehen.

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Target role

Writes production-quality test code inside an existing framework and pipeline.

Rate yourself honestly: 0 None · 1 Aware (can explain it, needs help to use it) · 2 Working (does it alone on real work) · 3 Expert (designs it, reviews others, teaches it).

Testing fundamentals

Test design techniquesexpected: Working
Boundary values, equivalence partitions, decision tables and state transitions applied to real requirements.
Exploratory testingexpected: Working
Chartered sessions with notes, heuristics (SFDPOT, tours) and findings others can act on.
Defect reporting and triageexpected: Working
Minimal reproduction steps, evidence, severity vs priority, and root-cause conversations with developers.
Risk-based test planningexpected: Aware
Choosing what not to test, estimating effort and writing a test plan stakeholders read.
SQL for test data and verificationexpected: Working
Joins, aggregates and safe updates to set up data and verify persistence.

Programming

One language in depth (Java, TypeScript or Python)expected: Working
Types, collections, error handling, async code and reading stack traces without help.
Clean code and design patternsexpected: Working
Composition over inheritance, page objects/screenplay, builders and factories for test data, small functions.
Git and code reviewexpected: Working
Branches, rebasing, resolving conflicts and giving useful review comments on test code.
Unit and component testingexpected: Working
Writing and reviewing unit tests with mocks and fakes, and knowing where they beat end-to-end tests.

UI automation

Playwright, Selenium or Cypressexpected: Working
Stable locators, auto-waiting vs explicit waits, fixtures/hooks, screenshots and traces.
Framework designexpected: Aware
Layering, configuration per environment, test data management, reporting and parallel safety.
Flaky test diagnosisexpected: Working
Using traces, retries data and timing analysis to fix root causes instead of adding sleeps.
Mobile automation (Appium, Espresso, XCUITest)expected: Aware
Device/emulator setup, capabilities and gestures; knows the trade-offs of each tool.

API testing

HTTP, REST and auth fundamentalsexpected: Working
Methods, status codes, headers, idempotency, OAuth 2.0 and JWT basics.
API automation (REST Assured, Playwright request, pytest + requests)expected: Working
Request builders, schema assertions, chained calls and data cleanup.
Contract testing and mockingexpected: Aware
Consumer-driven contracts (Pact) and service virtualization (WireMock) to test in isolation.

CI/CD and DevOps

CI pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI)expected: Working
Running suites on pull requests, sharding, caching, artifacts and failure notifications.
Docker and test environmentsexpected: Aware
Dockerfiles and Compose for dependencies, ephemeral environments and seeded databases.
Logs, metrics and observabilityexpected: Aware
Finding failures in logs and dashboards; using trace IDs to connect a test to backend behaviour.

Non-functional testing

Performance testing (k6, JMeter, Gatling)expected: Aware
Workload models, percentiles, thresholds and interpreting results with the team.
Security testing basicsexpected: Aware
OWASP Top 10 awareness, input validation probes, auth/authorization checks and safe use of scanners.
Accessibility testingexpected: Aware
WCAG 2.2 basics, keyboard and screen-reader checks, and automated axe scans in CI.

Strategy and leadership

Test strategy and the test pyramidexpected: Aware
Deciding what belongs at unit, API, contract and UI level for a system, and defending it with data.
Quality metricsexpected: Aware
Escaped defects, change failure rate, suite duration and flakiness rate; avoiding vanity metrics.
Mentoring and stakeholder communicationexpected: Aware
Coaching juniors, release sign-off conversations and explaining risk to non-testers.
Agile delivery and shift-left practicesexpected: Working
Three-amigos sessions, acceptance criteria review, definition of done and testing in the sprint.

AI in testing

AI-assisted testing toolsexpected: Aware
Using code assistants for test code and data with review, and knowing their failure modes.
Testing AI/LLM featuresexpected: None
Evaluation sets, non-deterministic outputs, guardrails and regression of model-backed features.

Readiness

Sum of your levels (capped at each expectation) ÷ sum of expected levels for SDET 1. 27 of 27 expected skills below target.

Testing fundamentals0/5
Programming0/4
UI automation0/4
API testing0/3
CI/CD and DevOps0/3
Non-functional testing0/3
Strategy and leadership0/4
AI in testing0/1

Biggest gaps

Agile delivery and shift-left practices0 → 2
API automation (REST Assured, Playwright request, pytest + requests)0 → 2
CI pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI)0 → 2
Clean code and design patterns0 → 2
Defect reporting and triage0 → 2
Exploratory testing0 → 2
Flaky test diagnosis0 → 2
Git and code review0 → 2

Where to start

Testing Fundamentals11 gap pts
Agile delivery and shift-left practices, Defect reporting and triage, Exploratory testing, SQL for test data and verification, Test design techniques, Risk-based test planning
Programming for Testers8 gap pts
Clean code and design patterns, Git and code review, One language in depth (Java, TypeScript or Python), Unit and component testing
Advanced Quality Engineering6 gap pts
Accessibility testing, Mentoring and stakeholder communication, Performance testing (k6, JMeter, Gatling), Quality metrics, Security testing basics, Test strategy and the test pyramid
Automation Frameworks6 gap pts
Flaky test diagnosis, Playwright, Selenium or Cypress, Framework design, Mobile automation (Appium, Espresso, XCUITest)
API Testing5 gap pts
API automation (REST Assured, Playwright request, pytest + requests), HTTP, REST and auth fundamentals, Contract testing and mocking
DevOps for QA4 gap pts
CI pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI), Docker and test environments, Logs, metrics and observability
AI in Testing1 gap pts
AI-assisted testing tools

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Über dieses Tool

Jobtitel im Testing bedeuten in jedem Unternehmen etwas anderes, aber die Skills dahinter sind recht einheitlich. Diese Checkliste zerlegt die Arbeit eines QA Engineers, SDETs oder Test Architects in 28 konkrete Skills aus Testgrundlagen, Programmierung, UI-Automatisierung, API-Testing, CI/CD, nicht-funktionalem Testen, Strategie und Führung sowie KI im Testing. Für jede Zielrolle zeigt sie ein typisches erwartetes Niveau, von „Aware“ (Grundkenntnisse) bis „Expert“ (Experte). Sie bewerten sich selbst, und das Tool sortiert Ihre Lücken nach Größe, zeigt einen Bereitschaftswert nach einer offengelegten Formel und gruppiert die Lücken nach Lernpfad, damit Sie wissen, wo Sie anfangen. Die Erwartungen sind realistische Standardwerte für Produktunternehmen, kein formaler Standard. Lesen Sie sie als Gesprächsgrundlage für Ihr nächstes Mitarbeitergespräch.

So funktioniert es

Wählen Sie die Rolle, die Sie anstreben, nicht die, die Sie jetzt haben.
Bewerten Sie jeden Skill von 0 bis 3 anhand der Definitionen über der Liste. Seien Sie streng: „Working“ heißt, Sie machen es allein in echten Projekten.
Lesen Sie rechts die größten Lücken und die vorgeschlagenen Lernpfade.
Kopieren Sie den Plan, um ihn mit Ihrer Führungskraft oder Ihrem Mentor zu teilen. Die Bewertungen werden in diesem Browser gespeichert.

FAQ zu Skill-Gap-Checkliste für QA & SDET

Wie wird die Bereitschaft berechnet?

Für jeden Skill, den die Rolle erwartet, wird Ihre Bewertung auf das erwartete Niveau begrenzt, dann wird die Summe durch die Summe der erwarteten Niveaus geteilt. Expertenwissen in etwas, wofür die Rolle nur Grundkenntnisse braucht, gleicht keine Lücke an anderer Stelle aus.

Was ist hier der Unterschied zwischen SDET 1 und SDET 2?

Ein SDET 1 schreibt guten Testcode innerhalb eines bestehenden Frameworks und einer bestehenden Pipeline. Von einem SDET 2 wird erwartet, Teile des Frameworks, die CI-Integration und die Teststrategie eines Teams zu verantworten. Das zeigt sich in höheren Erwartungen bei Framework-Design, Diagnose von Flaky Tests, CI und Contract Testing.

Sind diese Stufen ein Branchenstandard?

Nein. Es gibt keinen einheitlichen Standard für QA-Karrierestufen. Dies sind typische Erwartungen in Produktunternehmen; das Karrieremodell Ihres Arbeitgebers, falls vorhanden, hat Vorrang.