If you are a manual tester and would like to move into test automation career then you should start acquiring the below technical skills
- Database /SQL skills
- Linux skills
- Defect management
- Communication skills
- 3-tier architecture
- Test case creation
- Domain expertise like:
- Life science
- E-commerce
- Energy
- Health
- Programming skills
- Java, Java script, C, C++
- GIT hub
- Jerkins
- Source code tools
There are multiple tracks you can consider to take up during test automation journey
Web automation
Here automation done on the web application and It is accessed using browsers
- Selenium
- JAVA,JAVASCRIPT ,Python
- Codeless automation tools
Mobile Automation
Here automation being done for testing the mobile apps
Mobile apps can be accessed using android phones or iphone or windows phones
- Appium
- Perfecto
- Kobiton
- Test project
API Test Automation
In order to perform API testing automation tester must be well versed with tools like:
- Post man
- http get/post
- WSDL
- XML
Performance Testing
When you are performing non-functional testing aspects we will be using the below tools
- JMeter
- Load running
- Rational performance tester
Also the manual tester should learn about
- Continuous integration and development testing
- GIT HUB
- Jerkins
Final Action
Current trend: some companies practise 50-50 % of both manual and automation testing while other companies prefer less percentage of manual testing and more of automation testing.
Learn programming basics: the fundamentals of programming like for loop or while loop and among others must be known.
Learn automation framework: the framework is the basic idea about how the automation works, there are various frameworks such as hybrid framework, data driven framework etc.
Learn design automation framework: In order for a rapid automation to take place one must be well versed with design automation.
Start with writing sample code: Starting the practice with the pre existing code will help one to have a clear idea for a start off.Learn automation tools: Tools such as free or open source tools are very beneficial for automation.
Learn build tools: Tools like Ant, Git etc are very useful tools for this purpose.
Shadow with good testers: Working under an experienced tester for a while will help one to acquire all the necessary skills needed for this work.
All the best!