💡 Why it matters: One bug in a payment or health app can cost people real money or trust, so testers find problems early and help companies deliver apps that people can rely on.
🌍 Around the world
- United States: Jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦1M – ₦2.8M
- Mid-career
- ₦3M – ₦7.5M
- Senior
- ₦7.5M – ₦16M
≈ ₦250k – ₦625k a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Typical starter to experienced salary (closest profile: Computer games tester; the Test lead profile is higher, 35 to 75). National Careers Service, 2026
🇺🇸 United States
Closest US category: Software quality assurance analysts and testers (OEWS wages; OOH page covers developers, QA analysts and testers). Median pay; low and high are the 10th and 90th percentiles. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
🇨🇦 Canada
Closest Canadian occupation: Software tester. Hourly wage low/median/high x 2,080 hours. Job Bank (Government of Canada), 2023-2024
Yearly pay before tax. UK, US and Canada figures come from the official sources named on each card. Nigeria has no official salary survey, so those are our indicative estimates. Real pay depends on the employer, the place, your skills and experience.
🛠️ What you actually do
- Test apps and websites to find bugs
- Write clear reports on what went wrong
- Create automatic tests that run again and again
- Check apps work on different phones and browsers
- Help developers understand and fix problems
⚡ Skills you'll need
- Attention to detail
- Curiosity
- Communication
- Basic coding
- Patience
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- ISTQB testing certification
- Software testing bootcamp, or starting as a manual tester
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Level 3 or 4 digital apprenticeship, where you earn while you learn
- Coding bootcamp or self-taught with a portfolio of projects
🇺🇸 United States
- Coding bootcamp with a strong project portfolio
- Internship or apprenticeship at a tech company
🇨🇦 Canada
- Co-op programmes that alternate study with paid work terms
- Bootcamp or self-taught with a project portfolio
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Learn how apps and websites work
- 2Practise testing free apps and write bug reports
- 3Study computing or take a testing course
- 4Join a team as a junior tester
- 5Learn test automation and grow into senior QA
⏰ A day in the life
A new loan feature is ready, so you try it with wrong passwords, empty boxes and weird numbers. You find a screen that freezes, write down the steps to repeat it and send it to the developer.