Home
>
Software
>
The Top 5 Wrong Reasons For Not Hiring Testers

The Top 5 Wrong Reasons For Not Hiring Testers

Considering whether or not your software company should hire a dedicated team of testers? Here are the Top 5 Wrong Reasons why you shouldn't.

We Have a Beta Program
Some people feel that the best way to debug a system is to ship it to your customers and wait for trouble tickets. I don't know how things work in your industry, but as far as I'm concerned, finding new customers is hard enough. I definitely don't want to make matters worse by shipping them buggy software.

I've spent the last 5 years in the telecommunications industry where the standard for reliability is 5-9. If I even suggested to my customers that my software was in its Beta phase, they'd hang up on me immediately. I'm positive the same is true in any industry.

Imagine if I published articles that were not only full of grammatical errors but also missed a complete sentence here and there. Would you bother sending me an email to inform me that my articles are defective? Would you recommend my newsletter to your peers? I didn't think so! So imagine how your customers feel when mission critical software breaks and crashes on them.

Developers Will Get Lazy
Some managers feel that developers will get lazy if they know someone else is responsible for testing their code. Developers are either lazy or they're not. Someone who takes pride in his work will rigorously test his code regardless of whether or not you have a dedicated team of testers.

If your developers are lazy, don't blame your testers. Blame the developers! Not hiring a team of dedicated testers won't improve the situation. It'll actually make the problem worse because your sloppy developer's code will find itself in your customer's hand instead of your testers' lab.

We Can't Afford Testers
If you can afford testing, then you can afford testers. Basic economics ? and common sense ? prove that it's more economical and efficient to hire specialists than generalists, as long as you can keep the specialists busy.

If it takes you 50 person-months to develop software, you will (statistically speaking) spend 25 person-months testing and validating it. Which do you think is more economical? Assigning 25 person-months of testing to developers or testers?

As explained in quality is job #1, one of my previous articles which lists reasons why software companies should hire a dedicated team of testers, professional QA people are more efficient at verifying software than developers are. It's their job! Keep the 1:3 ratio in mind and hire 1 tester for every 3 developers, even if it means getting rid of your bottom-of-the-barrel developers to maintain a balanced human capital budget.

Testers Find Too Many Bugs
This excuse sounds more absurd than it actually is. I agree that in some cases testers report bugs that are valueless. Enter non-ASCII characters in one field, ASCII in another, stick a screwdriver in your CD-R drive, do the hokey pokey and hit the Enter key, and the system will return an error. Who cares? No customer will ever come across this scenario in a live deployment. (Actually, if I showed you some of the defects our customers are entering in our trouble ticketing system, you'd be surprised!!!)

If you think your testers are really finding too many insignificant bugs, give them guidance. Don't ridicule their effort or disregard their problem reports. Explain the use cases you're trying to satisfy and the known (and acceptable) limitations of the system.

We Can't Find/Keep Any Good Testers
I truly sympathize with those who bring up this point because it's true. Good testers are really hard to find and the first-class ones often apply to transfer to your product development team. Still, this is not a reason to give up on hiring a dedicated team of testers.

Here are 3 suggestions to keep your testers on your QA team for as long as possible:

When hiring testers, look for people who have previously held a QA role for at least a year. Beware of new graduates and others who will accept any position to get a foot your organization's door. Chances are more likely that they will ask for a transfer as soon as their probation period is over.
Offer your testers a competitive salary. Some companies tend to pay their testers way less than their developers. As a result, testers request a transfer simply because they'd like to earn more money, and you can't blame them. Level your pay scales and you'll give them one more reason to stay on your QA team.
Allow testers to develop their technical skills. Give them the opportunity to write automated test scripts, install and configure test networks, and take design/development courses. Providing these extra benefits will entice your testers to stay in their role for a longer period. And when they do decide they want to move to your development team, they're going to be better prepared.

Conclusion
After reading dozens of opinions on the subject, I'm still convinced that having a dedicated team of testers is well worth the investment. You can disagree with me, but if you do, make sure it's for the right reasons.

Luc Richard holds an MBA with a major in high technology. For the past 10 years, he's been managing the development of software applications. He is the founder of The Project Mangler (quality is job #1), an online resource that publishes free articles, stories, and other ready-to-use tools to help developers, team leaders and managers deliver software projects on time, according to specs, and within budget.

detailed home cleaning Des Plaines ...

In The News:

Instinct Concierge and Meta Muse can now place phone calls to businesses on your behalf, but the privacy and data access tradeoffs are significant.

Olivia Moore spent $100 to create a fake RushTok influencer using ChatGPT and MiniMax, and thousands of Bama Rush fans couldn't tell the difference.

RatHat Android malware uses AI to steal banking credentials, intercept two-factor authentication codes and reconstruct your PIN from touch inputs.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Apple and Google password managers can flag compromised, weak and reused passwords on your phone before credential stuffing attacks can strike.

Researcher Peter Garrigan says Moonshot AI's Kimi model was manipulated into providing instructions for biological weapons and assassination plans.

iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones now offer call screening that asks unknown callers to identify themselves before your phone rings.

Ransomware can lock your irreplaceable photos and documents in seconds. A tested backup strategy and stronger cybersecurity habits are your best defense.

ShinyHunters claims it breached FBIJobs.gov and stole Social Security numbers, home addresses and sensitive assignment details of FBI personnel.

Find My iPhone, Google Find Hub and Samsung Find have critical tracking settings to enable now, before your phone ever goes missing or stolen.

The FTC proposed a new enforcement policy on personalized pricing, warning companies that hide how personal data shapes the prices shoppers see.

The $250 million Apple Siri AI settlement is now accepting claims, with eligible iPhone owners potentially receiving up to $95 per device.

ShareAScan turns T-shirts into scannable digital business cards with QR codes that link to profiles the owner can update anytime they choose.

BragJack research reveals how a single malicious browser extension could hijack Gemini, Perplexity Comet and Edge AI agents with zero clicks.

A phishing campaign impersonating OpenAI uses fake ChatGPT billing emails with a convincing login page to steal credentials and payment details.

Startups are helping modernize America’s defense industry with new technology and innovative ideas as the War Department diversifies its inventory.

New account fraud victims jumped 31% in 2025, reaching 5.4 million. Criminals open accounts you may never see on your regular bank statements.

Flytrex says its AI-powered Rooftop Dock system in Dallas-Fort Worth positions drones at restaurants before orders arrive, cutting delivery costs by 60%.

Samson Sky's Switchblade flying car secures $80 million from Dubai's Matin Group, but the redesigned hybrid-electric aircraft still needs more testing.

The Fox News AI Newsletter covers the latest artificial intelligence technology advancements, including the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

CenterPoint Energy confirmed customer data was stolen, while a hacker claims 7.49 million records with partial Social Security numbers were taken.

The $59 Brick device promises to help curb phone addiction, but free iPhone and Android tools may already do the job. Here's what to try first.

Epsilon Data Management's "opportunity seeker" lists helped scammers target millions of older Americans, DOJ court filings reveal in detail.

HBO Max's verified Reddit account was hijacked to push 108 malicious ads using ClickFix, a technique that tricks victims into running dangerous commands.

Flash Shelton reveals how home security cameras and alarm systems can stop squatters before they claim tenant rights in your vacant property.

The Top 5 Wrong Reasons For Not Hiring Testers

Software