Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Chief information officer to software tester

A chief information officer already meets 47% of what the software tester role asks for. The move turns on 9 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From chief information officer
47 % overlap
Partial match
To software tester
44 You already bring
9 Still to learn
80 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

62.8/ 100

1 How much of what a software tester is expected to do is already part of a chief information officer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the software tester role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

A software tester role treats 1 of its required skills as things a chief information officer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • software architecture models

What stands in the way is 9 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 44 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A software tester role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a chief information officer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held software architecture models information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held Process-based management business, administration and law
  • already held digital systems information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held lean project management business, administration and law
  • already held Agile project management business, administration and law
  • already held ICT project management methodologies business, administration and law

All 44 carried skills, including the 1 the software tester role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 36 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 information and communication technologies (icts) 3 required, 16 supplementary
  • still to learn levels of software testing required
  • still to learn software anomalies required
  • still to learn software metrics required
  • optional, not held ICT debugging tools optional
  • optional, not held ICT performance analysis methods optional
  • optional, not held LDAP optional
  • optional, not held LINQ optional
  • optional, not held MDX optional
  • optional, not held N1QL optional
  • optional, not held SPARQL optional
  • optional, not held XQuery optional
  • optional, not held application usability optional
  • optional, not held query languages optional
  • optional, not held resource description framework query language optional
  • optional, not held software components libraries optional
  • optional, not held tools for ICT test automation optional
  • optional, not held trading software optional
  • optional, not held unstructured data optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
02 working with computers 3 required, 5 supplementary
  • still to learn execute software tests required
  • still to learn perform software unit testing required
  • still to learn replicate customer software issues required
  • optional, not held conduct ICT code review optional
  • optional, not held debug software optional
  • optional, not held execute integration testing optional
  • optional, not held perform software recovery testing optional
  • optional, not held use scripting programming optional
03 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn provide software testing documentation required
  • still to learn address problems critically required
  • optional, not held develop ICT test suite optional
  • optional, not held develop automated software tests optional
04 information skills 1 required
  • still to learn report test findings required
05 management skills 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held plan software testing optional
  • optional, not held manage schedule of tasks optional
06 business, administration and law 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held audit techniques optional

1 further area in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a software tester role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 44 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held software architecture models knowledge
  • already held ABAP knowledge
  • already held AJAX knowledge
  • already held APL knowledge
  • already held ASP.NET knowledge
  • already held Agile project management knowledge
  • already held Assembly (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held C# knowledge
  • already held C++ knowledge
  • already held COBOL knowledge
  • already held CoffeeScript knowledge
  • already held Common Lisp knowledge
  • already held Erlang knowledge
  • already held Groovy knowledge
  • already held Haskell knowledge
  • already held ICT project management methodologies knowledge
  • already held Java (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held JavaScript knowledge
  • already held Lisp knowledge
  • already held MATLAB knowledge
  • already held ML (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Microsoft Visual C++ knowledge
  • already held Objective-C knowledge
  • already held OpenEdge Advanced Business Language knowledge
  • already held PHP knowledge
  • already held Pascal (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Perl knowledge
  • already held Process-based management knowledge
  • already held Prolog (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Python (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held R knowledge
  • already held Ruby (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held SAP R3 knowledge
  • already held SAS language knowledge
  • already held Scala knowledge
  • already held Scratch (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Smalltalk (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Swift (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held TypeScript knowledge
  • already held VBScript knowledge
  • already held Visual Basic knowledge
  • already held computer programming knowledge
  • already held digital systems knowledge
  • already held lean project management knowledge
The 1 learning area not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 constructing 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held measure software usability optional
27 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held ICT debugging tools optional
  • optional, not held ICT performance analysis methods optional
  • optional, not held LDAP optional
  • optional, not held LINQ optional
  • optional, not held MDX optional
  • optional, not held N1QL optional
  • optional, not held SPARQL optional
  • optional, not held XQuery optional
  • optional, not held application usability optional
  • optional, not held conduct ICT code review optional
  • optional, not held debug software optional
  • optional, not held develop ICT test suite optional
  • optional, not held develop automated software tests optional
  • optional, not held execute integration testing optional
  • optional, not held measure software usability optional
  • optional, not held perform software recovery testing optional
  • optional, not held plan software testing optional
  • optional, not held query languages optional
  • optional, not held resource description framework query language optional
  • optional, not held software components libraries optional
  • optional, not held tools for ICT test automation optional
  • optional, not held trading software optional
  • optional, not held unstructured data optional
  • optional, not held use scripting programming optional
  • optional, not held audit techniques optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
  • optional, not held manage schedule of tasks optional
45 held skills the software tester role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role Agile development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role DevOps knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT architectural frameworks knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Prototyping development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Rapid application development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Spiral development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Waterfall development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role World Wide Web Consortium standards knowledge
  • not needed by the target role administer ICT system skill
  • not needed by the target role attack vectors knowledge
  • not needed by the target role carry out statistical forecasts skill
  • not needed by the target role carry out strategic research skill
  • not needed by the target role coordinate technological activities skill
  • not needed by the target role decision support systems knowledge
  • not needed by the target role define technology strategy skill
  • not needed by the target role deploy ICT systems skill
  • not needed by the target role engineering processes knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ensure adherence to organisational ICT standards skill
  • not needed by the target role ensure information privacy skill
  • not needed by the target role establish an ICT customer support process skill
  • not needed by the target role forecast future ICT network needs skill
  • not needed by the target role implement ICT risk management skill
  • not needed by the target role implement ICT security policies skill
  • not needed by the target role implement corporate governance skill
  • not needed by the target role incremental development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role information architecture knowledge
  • not needed by the target role information structure knowledge
  • not needed by the target role internet governance knowledge
  • not needed by the target role iterative development knowledge
  • not needed by the target role lead technology development of an organisation skill
  • not needed by the target role maintain plan for continuity of operations skill
  • not needed by the target role manage budgets skill
  • not needed by the target role manage software releases skill
  • not needed by the target role manage staff skill
  • not needed by the target role market analysis knowledge
  • not needed by the target role monitor ICT research skill
  • not needed by the target role monitor technology trends skill
  • not needed by the target role optimise choice of ICT solution skill
  • not needed by the target role oversee development of software skill
  • not needed by the target role protect personal data and privacy skill

5 further entries not listed here

20 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn levels of software testing required
  • still to learn software anomalies required
  • still to learn software metrics required
  • optional, not held ICT debugging tools optional
  • optional, not held ICT performance analysis methods optional
  • optional, not held LDAP optional
  • optional, not held LINQ optional
  • optional, not held MDX optional
  • optional, not held N1QL optional
  • optional, not held SPARQL optional
  • optional, not held XQuery optional
  • optional, not held application usability optional
  • optional, not held query languages optional
  • optional, not held resource description framework query language optional
  • optional, not held software components libraries optional
  • optional, not held tools for ICT test automation optional
  • optional, not held trading software optional
  • optional, not held unstructured data optional
  • optional, not held audit techniques optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
Index

Other moves recorded from chief information officer

Full index of moves from chief information officer

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a chief information officer become a software tester?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A chief information officer already covers 47% of what a software tester is expected to do: 44 skills carry over, 1 of which the software tester role treats as required.

What skills does a chief information officer need to become a software tester?

9 required skills are missing, plus 27 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information and communication technologies (icts). The single most important is execute software tests.

How hard is the move from chief information officer to software tester?

Its learning distance is 62.8 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.