Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Database developer to software tester

A database developer already meets 53% of what the software tester role asks for. The move turns on 8 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From database developer
53 % overlap
Partial match
To software tester
49 You already bring
8 Still to learn
80 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

56.8/ 100

1 How much of what a software tester is expected to do is already part of a database developer’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 2 of its required skills as things a database developer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • address problems critically
  • execute software tests

What stands in the way is 8 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 49 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 database developer background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held execute integration testing working with computers
  • already held execute software tests working with computers
  • already held LDAP information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held MDX information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held XQuery information and communication technologies (icts)
  • already held query languages information and communication technologies (icts)

All 49 carried skills, including the 2 the software tester role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 31 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) 4 required, 9 supplementary
  • still to learn levels of software testing required
  • still to learn software anomalies required
  • still to learn software architecture models 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 application usability 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 digital systems optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
02 working with computers 2 required, 4 supplementary
  • 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 perform software recovery testing optional
  • optional, not held use scripting programming optional
03 communication, collaboration and creativity 1 required, 2 supplementary
  • still to learn provide software testing documentation 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 business, administration and law 5 supplementary
  • optional, not held Agile project management optional
  • optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
  • optional, not held Process-based management optional
  • optional, not held lean project management optional
  • optional, not held audit techniques optional
06 management skills 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held plan software testing optional
  • optional, not held manage schedule of tasks 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 49 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held address problems critically skill
  • already held execute software tests skill
  • already held ABAP knowledge
  • already held AJAX knowledge
  • already held APL knowledge
  • already held ASP.NET 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 Java (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held JavaScript knowledge
  • already held LDAP knowledge
  • already held LINQ knowledge
  • already held Lisp knowledge
  • already held MATLAB knowledge
  • already held MDX knowledge
  • already held ML (computer programming) knowledge
  • already held Microsoft Visual C++ knowledge
  • already held N1QL 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 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 SPARQL 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 XQuery knowledge
  • already held computer programming knowledge
  • already held execute integration testing skill
  • already held query languages knowledge
  • already held resource description framework query language knowledge
The 1 learning area not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 constructing 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held measure software usability optional
23 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held Agile project management optional
  • optional, not held ICT debugging tools optional
  • optional, not held ICT performance analysis methods optional
  • optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
  • optional, not held Process-based management 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 lean project management 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 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 digital systems optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
  • optional, not held manage schedule of tasks optional
67 held skills the software tester role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role Ajax Framework knowledge
  • not needed by the target role CA Datacom/DB knowledge
  • not needed by the target role DB2 knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Filemaker (database management systems) knowledge
  • not needed by the target role IBM InfoSphere DataStage knowledge
  • not needed by the target role IBM InfoSphere Information Server knowledge
  • not needed by the target role IBM Informix knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT infrastructure knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ICT power consumption knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Informatica PowerCenter knowledge
  • not needed by the target role JavaScript Framework knowledge
  • not needed by the target role MarkLogic knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Microsoft Access knowledge
  • not needed by the target role MySQL knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ObjectStore knowledge
  • not needed by the target role OpenEdge Database knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Oracle Application Development Framework knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Oracle Data Integrator knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Oracle Relational Database knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Oracle Warehouse Builder knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Pentaho Data Integration knowledge
  • not needed by the target role PostgreSQL knowledge
  • not needed by the target role QlikView Expressor knowledge
  • not needed by the target role SAP Data Services knowledge
  • not needed by the target role SAS Data Management knowledge
  • not needed by the target role SQL knowledge
  • not needed by the target role SQL Server knowledge
  • not needed by the target role SQL Server Integration Services knowledge
  • not needed by the target role Teradata Database knowledge
  • not needed by the target role TripleStore knowledge
  • not needed by the target role WordPress knowledge
  • not needed by the target role apply information security policies skill
  • not needed by the target role balance database resources skill
  • not needed by the target role collect customer feedback on applications skill
  • not needed by the target role create data models skill
  • not needed by the target role create solutions to problems skill
  • not needed by the target role data engineering knowledge
  • not needed by the target role data extraction, transformation and loading tools knowledge
  • not needed by the target role data quality assessment knowledge
  • not needed by the target role data storage knowledge

27 further entries not listed here

18 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 architecture models required
  • still to learn software metrics required
  • optional, not held Agile project management optional
  • optional, not held ICT debugging tools optional
  • optional, not held ICT performance analysis methods optional
  • optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
  • optional, not held Process-based management optional
  • optional, not held application usability optional
  • optional, not held lean project management 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 digital systems optional
  • optional, not held hardware components optional
Index

Other moves recorded from database developer

Full index of moves from database developer

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a database developer become a software tester?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A database developer already covers 53% of what a software tester is expected to do: 49 skills carry over, 2 of which the software tester role treats as required.

What skills does a database developer need to become a software tester?

8 required skills are missing, plus 23 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information and communication technologies (icts). The single most important is levels of software testing.

How hard is the move from database developer to software tester?

Its learning distance is 56.8 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.