You may know how to describe a test engineer to an audience.

But what about the traits of a test engineer?

Straightforward, clear, and accurate. These are the five C's to describe a test engineer:

• Critical Thinking —Often underrated. But test engineers can think clearly and rationally to understand the logical connection of multiple ideas and their impact on the business and the customer.
• Communication—Clear and concise communication is one of the most critical skills to master. It doesn't matter if you find the most defects if you cannot communicate and articulate them effectively. Test engineers are great communicators.
• Collaboration—Test engineers don't work in silos. Or at least they shouldn't. They're part of a team, and they're working with developers and product owners most of the time alongside gathering knowledge on business rules and context. Thus, making collaboration a daily essential skill that test engineers bring to a team.
• Creativity—Truly valuable. Being creative and thinking outside of the box is a skill that often leads us to find out those somewhat unwanted edge cases that might hugely impact the whole product. And, let me tell you that impact is number #1 of the top five skills of a senior engineer. Test engineers are hugely creative.
• Coding—A skill that every test engineer needs to have to express and articulate the business rules and easily model its domain. They're experts in translating actual use cases and business logic into code.

These are the 5 C's that a test engineer leverages to advocate for software quality, with principles.

© Sérgio Martins