How To Become A Game Tester

So, by now you are probably wondering how to become a game tester and what types of people tend to be successful at video game tester jobs. You may be surprised to learn that just because you love to play video games does not mean that you will do well or even enjoy the life as a video games tester.

Now before going on any further, let me qualify our discussion of the profile of a video games tester by saying that list of valued personal characteristics that follow is not "carved in stone".  Rather this is just a list of personal qualities that most successful video games testers exhibit based on my own extensive research into video game testing jobs.

Are you the type of person who:

• has a great deal of patience and willingness to do repetitive tasks with the same dedication to detail on the fiftieth time as on the first time?
• is very structured in their approach when looking for potential problems?
• has good verbal and written communication skills to ensure other people can understand what you are reporting on?
• is a good team player and can interact with other people, take criticism, and is willing to consider and act on the findings of other members of the team if it will help to solve the problem?
• has at least a basic understanding of computers and computer software?
• has at least average to above average hand-eye coordination necessary to eventually master the game controllers to play the more challenging games or higher levels of multi-level video games?
• can keep a secret, as game developers take game security very seriously in the competitive world of video game software development.
• thinks creatively or "outside the box" when searching for possible causes of gaming problems or "bugs" encountered during testing?
• is not impatient and is willing to accept the fact that it may take countless hours of doing "boring and tedious" video game test jobs before you get to paid to play the final product versions just prior to their release?

If you can truthful say that you have all or most of the personal characteristics list above, then just maybe you have what it takes to successfully join the ranks of video games testers.

Next we will look at video game tester job openings, where they can be found, and how much do these kinds of jobs pay.