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How to become a Software Tester

Also called: Debugging technician, Debugging worker, QA tester, QA engineer, Game tester

Finds and fixes errors (bugs) in software.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say university is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular education or qualifications are needed, but debugging in software development is often done by experienced people who have worked on system development. Bugs have many different causes, so it is often done by middle-aged people who have worked on many kinds of systems and can picture many situations, and older workers are active in it too. For computer games, on the other hand, high school and university students who love games are gathered at test centres (facilities that specialise in debugging games) to play games and find bugs. A typical route is to move from this into a permanent job at a testing company or game developer. Once you are a permanent employee, you take on the role of leading a testing team. If you fix bugs yourself, you also need knowledge of programming languages, operating systems and so on. If you also rework hardware, you need hardware knowledge. For game testing, years of experience playing many different games helps you find bugs. Games today are also sold overseas and developed in many languages, so people fluent in English, Chinese and other languages are sometimes sought. You also need to be aware of differences in culture and law, and some people are hired in the countries where games will be released. To prevent system problems caused by bugs, you need the patience to repeat detailed tasks over and over carefully. You handle highly confidential information, such as clients' systems and unreleased games, so you must keep it confidential. Debugging is done in teams and sometimes needs close work with developers, so communication skills are also needed.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Software Tester?

No particular education or qualifications are needed, but debugging in software development is often done by experienced people who have worked on system development. Bugs have many different causes, so it is often done by middle-aged people who have worked on many kinds of systems and can picture many situations, and older workers are active in it too. For computer games, on the other hand, high school and university students who love games are gathered at test centres (facilities that specialise in debugging games) to play games and find bugs. A typical route is to move from this into a permanent job at a testing company or game developer. Once you are a permanent employee, you take on the role of leading a testing team. If you fix bugs yourself, you also need knowledge of programming languages, operating systems and so on. If you also rework hardware, you need hardware knowledge. For game testing, years of experience playing many different games helps you find bugs. Games today are also sold overseas and developed in many languages, so people fluent in English, Chinese and other languages are sometimes sought. You also need to be aware of differences in culture and law, and some people are hired in the countries where games will be released. To prevent system problems caused by bugs, you need the patience to repeat detailed tasks over and over carefully. You handle highly confidential information, such as clients' systems and unreleased games, so you must keep it confidential. Debugging is done in teams and sometimes needs close work with developers, so communication skills are also needed.

How much does a Software Tester earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥5,784,700 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Software creators, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Software Tester?

Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 67% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Software Tester?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026