If you are a web tester or just testing the waters of web testing, then somewhere down the road you will have to come across Selenium, an open-source test automation framework. Ever since its launch in 2004, Selenium has been a boon for both enterprises and teenagers to extend their careers.
The shift of digital world frim manual testing towards automation testing is itself an example that Selenium has already won the automation tools. Therefore, in this article, we will be providing you the best online resources for Selenium and the learning curve path to pass the exam.
However, before we start discussing the top online courses, let’s have a bird’s eye view about what Selenium actually is, followed by the demand for Selenium.
Understanding Selenium
Selenium is a free (open source) electronic testing suite for web applications across different browsers and platforms. Nevertheless, it is similar to HP Quick Test Pro (QTP now UFT). However, Selenium focuses on automating web applications. Testing done using the Selenium tool is usually referred to as Selenium Testing.
Selenium is not just a single tool but a suite of software, wherein each caters to different testing needs of an organization. It has four components –
- Firstly, Selenium Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
- Secondly, Selenium Remote Control (RC)
- Thirdly, WebDriver
- Lastly, Selenium Grid
Demand for Selenium
The demand for Selenium Web Testers is on the constant rise, and it is only going to increase in the future exponentially. Selenium rose to become the most popular of all web testing tools, with a humongous 300 percent growth in terms of job postings during the previous three years.
Moreover, the benefits of Selenium are immense which has made Selenium one of the most demanded and popular tools. Here are some of the top reasons which will help you understand the ever-increasing demand for selenium. So, let get started.
Firstly, Selenium is an Open Source/ Free Tool
First things first, selenium enjoys the advantage of being an open-source tool. In other words, anyone can make access to this tool, that too free of cost. The tool is often employed by any type of organization to test their website or web application. In comparison to Selenium, other similar testing tools are either licensed tools or their functionality isn’t nearly as good as it. For example, Test Complete, IBM’s RFT, HP’s QTP, Ranorex Case. Selenium is the fair and square winner in terms of features in comparison with other testing tools.
Secondly, Selenium demands no particular OS / Browser or Hardware
Subsequently, the next great advantage Selenium offers is that the user does not require any kind of distinctive OS or browser or hardware to run the Selenium tool. That is to say, a user neither requires a system with 16GB RAM or high HDD nor a Mac OS or Windows OS or Linux OS. A user can test any website (which s/he wishes to test) on any browser, be it Firefox, or Google Chrome, or Internet Explorer, or Safari or even Opera. Therefore, to work with this tool is as easy to use it.
Thirdly, Selenium supports multiple Programming Languages
Last but not the least, the most important factor which any programmer seeks is to get into the Automation Testing world that supports multiple programming languages. There is a vast availability of tools in the marketplace which requires the learners to be expertise in one particular programming language. The most common scripting languages incorporate Java C#, VBScript, etc. which is the requirement by various tools.
However, in the case of Selenium, even if its user is an expert in only one of these languages, which means that s/he can start their career with any other language. For example PHP or Pearl or Python or Java etc.
Tools of the Trade
Like every other certification, you are required to have a certain set of skills in your repertoire. To begin with, you need to be competent with manual testing skills. Moreover, you are required to have a thorough understanding as well as coding skills in C#, Python, Java, Perl, SQL, XML as well as HTML and CSS.
Besides these kills, there are some technical skills which you must possess to become an automation testing engineer:
- Firstly, Test architecture.
- Secondly, Test design.
- Thirdly, Performance testing.
- Subsequently, Configuration management.
- Further, Manual testing agility and interaction.
- Moreover, communication between teams.
- After this, Troubleshooting.
- Lastly, Agile, DevOps, and continuous delivery.
The blend of all of the aforementioned skills can help you pass through to automated testing easily and smoothly. However, the question arises that which certification will best match your requirements.
Therefore in the next section, we will be taking you to the top online resources to learn selenium, provided that it matches best with your requirements.
Which Selenium Certification to choose?
Certifications have found its way in almost every industry. The reason being, certifications are helpful to advance the career. Not to mention it allows candidates to evaluate their skills and knowledge. Moreover, these work as a recognition of their competency and shows your commitment towards your profession.
There are various certification bodies that offer certification in selenium. Therefore, you may find various training institutes that offer the same. However, don’t get lured by them. Now, understand and keep this in mind that there are only a few who are widely accepted. So, make sure you make your choice wisely.
In order to make things easier for you, we are providing you with the list of certification bodies that we highly recommend. Let’s get started then,
Vskills – India’s Largest Certification Body
Vskills is India’s largest Assessment Body which works on the principle to improve the scope for professional certification and academic testing mechanism. Moreover, Vskills Certification helps enrich your profile –
- Improving relevance and applicability
- Helps to build confidence and self-accomplishment
- Improves marketability
- Hike in salary
- Further improved academic recognition
Edureka
It is an e-learning platform that helps professionals learn trending technologies for career growth.
Udemy
Udemy is an online learning and teaching marketplace. Moreover, it turns your current online courses into certification courses.
Simplilearn
It is another online platform that offers short-term online training courses to help professionals get certified and get ahead.
Coursera
This is an American learning platform. They do provide some free courses. Moreover, they provide professional certificates.
Top Online Resources to Learn Selenium
People often waste an ample amount of time finding a good deal and learning a topic if they are not provided guidance about what is truly important about the topic. As a result, they start their quest for the most adequate and authentic resources online. However, you don’t have the entire time in the universe to prepare for the exam. Therefore, we have rounded up some of the highest-rated and most popular online resources to keep you on the right track to test automation.
Online Tutorials
First things first, there are various online tutorials present over the internet to study from. Vskills – India’s Largest Certification Body offers highest-rated and expert tutorials and a must-go-to source for testers. It provides free online tutorials with hundreds of practice tests. In order to turn you from a beginner to a Selenium automation pro, these sequential tutorials cover everything. No matter if you follow the order or not, these Selenium tutorials are a great page to bookmark and go back to if you get stuck.
Take Practice Tests
Practice tests or mock tests give you an accurate insight into where you stand. So, make sure you go through tests only after you are done with the whole syllabus. All the sample papers are devised in such a way that you meet the real exam environment. Further, performing practice or mock tests help you find your strengths and weaknesses. Start shaping your career with the Selenium practice test now!
Online Resources
In addition, Twitter is again a great online resource to indulge in. There is no denying the fact that many people have been in your shoes before and even the most skilled automation engineers had to start somewhere. The good news for you is that most of them are very active on Twitter and constantly share their tips, tricks, and advice when it comes to testing automation. So be sure to check them out and give them a follow.
Discussion Forums and Conferences
Last but not the least, there is no better way to learn from the experiences of people that actually use Selenium than by going to an in-person conference and joining discussion forums. Therefore, the Selenium Conference is the place to be if you want to make your way into test automation.
Career Opportunities
The possibility of job opportunities in Selenium Testing is very high for skilled professionals. They are prevalent in both Indian as well as markets abroad.
So, here is a list of Top Recruiters that would hire you–
Selenium Job Roles
Selenium’s job roles vary from company to company, ranging from a mobile development company to a web application development company. Moreover, your experience in the industry matters when it comes to undertaking a specific Selenium job role.
A job at selenium might entail the following roles
- Automation Engineer
- Tester
- Senior Quality Engineer
- Mobile Testing Leaf
- Java Selenium AutomationEngineer
- Test Analyst
- Senior QA Automation Engineer
- Software Development Test Engineer
Average Salary
Let us now talk about how Selenium’s job salaries vary with respect to different companies, the number of years of experience in the industry, and the skill set of an employee. Among these, skill sets and experience aspects matter the most in the automation testing field as they define the variation in job salary among employees even within a company.
In India, the average pay scale of Selenium Automation Test Engineers is around 442k and the Senior Automation Engineer salary scales up to 800k per year. Interestingly, there is no upper limit to these figures.
There is always a huge chance for an increase in salary with an increase in one’s industry experience. Moreover, it is important to remember that there is no shortcut to experience, which means that one has to keep himself/herself indulged in this field to grab a lucrative career. It can be said that Selenium Testers can have towering growth throughout their careers. Starting as trainees, they can always grab new skill sets to upgrade themselves, look forward to senior positions and, thus, succeed in their career path.
Expert’s Corner
To conclude, the need for Selenium Web Testing has become one of the most integral parts of many businesses. Whenever there is a discussion about web testing tools, Selenium is surely one of the best in the field to help developers with automation testing. There has been a significant rise in the demands over the past few years, which has created Selenium as the only perfect option for automated website testing.
IT professionals generally require a lesser time to grasp than a non-IT professional. However, if you have an interest and a compulsive desire in software testing, then acing the Selenium will be a breeze for you, despite the technical differences. Remember, transforming your knowledge with the right learning resource is as important as the selection of the right online resource. Therefore, make sure you go through the blog rigorously and study hard to pass the exam.
Gain all the necessary skills and bag big salaries with advanced learning skills and expert tutorials on Selenium. Prepare and become a Certified Selenium Professional Now!
