Software testing is becoming more critical as the proportion of our economic activity that is dependent on software (and often very complex software) continues to grow. There seems to be a slowly growing understanding of the importance of software testing (though it still remains an under-appreciated area). My belief is that skilled software testers will be appreciated more with time and that the opportunities for expert software testers will expand.

Here are a few career tips for software testers.

Read what software testing experts have written. It's surprising how few software testers have read books and articles about software testing.Here are some authors (of books, articles and blogs) that I've found particularly useful. Feel free to suggest other software testing authors in the comments.

James Bach

Cem Kaner

Lisa Crispin

Michael Bolton

Lanette Creamer

Jerry Weinberg

Keith Klain

James Whittaker - posts while at Google and his posts with his new employer, Microsoft

Pradeep Soundararajan

Elisabeth Hendrickson

Ajay Balamurugadas

Matt Heusser

our own, Justin Hunter

Join the community You'll learn a lot as a lurker, and even more if you interact with others. Software Testing Club is one good option. Again, following those experts (listed above) is useful; engaging with them on their blogs and on Twitter is better. The software testing community is open and welcoming. In addition, see: 29 Testers to Follow on Twitter and Top 20 Software Testing Tweeps. Interacting with other testers who truly care about experimenting, learning, and sharing lessons learned is energizing.

Develop your communication skills Communication is critical to a career in software testing as it is to most professional careers. Your success will be determined by how well you communicate with others. Four critical relationship are with: software developers, your supervisors, users of the software and other software testers.Unfortunately in many organizations, managers and corporate structures restrict your communication with some of these groups. You may have to work with what you are allowed, but if you don't have frequent, direct communication with those four groups, you won't be able to be as effective.

Work on developing your communication skills. Given the nature of software testing two particular types of communication - describing problems ("what is it?") and explaining how significant problem is ("why should we fix it?") - are much more common than in many other fields. Learning how to communicate these things clearly and without making people defensive is of extra importance for software testers.

A great deal of your communication will be in writing and developing your ability to communicate clearly will prove valuable to your continued growth in your career.

Writing your own blog is a great way to further you career. You will learn a great deal by writing about software testing. You will also develop your writing ability merely by writing more. And you will create a personal brand that will grown your network of contacts. It also provides a way for those possibly interested in hiring you to learn more. We all know hiring is often done outside the job announcement - job application process. By making a name for yourself in the software testing community you will increase the chances of being recruited for jobs.

Do what you love You career will be much more rewarding if you find something you love to do. You will most likely have parts of your job you could do without but finding something you have a passion for makes all the difference in the world. If you don't have a passion for software testing, you are likely better off finding something you are passionate about and pursuing a career in that field.

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.

Steve Jobs

Practice and learn new techniques and ideas. James Bach provides such opportunities. Also the Hexawise tool, lets you easily and quickly try out different scenarios and learn by doing. We also provide guided training, help and webcasts explaining software testing concepts and how to apply them using Hexawise.We include a pathway that guides you through the process of learning about software testing, with learning modules, practical experience and tests along the way to make sure you learn what is important. And once you reach the highest level and become a Hexawise guru we have offer a community experience to allow all those reaching that level to share their experience and learn from each other.

Go to good software testing conferences.I've heard great things about CAST (by the Association for Software Testing), Test Bash, and Let's Test in particular. Going to conferences is energizing because while you're there, you're surrounded by the minority of people in this industry who are passionate about software testing. Justin, Hexawise founder and CEO, will be presenting at CAST next week, August 26-28 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Related: Software Testing and Career Advice by Keith Klain - Looking at the Empirical Evidence for Using Pairwise and Combinatorial Software Testing - Maximizing Software Tester Value by Letting Them Spend More Time Thinking