Job posts for this role ask most for Selenium and Playwright to test web screens, Java or Python to write the tests, REST Assured and Postman for API testing, JMeter for performance testing, and Appium for mobile apps. The full story of what each skill is used for is on the skills page.

Among product companies, test engineers are hired most where a fault would be costly, or where the software runs on hardware that has to be tested by hand as well as by code. Almost all of these are B2B companies, though the consumer apps hire testers too.

The largest hiring hotspot is Cybersecurity, where a missed bug is a hole for attackers. Akamai, F5, Zscaler and Netskope test their network security, firewalls and SASE products, and Okta, SentinelOne, Trellix and Barracuda test login, device and email protection (who they hire). At Dell, HPE, NetApp, Cohesity and Cisco, much of the testing is embedded work on servers, storage and network equipment. NVIDIA and AMD test their chips the same way, and Red Hat and Canonical test their operating systems. In payments, Mastercard, Visa, ACI Worldwide and Worldpay test the card networks and payment processing systems that card payments run on, mostly through API testing. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, CME Group and ICE test the systems that settle trades, exchanges, clearing and trading platforms.

Healthtech and life sciences hires test engineers more heavily than any other part of the product world, because medical software is tested under strict rules. Medtronic, Align Technology and Stryker, which are medical device makers, test their devices, and GE HealthCare and Philips test the software for medical imaging and radiology AI, taking juniors readily (who they hire). Thermo Fisher Scientific and Agilent test lab instruments. Veeva Systems and eClinical Solutions test clinical trial software, and they are open to juniors. Dexcom tests the devices for remote patient monitoring (RPM). Inovalon and HealthEdge test claims software, one of the few places where manual testing is still a large part of the work.

Industrial tech and mobility is where testing means hardware. HARMAN, Visteon and Cerence test automotive infotainment systems on real car systems, and Solera, Tekion and CDK Global test the software for car dealer software and used-car marketplaces. Among the companies in manufacturing tech, Caterpillar, Aspen Technology, Autodesk and Rockwell Automation test industrial software and machines. Electrolux, Logitech and Whirlpool test smart home appliances and consumer electronics. KLA, Applied Materials and Lam Research test their chip manufacturing and test equipment, and they take juniors more readily than most.

A few more pockets are worth knowing. Wolters Kluwer hires many testers, almost all for automation, for the lawyer's research desk. BrowserStack, LambdaTest and AlgoShack build software testing platforms that other testers use. Among the consumer apps, Swiggy and Instamart test food and grocery delivery apps, Poshmark and OLX test resale apps, and Priceline and Headout test travel booking, and all of them take juniors readily. HackerRank and Intervue.io test their hiring platforms, and Light & Wonder tests casino and lottery games, both open to juniors. Business-process software and the chip designers hire few testers.

Among the GCCs, test engineers check the parent's own software, and a few centres exist mainly to test it.

Inside the logistics operators and distributors, UPS runs a whole testing centre in India, and it is the strongest hiring hotspot for testers in the market. FedEx, Cardinal Health and DHL hire testers too. The banks hire nearly as many test engineers as the logistics centres. Inside the banks and financial institutions, NatWest Group, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and HSBC test the bank's wider systems, and JPMorganChase and Societe Generale test new platforms (who they hire). Inside the media, entertainment and publishing groups, Fox, Comcast and News Corp test streaming and mobile apps. Inside the insurers, MetLife and The Standard hire testers above most GCCs. The retailers, healthcare companies and manufacturers hire few, because their engineers test their own code. More on testing across the GCCs is in the GCCs' test hiring.

In the services world, testers check clients' systems rather than a product of their own. Accenture has many testing openings, mostly mid-level automation, though testing is a small part of its hiring (who they hire). The IT services giants, like Wipro, Infosys, IBM and TCS, hire many testers too.

The testing specialists in the specialist firms built around one skill, like Qualitest, AQM Technologies and QualityKiosk, hire testers more heavily than any other services firms. Testing is their whole business, more of it is manual, and they are open to juniors. Where the work is hardware, cars and chips, engineering-services firms like Quest Global, NeST Digital and L&T Technology Services hire them heavily for device and embedded testing (who they hire). Mid-sized IT services firms, like Virtusa, Birlasoft and UST, hire many testers as well. BPO and KPO firms, like Sutherland, TransPerfect and Conduent, test mobile apps and devices. The consulting arms and the services firms that feel like product companies hire few. More on all of them is in the services world's test hiring.

Big tech hires few test engineers, because its engineers test their own code. Amazon has the most testing openings, for its retail site, and they are open to juniors (who they hire). Apple has a few openings, and testing is a real part of what it hires for in India. Microsoft and Google hardly hire any.

The hiring platforms, like Uplers, hackajob, Weekday AI and Crossover, offer remote automation work for companies abroad, and they are among the most open places in the market for a junior tester (who they hire). The staffing companies, like Recro, People Prime Worldwide and Golden Opportunities, place testers with clients.

Test engineers are rarely hired by big tech, by the business-process software makers or the chip designers, or by the GCCs of retailers, healthcare companies and manufacturers. Among the services firms, the consulting arms and the firms that build products for clients hire few.