In any competitive industry, it would do well to scope out what employers are searching for instead of blindly doing what we think is the best. Thanks to the internet, there are plenty of resources and platforms available to aid people in all industries and positions, there is a website or community specially crafted for you.

Sometimes, it’s easy to pinpoint what information you need but sometimes, it might be a little more difficult as industry standards are rather vague. This is especially true when you are a freelancer and have had no guidance or internship experience.

Read commercial papers

This might come as a surprise but you can find a ton of industry related information to be found on Forbes and other similar online publications. For instance, you will be able to find articles that highlight what makes a good Amazon repricing software. While you won’t come across any trade secrets, you will be able to pick up on useful nuggets of information and insider tricks.

For instance, being able to specify your niche is incredibly important to business owners. If you have a software you’re hoping to sell to a specific demographic, you need someone who knows the industry well. Bringing in someone who is well versed in cloud computing to test a mobile application is less than ideal because the tester would not know what they should be looking out for: bugs, performance, etc. Understanding your market will help bring in more work as you learn how to market yourself efficiently.

Join an online community of software developers

What do software developers need? Software testers. Once their product is ready for testing, you will have the first dibs on bidding for the opportunity to test out their software. Furthermore, embedding yourself in such a community lends its network to you. By befriending software developers, you will gain more exposure for yourself as a software tester. While you might not know anyone who is working on software that is relevant to your niche, someone you know might and you might get the job through a referral.

If you’re stuck on what websites to start on, make sure to think about your niche. It would not do for you to join a community that is completely out of your area of expertise. While it is acceptable and encouraged for you to join a community that is not specific to your skillset, you should be on the lookout for one that includes your niche, along with others that are similar or closely related.

Don’t be afraid to branch out

If you feel that your field is not doing as well as you want it to, you can always choose a different path or dedicate yourself to developing instead of limiting yourself to just being a tester. Since you already have one foot through the door, it just takes another step for you to start delving deeper into the industry of software and applications.