[locopati]

The needs for good software testers are greater now than they've ever been. There's more software, there's higher demand for fast turnaround and agile production code. Big companies still don't devote enough resources to testing so anyone who can make a lot out of a little is highly valued.

If you enjoy software testing (and not everyone does), but if you really do enjoy it, become more technical. Read books - anything by James Whittaker, for example. If you want to focus on web applications: learn Selenium in-and-out (it's the best around for testing webapps); learn Ruby to drive Selenium (Java also works, but for speedier scripting and turnaround, I think Ruby is better); learn how the web works (HTTP and what goes on under the hood) and understand web services (RESTful architecture versus SOAP versus RPC) and how to test web services (easier than applications, really).

If you're not into web applications, follow the same pattern: testing tools, language to automate those tools, domain knowledge.