15/12/2022
I am an accomplished Functional Tester. But, I am being looked at as "half-empty". How can I fix this?
Audience: Experienced functional testers (aka SMEs, aka Manual Testers) with 5+ years of experience who feel that they are left behind.
Let us admit that feeling. It is natural and human to feel low, indeed very low, when the career is not progressing, promotions are held back for years, job switch not working or even worse, not started. In general, it goes as follows :
"I am doing good at the workplace. I am the SME for the suite of apps. Go-to person for release testing, production nights etc. I get at least 2 to 3 customer appreciations every year. My job does not need anything technical. Whenever it needs, I write simple SQLs or macros to get that done. Beyond that, there are developers who helped me, still helping me and we are a team!
But, my year-end reviews 2 to 3 years in row now, makes me feel, I am incomplete despite my accomplishments. To be precise, I have DONE all that I have been asked to and appreciated too, for those.
The "gap" pointed out is that I am not technical. I am not able to automate those test cases of Sanity Test Suite! It seems unfair.
If the above were true in one way or another, read on. Yes, the world has changed - it is Digital Era! We have to be more than what we were. What does that mean? A 75+ year old got to learn how to use smart phones and make payments thru GPay or book Uber.
To become something it is effort and it goes thru a process.
1. Visualize what you want to be.
This does not mean that a Functional Tester should only become a Automation Engineer. She can also become UX specialist. He can become a Cloud or DevOps Engineer. Why not a Program Manager?
2. Assess your skills and potential to get to that role
For instance, you have decided to take up automation. First you need to assess your technical bent. This means, that you can code. Not necessarily you need to be a code warrior but the likeness to live with programming.
Here is the catch or that Catch 22. How can I assess myself before I enroll to a program? Isn't that a waste of time and money to discover that later? Here is where you need to either do some homework on your own - such as trying out snippet codes or choose a Transformation Partner, who works out an easy exit without taxing your time and money.
3. Work out the transformation roadmap
Sure you heard of this - "Rome was not built in a day". It is the same with humans trying to become someone - a dancer, an athlete or a programmer.
You got the Driving License, but can you drive confidently? Training will get completed in 2-3 months. You are likely to forget what you have learnt in the next 2-3 months.
To keep and hone your skills you learnt to the point where you are confident of applying in your job or in your next role either of these two MUST happen. You moved to that new role where day in and day out you are applying the skills you learnt or fitted the tail-end of your program with some internship. The internship can be a self constructed project also, not necessarily one with your training institute.
