I’m facing a bit of a dilemma in my career as a software tester. I’ve noticed that most job listings these days are emphasizing the need for automation experience, and unfortunately, I don’t have any yet. To make matters more challenging, many of these job openings are for senior roles. While I like to think that I make up for my lack of experience with enthusiasm and a strong willingness to learn and adapt, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed.
How can I bridge the gap between my current skill set and the demand for automation experience in the industry?
Should I pursue additional training and certifications in automation, or is there a way to demonstrate my value as a tester despite my current lack of automation skills?
I want to make the right career moves, but I’m uncertain about the best path forward.
I am in a similar boat. Ive been testing software for decades, but Ive always found myself in positions where Im organizing the quality efforts and creating cases through exploratory testing more than having much to do with automation. Even to the point where I was directing automation engineers and making decisions about automation. So I understand the role of automation and what good automation looks like. But Ive not had to actually sit down and code up tests and stand up a framework. Its a gap and its meant this round of job hunting is taking longer.
A couple things I have been doing:
Ive been getting into the courses I can find on Cypress. Its a very popular framework and tool. Its super easy to get stood up and start writing tests. Test Automation Uninversity has some good courses that are free and you can hook up with a discord run by one of the instructors.
Ive been coding up my own tests and going through all the same motions I would as a developer with the code on GitHub. I puprosely put in a lot of commentary about what Im doing, why Im choosing the tactic in the code and what is going wrong and how I solve it. Its serving two purposes: it is a crib sheet or reference for my use in other projects. It will also serve as a portfolio that I can show to employers.
Also - I dont try to “fake it til I make it” in interviews. Im up front and clear: I have a heap of experience and knowledge about quality software. I do indeed lack experience in the actual authoring of coded tests. I point out that I am gaining skill in at least one framework and language. so if they are willing to give me some runway, I will come up to speed.
hopefully that gives you some ideas? Its easy to get lost in the plethora of tools, frameworks and languages. So I suggest choosing one and going all in on it. Otherwise you get too scattered.
Do you want to stay in Sofware development? there are other domains where one could work with some simple certifications and networking.
Do you want to stay in Testing? other products require testing also and there too they ask for lots of experience(technical, electrical, hardware, chemical, medical etc…)
Do you want to remain in software testing? - many other roles are available; you won’t have experience in them either, similar to automation; but you might be able to use some thinking patterns, and models from testing;
Do you still want to do testing? In very few places there’s still testing being done. When they do, professional testing takes 10-20% of the time only.
Do you want to maybe grow through testing? Into quality engineering, quality/testing management - there’s less testing involved there, but you get to drive change and motivate people.
Are you sure full-time automation in testing is something you’d want to/like to do? it’s a completely different job from software testing; I’m doing it from time to time and although I like the challenge of coding and finding solutions to difficult technical problems, it’s not the most motivating.
Do you like your current workplace? Do you have a broad network or good connections with people? You can try some internal role change and work a few years in another area.
How mobile are you? There might still be interesting positions for software testing in various parts of the globe. So following this career might mean moving.
Yea it can all be a bit overwhelming when you compare yourself to job specs and some people on the likes of LinkedIn.
My advice would be to start with something that actually helps in your current role. Pick something repetitive that you can automate, this could be as simple as getting log files from servers using a python/shell script. Start by using something like ChatGBT by explaining the problem. The output might be a bit overwhelming initially but working through something that will make your life much easier in the long run does help the process.
Or if you are using something like Postman get experience using newman which can help automate and potentially move the tests into a CI setup.
Or pick an area of testing that is weak in your team / company e.g. performance testing. There are a tonne of good resources for training in tools.