I want to pivot my career, am I being unrealistic?

[jayistesting (Jay)]

I want to find a remote QA engineer position outside Korea while living in Korea.
Am I chasing something unrealistic?

Here’s a bit of background. I worked as a frontend web developer for a year and I realized I enjoy finding bugs more than building features. Reproducing issues whether by following typical user behavior or edge cases was really fun. Reporting bugs and helping improve the product made me feel like I was contributing something meaningful, which is why I decided to transition into QA engineering.

I’m currently based in South Korea, where the QA market doesn’t seem very strong and compensation is relatively low. However, I’m a dual US-Korea citizen, so I’m eligible for US jobs. The challenge is finding roles that allow me to work from Korea due to time zone differences and tax considerations.

I’ve heard about companies using EoR (Employer of Record), but I haven’t come across many that actually do. I’m open to working for companies from any country, as long as I can work within a Korea-friendly time zone.

Am I being unrealistic, or is this actually achievable?

[andrewkelly2555 (Andrew)]

Its likely to be highly competitive where you would need to stand out against potentially hundreds of other applicants with no downsides or odd risks on your part, often they will look for very specific skills they cannot find locally.

Doing it through a resourcing company may be an option, lower compensation, sometimes zero initially and they will likely want you to build and prove ability over time before getting chosen for better jobs. Sometimes these recruiters may skip testing skill and select based on fluent English and great communication skills.

I could be wrong but I doubt this is a straight forward path, particularly in a market that is already very challenging .

[jayistesting (Jay)]

@andrewkelly2555

Its likely to be highly competitive where you would need to stand out against potentially hundreds of other applicants with no downsides or odd risks on your part, often they will look for very specific skills they cannot find locally.

Doing it through a resourcing company may be an option, lower compensation, sometimes zero initially and they will likely want you to build and prove ability over time before getting chosen for better jobs. Sometimes these recruiters may skip testing skill and select based on fluent English and great communication skills.

I could be wrong but I doubt this is a straight forward path, particularly in a market that is already very challenging .

Thank you so much for your reply. It really helped me look at my current situation more objectively. I’ll take some time to reconsider this path and do more research on resourcing companies.

[jayistesting (Jay)]

@ansha_batra

You are definitely not being unrealistic. Remote QA roles are out there.

QA work often lends itself well to async collaboration; writing test cases, reproducing bugs, and documenting issues don’t always require being online at the same time as the dev team.

Employer of Record setups are becoming more common, especially with remote-first companies, but you’re right that not every employer uses them. If you target organizations that already have distributed teams, you’ll have a better chance of finding one that’s open to your situation.

Your background in frontend development is a huge plus; it means you understand how things are built, which makes you stronger at spotting issues. So yes, it’s achievable. It may take persistence and careful targeting, but you’re not chasing a fantasy; you’re chasing something that requires strategy and patience.

Thank you so much, Ansha! Your answer gives me hope that I may be able to find the kind of role I’m looking for. I’ll definitely look for organizations that already have distributed teams, and I’ll stay consistent with my search. I really appreciate your advice and encouragement!