For the last ~5 years I’ve been handling repetitive transaction workflows manually as part of my job. Recently I started automating parts of the process and realized how much efficiency improvement is possible.
So far I’ve automated:
– end-to-end transaction flow through a mobile app
– opening admin web panels
– navigating to counter entry sections
– filling voucher details automatically
– submitting entries
Currently working on automating approval workflows next.
This experience made me very interested in automation more broadly, especially QA/test automation or workflow automation roles. I’d like to understand whether this type of experience is considered relevant when transitioning toward automation-focused positions and what skills/tools I should prioritize next.
Would really appreciate guidance from people working in test automation roles.
It would definitely be relevant experience! Whether you’re automating checks or “just” creating tools, there’s lots of transferrable skills you can pick up.
Some things to think about:
Don’t just focus on learning tools; learn also about infrastructure, test architecture, and foundational principles of good checks (a bad check automated is just a faster way to do something poorly)
Learn about things like how to decide what to automate, dealing with flaky tests, and large-scale test suites
Good hiring people know that the actual tools / languages don’t make a big difference, as they can be learned, but if you want to know what to start with / what would give you even more relevant experience, find out what other teams or projects in your organisation are using and why, and definitely take a look at job descriptions in your location / industry of interest to see what’s being asked for most frequently, as this can have a big impact
Agree, it’s an option. but like with any change, you have to really work at it.
Testing is more than just about “checking”. It’s also about exploration and discovery and working in an often unstructured space but in a structured way towards a goal that you can see, but nobody else seems to. Testing is about being careful with meanings and words. The entire space of “testing” is often a workflow, but also requires you are able to explain incorrect outcomes and help the team strategize ways to not just fix the incorrect outcomes, but also to prevent future ones. and I guess this concept of being able to “see” the past and the future of the product under test is what separates general quality from the simpler task of finding bugs 5 days a week. A tester finds bugs, but also learns to hunt, and learns to also prevent bugs.
I suspect a lot of the experience you have already, will translate, mostly around how you future-proof and how you scale. But you will have to learn new tools, because business workflow tools are not the same as test tools, they are very different beasts, they are more “fragile”, but also more powerful. Good luck.