I was doing quality assurance manual testing for 10 years, but my current job may be coming to an end and now it seems all anyone wants is automated testing.

11 Comments

1. Rachel ScaerJuly 25,2023 at 2:19PM UTC

   Im a tester with very little automation experience on the job hunt, so i've seen the same stuff. The demand has gone up so much in just a couple years. There are still some manual testing roles so keep your eyes out. If you have a little free time and a computer, you can probably teach yourself a little python and have some basic programming skills to put on your resume. I've also had luck telling jobs that I would like to expand my skills and learn automation on the job. You definitely don't need classes to learn how to program, there's lots of tutorials online. Hope this helps, I know it's a tough situation to be in.

2. JustineJuly 26,2023 at 7:21PM UTC

   Thank you for replying too. Not so sure about Python but so many of the QA roles require Selenium. I tried to learn Selenium several years ago but found it hard to learn….or maybe it was the teacher that couldn’t seem to answer questions that us students posed. I started a Selenium course online recently but just setting it up seems overwhelming. This might reflect the bad class from years ago. Somehow, I had the idea there were programs out there that used pseudo code to set up automation but those seem to have disappeared too. If there would be any way to learn selenium in a week, that might help. I’m just running out of time.

3. Barb HansenJuly 25,2023 at 11:11PM UTC

   Would you feel comfortable working for an automated testing company doing something other than testing?

   Perhaps customer service or account management could be good fits for you where your experience in testing in general would make you a great asset to an automated testing company (without you having to learn to code automated testing scripts)

4. JustineJuly 26,2023 at 7:18PM UTC

   Thank you for replying. In my last position I analyzed requirements, created test plans, wrote tests, tested, logged defects, and used simple SQL to fetch testing data. A lot of what I did felt like what business analysts do but many of those require coding, automation knowledge or code design. I can learn applications well but not so good at coding. Or at least not confident and 10 years not doing coding in classes doesn’t help. After reading some of those requirements….gee wiz…I thought I could have written them much better with good illustrations using my graphic design experience. But I’m getting the impression that everyone has to Java code or die.

   I don’t’ think I would handle customer service very well as I am at a point were dealing with cranky people that customer service frequently deal with, would get me down too much. I’m looking into business analyst, project management and project owner. It’s very hard finding something possible for me. If only companies were willing to train.

5. Barb HansenJuly 27,2023 at 1:39AM UTC

   It's understandable that you don't want to land in Customer Service, although Account Management might be an option for you where you would get to help existing customer make the most of their QA tools.

   BA might also be an option (as you said) where you would be able to help a company make the most of their data and discover new business opporunities and features hidden in their data.

   Project management is a whole thing, where some companies require certification (which can take years to obtain) and most companies require experience.

   Product Owner/manager (you said project owner but I'm sure that was just a typing-to-quickly mistake), is an option. You can teach ourself Product (although some companies require certification), and you're experience in your industry would certainly help you be a better product person. I'm a product person, and I'm a fan of Product, but I will warn you that a lot of product work is not like the glamourous "product people are the CEOs of the product" because a lot of product work is "we are the step-mothers of the product - lots of diverse work to do without a lot of glory or ability to control anyone else but so rewarding when it's all done" type of work. If you are stimulated by different types of work, interacting with different types of people (marketing, sales, developers, customers, executives), and you have a talent to influence people without needing to have direct management authority of what they do daily product may be a good fit for you.

   Ping me if you want to chat about Product, I'm happy to share what I know.

6. Teresa BaileyJuly 27,2023 at 12:20PM UTC

   Can you do your QA work as a consultant/contractor instead (1099 not w2)? You wouldn’t have benefits, but possibly you can charge enough to make up for most of them. Some companies have different budgets for ft hired vs contractors, making it more desirable. Look on sites like hired.com, which help tech folks find contract (and ft) jobs.

7. Kellie BrabecJuly 27,2023 at 2:42PM UTC

   If you're in an industry such as Healthcare or FinTech - you could pivot your experience and skills from a QA to a Business Analyst type role - helping teams define what they need to build and determining the requirements to make sure they're accurate - especially in a Test Driven Development environment.

   Source - Did that :)

8. AnonymousJuly 27,2023 at 5:06PM UTC

   You could find someone in your field who will mentor you on the automation tools. Alternatively the companies that make them often have videos to view that could help or you could attend some meetups where others can show you how. There is no magic wand to make you more relevant when your skills fall short take a limited time to learn what is newer and you will release what you are feeling and perhaps make some more money in doing so.

9. Karen PittsJuly 28,2023 at 6:54AM UTC

   Depends on the company the company I'm at now the QA group doesn't do any coding but familiarity with coding could help since they review our automated test plans. We also still do some manual testing for mainly for user interfaces and mechanical stuff but it still happens at some companies so don't loose hope. I'm at a medical device company and do a lot of Software Verification Testing and some Hardware Verification Testing.

10. Mandy FoxJuly 29,2023 at 5:25PM UTC

    Hello! I'm a QA professional with over 20 years experience and currently a QA Manager for a group of manual testers. I have worked my way up from help desk, have a few years of automation, bu most of my time has been in manual testing. Yes, automation is on the rise, but there will always be a need for manual testers. There is some gig work and remote work around. Do you have any recruiters that you could reach out to? Do you have any interest in learning an API testing tool like Postman or debugging tool like Charles? If these ideas are not what you want to do, perhaps look for positions that list UAT testing which is focused on business use cases.

11. AnonymousJuly 29,2023 at 5:45PM UTC

    Oh boy, can I relate! I've done manual testing for 15 years, and that profession has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaur. IF you find a manual position any more, it's likely to be short-term temp/contract, paying just above minimum wage. If you want to stay in QA, it's adapt or die. Plus, even if you learn automation, AI is coming down the road FAST and QA is going to be the first IT department it decimates. Since you only need a couple more years to retirement, as do I, I'd suggest biting the bullet and getting up to speed, at least basic familiarity, with SQL and Selenium at the minimum. I found some very inexpensive and easily digestible courses in both on Udemy, and they offer certificates you can post on LinkedIn upon course completion. Just having basic skills will get you in the door, then as noplace uses any software the same way, you can get up to speed on the job as long as you know your basic way around. It's either that or try to figure out a career change at this stage in your life. If you have the financial wherewithal to afford to jump into a passion project and hopefully make a living at it, then by all means do, but unfortunately things are moving at warp speed in the IT world and if you want to stay in it til the end, upskilling is the only answer. I'm in your same boat too and I'm not happy about our options either, but this boat is sinking and sadly it's either learn to swim or starve. Good luck!