The blueprint that took me from Junior QA to Test Manager

Last week I posted about 5 Levels of a tester’s career on Linkedin.

It was received well. Many testers at various levels of career contacted me. They discussed their challenges and asked for the solutions.

I generalised the challenges and solutions.

Now, in this article, I will provide the details. So that you can grow in your career.

Testing career transformation blueprint

What testers think and what is reality

Most of you think your career growth looks like this:

• Learn more tools → Get promotion
• Work hard → Get recognition
• Wait for opportunities → Hope for best !

Reality is something different.

Here is the formula:

Career growth = Technical skills + Business impact + Visibility

And the good testers know about this.

I will try to break it down for you here.

The technical skills that really matter

In my 20 years experience and mentoring 100+ juniors, here is my observation:

There are multiple tiers of skills.

They are:

Tier 1 : Foundation (Must have skills)

• Strong functional testing fundamentals
• Risk based testing approach
• Good bug reporting and communication
• Understanding of SDLC / Agile methodologies

Tier 2 : Differentiators (Nice to have)

• Automated testing skills
• Performance testing
• Bug advocacy
• API testing basics

Tier 3 : Leadership enablers (Game changers)

• Test strategy design
• Reporting what matters to leaders
• Mentoring juniors
• Process improvement skills

What I have seen is, most of the testers focus on Tier 2 skills.

They chase new tools, focus on programming skills-and never think beyond that.

I have an interesting observation too. Testers with the combination of Tier 1 and Tier 3 skills grow quickly than testers with Tier 2.

Business impact framework

I have designed a 4-step framework.

This is to help the testers stuck at Tier-2.

Here is the framework.

Step 1 : Translate testing language to business language

You need to advocate the importance and impact of testing to the leaders.

I will give an example.

Instead of saying ‘We have automated 80% of test cases’, say ‘We have reduced the regression cycle time from 5 days to 5 hrs’.

Step 2 : Represent your effort in numbers

Quantify your work.

Here are some of the example:

• Time saved through new testing process
• Reduced number of customer reported bugs
• Reduced test case design time
• Cost savings by using open source tools

Step 3 : Align your team’s goals to business goals

Your individual goals should be aligned to the team’s goals.

And the team’s goals should be aligned to your company’s goals.

Here are few of the examples:

• Customer satisfaction scores
• Revenue targets
• Go-to market timings
• Use of AI to increase the productivity

Step 4 : Speak with leaders in their language

Leaders like to talk in their language.

So practice this.

Some of the examples are :

• Risk management
• Cost savings
• Resource utilization
• Customer experience

Visibility of your work and capabilities

You have required skills.

You have also made the business impact — at your own capacity. But something is lacking.

That is visibility.

You need to get noticed by the top leaders.

That visibility can be within the company or outside the company.

Internal visibility

• Share testing insights in the meeting
• Write in the internal blogs or wiki pages
• Mentor the juniors
• Volunteer for cross functional projects

External visibility

It is not enough if you have visibility within your company.

You need to build your brand out in the public.

Here is what you can do:

• Share your learnings in Linkedin
• Contribute to testing communities
• Speak in the meetups/webinars
• Write articles in your blog or other’s blogs

Note: If you are wondering how to take initiatives and get visibility, I have a written a Playbook for you. You can get it here

Common mistakes & how to avoid

I have seen testers making mistakes.

I will give you the most common mistakes testers make. Also, you will see my opinion on how to avoid them.

Mistake 1:Test case execution is testing

How to avoid:

Test case execution is only 1% of testing. Testing is much more than test case running.

It is a craft. You need to develop it. Learn test design techniques, explore the product and experiment with it, think from the user’s perspective.

These are only the fundamentals to start with.

Mistake 2:My job ends when I report the bug.

How to avoid:

Actually your job starts when you report the bug. You need to check with the developers if they understood it, ask if they need any further details, ask the product /project manager what is the priority and state the impact of bugs on the product.

Mistake 3:Tools obsession.

How to avoid:

Do not chase tools. Especially the automation tools. In doing so, you lose the business context. Use them as only the ‘tools’.

Do not depend on them. Your brain is your primary and important tool.

Over to you

I have explained to you based on my experience in testing.

Now, it is your job to use this as the resource to learn, implement and grow.

Start implementing my framework. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are stuck somewhere.

Let’s Connect

Comment and tell me:

1. Which career level are you at right now?
2. What’s your biggest challenge in moving to the next level?
3. What topic should I cover next?

I read and respond to every comment.

Need 1:1 guidance? Book a call with me :

Keep testing, keep growing,

Jayateerth
[Test Manager & Career Growth Mentor]

P.S. Forward this article to a tester friend who’s looking to level up their career. They’ll thank you for it.

Connect with me:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayateerth-katti-10103a14
• Email: [email protected]
• Mentoring: https://topmate.io/jayateerth_katti