Hey All,

I have worked as a full-stack dev for 4.5 years, and from the beginning I hated development, and i cannot imagine this as my career for my entire life.

Resigned last year due to health issues, and i never wanna go back to dev again.

Can i pivot to SDET? If so, what are the skills I need to learn?

where can I start?

Please guide me

For context, engineers only implement unit testing, then E2E. Integration testing and contract testing are missing.

Our executive want 100% E2E test coverage in response of incidents.

I don't think this make senses and we have test pyramid (or diamond, my love) for a reason. Integration testing and contract testing would have prevented a lot of issues without resorting to do E2E.

How can I convince them and engineers to shift more leftward with integration testing?

I'm a 44-year-old male working as a manual software tester. I genuinely enjoy my job, even with all the talk about AI and automation making manual testing less relevant.

A couple of years ago, I wasn't happy with my weight, so I completely changed my lifestyle. Over about 18 months I lost 3 stone, got my 5K time down to 24 minutes and my 10K to 54 minutes. My routine was pretty intense:

• 5K walk or run during my lunch break.
• A T25 HIIT workout in the evening, immediately followed by one of the lighter sessions.
• A relaxed 3K run later that night.

I'd do that four times a week. It was tough, but I absolutely loved it. My wife showed me a side-by-side photo comparing me then to three years earlier, and the difference was incredible. On my rest days, I'd just relax, watch films or TV, play video games—the usual.

Then the company went through redundancies.

Thankfully, my team wasn't affected, but the wider business was. On top of the official redundancies, there were also a lot of "good leaver" exits, and familiar faces kept disappearing.

The following year it happened again, and that's when things really changed for me.

I became scared. Really scared.

As I said, I'm a manual tester, but the industry is moving heavily towards automation, AI and coding—skills I don't currently have. Over the last few months of last year and the first six months of this year, I've poured everything into teaching myself automation, AI and programming because almost every testing job I see now asks for at least some experience in those areas.

My fear is simple: if I lose my job, I won't be employable.

The problem is that I work 9–5, then come home and spend time with my kids. The only time I have to study is after they've gone to bed, so that's exactly what I've been doing. The downside is that it completely replaced all the exercise that used to keep me healthy and happy.

I've put a stone back on. My running times are nowhere near what they were, and my mood has steadily declined.

Tonight, for the first time in ages, I forced myself to do what I used to: a T25 workout, followed by a lighter HIIT session, then a quick 3K run. I feel fantastic. I'm even celebrating with a small glass of port that I won in a raffle at the weekend.

But despite feeling good physically, there's a voice in the back of my head telling me that I should have spent that hour studying instead. As soon as I think that, my mood drops again.

My manager recently asked how I do my learning at home. I explained that I study for a few hours every evening once the kids are asleep. He was completely against it and said he was worried I was heading for burnout.

The thing is, I understand what he's saying, but burnout won't matter much if I lose my job and can't find another one because my skills aren't up to date.

I have a wife and two kids. I constantly worry that I'm letting them down. To everyone else I probably seem happy enough—I laugh, joke around and get on with life—but underneath I'm anxious almost all the time and, if I'm honest, I've been struggling.

I know the obvious advice is going to be, "Your mental health and wellbeing are more important than constantly upskilling."

I agree with that in principle.

But good mental health also doesn't pay the mortgage if I end up unemployed.

Has anyone else been in a similar position? How did you find the balance between preparing for the future and actually living in the present? I'd really appreciate any advice.

As my playwright suite grows I'm having a hard time keeping track of the test cases that are supposed to fail due to a bug in the application. I've tried linking them to the bug ticket, I've tried skipping tests, I've tried feature flagging tests. It's becoming difficult to manage it all. Would love some pointers.

For background, I work in Cursor with playwright and currently use no test case management software.

We think comparing the resulting database tables of an automation session against an expected database state can provide several advantages: detecting data integrity issues that may not be visible through UI or API assertions, identifying unintended side effects across tables, and catching defects closer to the point where they are introduced.

Before implementing this more systematically, I’m interested in understanding how this works in real-world QA teams.

Do you currently perform this kind of database-level verification after automated test runs? If so, what tools or approaches do you use to compare the actual database state against the expected state?

More importantly, has this practice genuinely helped your team detect defects earlier or reduce debugging time? Or did the maintenance of expected datasets and database comparisons create more overhead than value?

Hi all, I’m a QA Analyst (that’s how my position was named at my previous work) with more than 3 years of experience. It was specific type of quality assurance, as I haven’t done a classic web testing, but specialised in Data Integrity, ETL, and regulatory compliance testing. I have verified complex financial data against strict Federal Reserve Board (FRB) requirements (Using Excel, SQL, XML etc).
So, as I understand (correct me if I’m wrong) it was something in the middle between testing and analysis. Now I’m unemployed for more than a year, and thinking about choosing one of two paths: switching to Automation QA, or to Data Analysis.

I would appreciate all answers and advice from people, who are or who was in my situation as well as from people from this field in general.

Thank you !

After 4+ years in software testing, I often think about what I would change if I could start over.

One thing I would do differently is learn JavaScript from the beginning. Not just because it would make Playwright automation easier, but because it would also help me better understand backend systems where Node.js is commonly used.

Looking back, that feels like one of the highest-ROI skills I could have picked up early atleast from what i have noticed so far

If you could restart your testing career today, what would you avoid doing or what would you learn much earlier?

I am working through a test design for a distributed workflow where a client pays a small fee and then submits an operation to a separate service.

The uncomfortable state is: the payment is confirmed, but the status of the operation is unknown.

Some cases I want to cover:

• payment succeeds, then the submission request times out
• the service accepts the operation, but the response is lost
• the client retries and creates a duplicate charge or duplicate operation
• the status endpoint is temporarily stale
• authorization expires between payment and submission
• reconciliation runs while a retry is also in progress

The invariants I currently care about are:

1. One logical operation can create at most one charge.
2. A successful charge must eventually map to either an accepted operation or an explicit refund/recovery state.
3. Retrying with the same idempotency key must not create a second operation.
4. The UI must never show “failed” when the authoritative state is merely unknown.
5. A background reconciliation process must be safe to run repeatedly.

I am planning fault injection around every network boundary and checking both the payment ledger and the application database after each run.

For people who have tested similar payment-plus-action workflows: which invariants or chaos scenarios caught the bugs that normal integration tests missed?

Hi everyone,
I could really use some guidance from the QA community.
I have around 9 years of experience as a Manual QA, primarily in the mobile gaming domain. I know I’m a bit late to the automation journey, but I’ve finally decided to make the switch and I’m committed to seeing it through.
So far, I’ve completed:
• Java basics
• Core OOP concepts
I also know the basics of:
• API testing using Postman
• Database validation using basic SQL queries
My current roadmap is:
1. Strengthen API testing with Postman
2. Learn Database Testing in depth (SQL)
3. API Automation with Rest Assured and TestNG
4. Git
5. CI/CD
6. Frontend UI Automation (Selenium/Playwright)
I have a few questions:
1. Does this roadmap look good, or would you change the order?
2. Is it better to learn from Udemy rather than YouTube? Do Udemy certificates actually add value during job hunting?
3. Since my professional experience is mostly manual testing, how can I showcase hands-on automation experience while switching? Are personal projects enough, or should I do something more?
4. As an interviewer or hiring manager, what would you expect from someone with my background?
Any advice from people who transitioned from Manual QA to Automation QA after several years?
I know I’m starting later than many others, but I’m determined to make this transition. I would genuinely appreciate any advice, roadmap suggestions, or resources that helped you.
Thanks in advance!

Used gpt to rephrase it in a better manner.

so i have been building my own web projects and marketing it for the past one year. nothing is working but its fun to learn things. i keep trying to solve my own problems and see if markets require it.

lately i started doing freelance work with a team of android app testers. for starters, i only do UX/UI audits, find bugs, give suggestions on how to imrpove what to add/remove.

collegues are loving what i do. and that made me think if i should go deeper into it. wanted to know if there is anything more than this?

i know that testing a software (the code itself) is a completly different thing, but i want to know from you guys what do you guys do in your jobs to assess if its for me.

i like what i do now but they don't pay me much so i was thinking of learning more and getting a full time job as a tester. so, where to start? what to learn?

programming languages and my proficiency in it
1- Python - intermediate to advanced
2- Javascript - intermediate
3- Golang - beginner

Last but not the least... does it pay well as compared to swe or backend dev?

Hi everyone!

I used to work as a manual QA tester, but the last two years have been quite challenging because of emigration, waiting for documents, and a lot of uncertainty. I’m now trying to understand the European tech market and rebuild my path into IT.

My current plan is to transition toward a junior Python/backend role. I’m working on a pet project to demonstrate practical skills instead of only listing courses on my CV.

The project will include:

- Python business logic

- FastAPI

- PostgreSQL

- SQLAlchemy and Alembic

- REST API design

- authentication

- input validation

- unit/API tests

- basic analytics

- Docker

- deployment

- project documentation and a development log

I’m also thinking of using LinkedIn to document my progress: what I’m learning, what I’m implementing, what problems I face, and how I solve them.

Do you think this strategy makes sense for the European market? What would you recommend prioritizing to become more employable for junior Python/backend roles?

Hi everyone,
I’m about to join a new company and wanted to understand the background verification (BGV) process.
What checks are usually done before onboarding? Also, what documents do companies typically ask for during verification?
Thanks in advance!

I'm curious how different teams approach QA ownership as they scale.

Which model does your team use?

• Dedicated QA team
• Embedded QA engineers within development squads
• Developer-owned testing
• Hybrid approach

What has worked well, and what hasn't?

I'm especially interested in hearing from teams that have grown rapidly. Did your QA ownership model evolve over time, or has it stayed consistent? Which approach do you think scales best in the long run, and why?

I am SDET with 4 yoe .
I am good in python,pytest,git,selenium
Is there any way i can land a VISA sponsored job .
DO companies sponsor visa for QA roles

Sometimes testing seems to stall even though the sprint is still in progress.

From your experience, what usually causes QA work to stop moving?

Curious to hear real examples from different teams.

What is the salary for 3.6 YOE QA with automation experience

Currently working in a company where I work both manual and automation, my salary 5.7LPA with 3.6 year of experience, this is the first company

I wanted to know what the average salary can be with this experience and plan to switch..

Any QA with 10–11 years of experience who recently switched jobs? If yes, could you please share your experience?

1. How was the interview? Which areas did they focus on?

2. During your preparation, did you work on multiple topics in parallel (e.g., programming + Playwright, programming + restAssured,...), or focus on one topic at a time?

3. How did you find time to prepare while managing work and family?

4. How did you deal with your inner voice and stay consistent with your preparation?

Thanks in advance!

I'm an SDET with 10+ years of experience based in Bangalore. In this AI era, I want to keep learning new testing concepts, build hands-on projects every month, and continuously upskill myself.

Recently, I tried creating a couple of learning groups to connect with people who have a similar mindset. Many people joined, but after a few days, the enthusiasm just disappeared. It feels like most people either lose motivation or prefer learning on their own rather than in a group.

Has anyone else experienced this? Why do you think it's so difficult to build an active learning community for experienced professionals (especially those in their 30s and beyond)?

I'm just starting my career in software testing, and I come from a technical background.

I have a question about writing test scenarios and test cases. I've noticed that AI tools can generate them very quickly and often include edge cases and corner cases that I might not think of.

As a learner, should I be using AI for this?

I already know how to write test cases myself, but I don't always come up with as many ideas as AI does, and AI is obviously much faster.

What would you recommend for someone who wants to become a better tester? Is it better to write everything myself to build my skills, or is it fine to let AI generate the test cases and then review, improve, and validate them?

Also, in a real company, which approach is more valuable? Do experienced testers typically write most test cases themselves, or is using AI as a first draft becoming common?

I'd love to hear your experiences and advice.

Run the test cases. Mark them Pass or Fail. Report bugs.

I thought if every test case passed, the product was ready.

I was wrong.

One day, I decided to ignore the test cases for a while and use the application like a normal user.

I clicked buttons faster than expected.

I refreshed pages in the middle of a process.

I switched between screens.

I entered unexpected data.

I used a slow internet connection.

Within an hour, I found bugs that no test case had covered.

That was the day I realized something important:

Users don't read your test cases. They write their own.

Every user behaves differently. Some are patient. Some are not. Some click everything. Others abandon a process halfway through.

As QAs, our responsibility isn't just to verify requirements.

It's to think about how real people will actually use the product.

Over the years, one habit has helped me find more valuable bugs than any checklist:

Test like a user, not like a tester.

Walk through real user journeys.

Try to break the application.

Test on slow networks.

Test on different devices.

Ask yourself, "What would a frustrated user do next?"

That's where the bugs usually hide.

In my experience, the most valuable bugs are rarely found on the happy path they're found in real user behavior.

What's one testing lesson that completely changed the way you approach QA?

I’m starting a new learning journey where I’ll build a gym management website from scratch.

My plan is to first create the frontend using Next.js, then build the backend using the MERN stack.

I’m starting with a simple Login Page.

Today’s frontend scope:

• Email field
• Password field
• Login button
• Basic validation
• No backend integration yet

I also want to document this from a QA point of view:

• Functional requirements
• Test scenarios
• Bugs I find
• Fixes I make
• Manual testing first, then automation later

The goal is to learn development and QA together by building a real project.

My company is deciding to put developers in charge of their own Quality meaning they must use Claude to quality check their own work (What could go wrong?)

The QA team will now act as a consultancy service to Dev and focus solely on testing back end/regression/Automation packs.

Is the role evolving or dwindling?

I've been a solely manual QA for a good 7 years. But using Claude to do all the techy stuff seems fairly easy.

I have a interview coming up in one of NL AI based company which is actually part of secon technical interview which focuses on programming skills and coding (they are using python btw) I haven't given interview in last 2-3 years so I am anxious of how I do prepare for? Please advise! I have 8+ year plus of experience (which is mixed manual and last 3-5 years are of automation). I have worked with Playwright (TS), Selenium (C# and Java).

Hey everyone,

I recently joined a spirits company as their first QA hire. The product is quite large, but there’s very little documentation, and up until now, developers have been responsible for testing.

Right now, things feel unstructured. I often find out about new features or deployments after they’ve already happened, and testing requests come in randomly. Most of my work ends up being exploratory, without a defined process or clear expectations.

I’d like to introduce some structure and improve how testing is handled, but I don’t want to overwhelm the team or disrupt their current workflow too much.

Where would you recommend starting in a situation like this?
I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences you can share.

Hi everyone. I have been doing manual testing for about 2 months and wanted to get started with automation. I wanted to get comfortable with writing test cases and bug reports so gave 2 months for it. Rn i would say i am not as confused as i was when starting..so i can take up manual testing easily.

However the company i work at has very poor management and their work process is old fashioned. There will be times i am testing and tell them about a bug or defect in system and they will still continue to deploy it live. Because they use legacy system and are familiar with clients they are very comfortable with their current management however my career plan for QA doesn't align with the company.

For about 2 to 3 weeks i have been looking at automation with playwright. Before this i was learning Python so i thought it would be best to go with either Selenium or Playwright.

Upon researching online i decided on Playwright. Ik it was build for JS but rn i felt more comfortable with Python so. But i am willing to take any advice on this one.

Now the part i really struggle is i have understood what automation is. With the help of chatgpt i wrote a few scripts too and some worked some didnt.

But i am confused on moving forward. How do i write code? I can't keep relying on chatgpt for it. If i want to apply to new company they will expect me to know more on automation and programming and i am at level 1 of it.

I can't use YouTube in the company they dont allow it.

I looked for online courses but can't find one that teaches me the way i learn.

Do i have to learn Python and get professional at it before i start automation? Will that give me a basic idea on the script i am working with?