This question drew my attention today when I was looking Software Testing topics, and I felt compelled to write about it, as I myself have pondered about it a lot over the course of years. Maybe my sharing of my experience might give some insights to the testing professionals while designing their career.
First things first, the corporate organisational chart is really dicey when it comes to testing profession. Largely you have the technical path and the managerial path in the organisational charts. If you are like me who wants to dwell into the technical aspects of things, there are senior positions available like Test Technologists, which are equivalent to senior directors in the managerial equivalent. You could even become a Distinguished Engineer or a Fellow after being a Technologist, as your influence and say in the scheme of things would be so impactful that no one would care if you are from development or from testing.
In order to shine in the technical career growth, you need to keep two things in mind – (1) your domain knowledge, (2) Handling the changes in your domain and being up-to-date. If you think about it, the basic essence of testing is the same whether you are a fresher or you are a DE. The only difference would be the expansion of scope of things – how broadly you see things, and how intricately you know how things affect each other and able to point out issues. When you are in a very senior technical test position, people would look for your inputs on solution level inputs on how things would affect each other or break when some things change or new things get introduced or implemented. For example, if a new protocol is being introduced into the solution, you should be able to advice the developers as to what are the pitfalls if any of introducing that new protocol into the system, and how it would break the existing scheme of things.
Being a technical leader is challenging in its own way because of the constant changes in technology and the updates you need to make with yourself. But don’t mistake me, managerial positions are no different when it comes to managing technical people, as the managers and leaders need to be on their toes on updating themselves on the technology to be effective in managing and leading.
If you choose a managerial path, I would suggest you be a leader than just a people manager. A leader leads the path by showing how things are done to the team, by having technical insights, making value judgements, and providing the vision for the unit. Leaders manage situations and don’t manage people. And hence they are effective in handling business situations and operational situations.
The choice is yours on whether you want to grow technically or you want to choose the managerial ladder. Whatever works for you and whatever you think is suitable for your style. You could even become a consultant and run your own firm if you think that’s appropriate for your style.
To summarize, testing professionals can shine at any level in the organisation. There are opportunities available, and it is up to you to choose what kind of testing career is appropriate for you.
Feel free to chat with me on your Software Testing career.