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It all depends on how aggressive you are about your own career... I don't mean go out and assault someone, but how far you go in your chosen profession will depend on how hard you go after what you want.
I taught myself to program, and then searched for a manager in my company who would give me a chance to prove myself.
Finding a manager that needed some IT assistance that was not forthcoming from the IT department, I performed my regular job during the day, and automated office processes during my own time in the evenings and weekends (1980) to help that manager out.
After delivering a few programs that helped the department, I was allowed to change jobs and became THE developer for that department.
Once I knew I knew what I was doing, I set about finding an actual programmer position outside the company. It took about 3 months, but I found an entry level job that I could do... 33 years later, I am done with it, but I would not have gotten anywhere if I just sat around and waited for someone to give me an assignment.
I did practically the same thing. I was in Data-Entry. Taught myself the languages the company used, wrote some department specific programs and eventually landed a job in the IT Dept. Another employee at the company had basically done the same thing and he provided me some guidance along the way.
I eventually left for a sales job, but couldn't stop my love of coding and have since written a number of programs while surpassing my sales numbers.
I did practically the same thing. I was in Data-Entry. Taught myself the languages the company used, wrote some department specific programs and eventually landed a job in the IT Dept. Another employee at the company had basically done the same thing and he provided me some guidance along the way.
I eventually left for a sales job, but couldn't stop my love of coding and have since written a number of programs while surpassing my sales numbers.
cd :O)
That's a very unique set of skills that should serve you well. If you know sales AND how to code, not many people can do both.
I'm a QA lead. I'm in South California, and after 7 years of experience making 130k a year. Next year my manager is going to retire and I'm going to take his place with a raise to 160k. And after that will move to QA director.
Dead end? Yeah right.
And I'm a manual QA without any scripting/dev knowledge.
I would never get into programming being a white male. The good programers have been replaced with Indians that only know how to copy code from one program to another and modify it.
^^^ This.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mash123
I'm a QA lead. I'm in South California, and after 7 years of experience making 130k a year. Next year my manager is going to retire and I'm going to take his place with a raise to 160k. And after that will move to QA director.
Dead end? Yeah right.
And I'm a manual QA without any scripting/dev knowledge.
You're the exception. I was in QA for 7 years and was more technically skilled at that point than you say you are. I went into programming and have been doing it for 10 years. With 17 years of industry experience, I'm still not making as much as you are. Some of that could be COL differences, of course...but I know our QA lead makes less than I do. So there's that too.
Most companies around here seem to be offshoring QA to India anyway. Most of my company's QA people are in India with just a few here onsite.
I'm a QA lead. I'm in South California, and after 7 years of experience making 130k a year. Next year my manager is going to retire and I'm going to take his place with a raise to 160k. And after that will move to QA director.
Dead end? Yeah right.
And I'm a manual QA without any scripting/dev knowledge.
QA isn't a dead end in itself, but if being used as a stepping stone to computer programming it largely is seen as one. We have a dedicated QA team and developers would be lost without them. Our first lead QA is now a member of senior management, responsible for rolling out new features and all the management that goes with that. One of our QA people actually has a degree in Computer Science and knows how to program, but prefers the work in QA.
Growth in QA usually doesn't mean moving over to the software engineering side of things, so if that is your goal, it could be seen as a dead end along that particular path.
QA isn't a dead end in itself, but if being used as a stepping stone to computer programming it largely is seen as one. We have a dedicated QA team and developers would be lost without them. Our first lead QA is now a member of senior management, responsible for rolling out new features and all the management that goes with that. One of our QA people actually has a degree in Computer Science and knows how to program, but prefers the work in QA.
Growth in QA usually doesn't mean moving over to the software engineering side of things, so if that is your goal, it could be seen as a dead end along that particular path.
QA is a whole field by it self. You need to have a certain mindset to be a good QA. And the best QA that I know are people that came from political science, art and other "soft" stuff. They can see the bigger picture and create more thorough tests. Unit tests are not enough.
You can expend your skills with automation, unix, DB, and you can climb the layer if you have good management and communication skills.
That's a very unique set of skills that should serve you well. If you know sales AND how to code, not many people can do both.
Thank you. I always tell people, I am a geek that happens to love people. I actually worked out of my house for a time, but yearned for the social aspect and that is when I found the job where I am at now.
...I guess one question I would have from more experienced programmers is if you start out as a QA tester, do you eventually have the chance to work your way into more of a programming role?...
From what I've seen, a QA/Testing position is like being a catcher on a baseball team or a goalie on a hockey team. You can play different positions, but everyone always thinks of you as a catcher/goalie.
I'm a Software Engineer in Test and ehhhh, it makes good money. I make more than all but one friend, but given I also do a bit of Java, Python, Scala, and Javascript development. I'm actually on the very high end of the curve for my age, so I'm content.
I would never get into programming being a white male. The good programers have been replaced with Indians that only know how to copy code from one program to another and modify it.
I'm a white male and I haven't been replaced by Indians. Let's be honest. Indian developers replace poor quality American developers. This is true about East European developers as well. Americans from MIT, Indians from IIT and East Europeans are going to be where all the money goes.
The low quality developers get stuck writing SQL queries for MS SQL and on other tasks that good developers wouldn't touch.
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