If you're a Manual Tester thinking you need to "𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦" in automation… and start applying for 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬… 🔹 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬… You want to be underpaid, compete with thousands of other people for a single role, and spend years grinding to get to a decent job. 🔹 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐈𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 Because of the misconception that Junior roles are "easier" to get because you need to be less qualified. And that IS true - you do need to be less qualified to get Junior roles. 🔹 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞? That exact reason makes these roles flooded with resumes, which gives companies the ability to pay peanuts… and be picky. So, can a Manual Tester 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐝‑𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐐𝐀 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Engineer role? ABSOLUTELY. And it's not just advice, it's a direct order you should follow if you want to make your life easier. 📌 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐩 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 Because you are overqualified. You already know: ✅ How to test ✅ Where applications typically break ✅ How to design comprehensive test coverage ✅ How to communicate with developers ✅ How to prioritize what matters That is literally 𝟓𝟎% of the job. You don't need to learn it; you already have the real experience. The rest… 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 - Programming fundamentals? 1-2 months of focused learning. - Testing framework basics? 2-3 weeks. - CI/CD integration? 1 week. Total: 3-4 months to be mid-level ready. And the truth is, the skill requirements are not much different between Junior and Mid-level. The main difference is how well you position yourself at interviews. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭: - Same skills - Same experience - $50,000+ difference in salary - 10x easier to get in 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐅𝐞𝐰 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐝‑𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐐𝐀 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫: 📄 Resume: - If you learned a technology, put it in - even if you don't get paid for using it. You still know it. 💼 Job Search: - Apply for ALL mid and senior roles. - Include your current experience in the automation experience (it's all testing at the end of the day) - Ignore the tech stack they want. In reality, this is just a wish list.