DO NOT Apply to Junior QA Automation Roles. Ever.

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.

👔 Interview:

Be ready to solve coding challenges.
Practice talking about your QA Automation projects in detail to make your explanations sound natural.
Never say about the technology: "𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔" or "𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑".
Always say: "𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛..."
Have a few stories ready about how you solved some problems with automation, what issues you encountered, and how you overcame them.

𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫: You don't need to be perfect in an interview or even answer all questions. You just need to be better than other people.

And… frankly speaking, if you are prepared, you can do that without much of an issue. Most people are so lazy they can't even write a proper resume… (I keep seeing it every day)

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞... 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭…

❌ "I'm new to automation, but..."

❌ "I don't have much coding experience, but..."

❌ "I'm just starting out, but..."

You're not new. You're not starting out.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

🚀 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 + 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠 = 𝑚𝑖𝑑‑𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Companies need people who can test AND automate. You're exactly what they're looking for.

Stop thinking like a beginner. You are NOT a beginner.

🟢 Start thinking like the experienced professional you already are.

𝐏.𝐒. Have you been considering applying for Junior roles?