Is it realistic to become a software tester at the age of 39, given that the main profession is far from IT?

Question

Software testing

It turned out that the profession to which I devoted 15 years and achieved significant results in it turned out to be unpromising in the Russian Federation. Whereas software testing is in high demand and presents many opportunities for professional and career growth. Tell me what steps you need to take to be a sought-after specialist in this area?

Answer 1

I am teaching a colleague who is older than me. He is an economist, worked on television, in many places. For now, he is silent when there is a discussion of architecture, DDD principles, or options for implementing a new feature. But every minute invested in his training saves me two.
When choosing a place of work - choose an average company, the largest commercial medium. These companies have a well-established learning process. If you want to get a job where they never get fired from, get a job in a state structure, there is also IT there.
As for literature - read everything, literature for developers, analysts, architects, managers. So you will understand what they want from a test engineer. Read the literature for test engineers, too, so learn to speak the same language with colleagues.
If you read the tips above, between the lines. You will see that students are advised to go to testing. Among the students, half of whom will change jobs upon graduation, you will be a relatively high-level specialist. Also, between the lines, read this advice - sign up for courses, become a student. I can only say about my team, we are constantly learning everything in a row. New products and libraries, external internal courses, books, magazines, online learning, ... When I was at university, I studied less.
Comparing the salaries of a developer and a test engineer, I note the following. If a developer works 16 hours a day, writes the best code, studies everything around, educates colleagues, improves the process, strives to be the best in the industry. And a tester with the same experience only clicks on the checklist. Then the salary of the tester will be lower, which is logical. And that's a misplaced comparison.
If the tester rushes like a tank, and the developer is only able to fix bugs, while creating two new ones, then the salary situation will be reversed.

Answer 2

If you are now 39 years old, then having plunged into IT, you can become a specialist in 3-4 years in one of the areas. All this time you will need to study a lot, read, learn. The main thing is to decide on what means you will live all this time, because if you continue to work full-time in the old place, then there will be neither strength nor time left for study. Good luck!

Answer 3

Everything is more than real! I live in Novosibirsk, I know many guys who studied at the software testing course at our local IT Academy by Alexei Sukhorukov. Everyone is now working in a new specialty! Some of them have been for several years, they seem to be happy with everything. By the way, they said that there were people over 40 with them in the group .. So age is not really a hindrance here. And if you are not from IT at all, then it is better to start with testing. And there, I’ll try to master automation, and you’ll immediately understand whether it’s worth going into development.

Answer 4

All IMHO:
I wouldn't call testing very demanded and even more so suggesting career growth.
From what I see, either there are vacancies for monkeys with a checklist, or people are already looking for people who already know how to automate all this.
The salaries of the first - correspond to their qualifications, the salaries of the second are usually + - equal to the salaries of ordinary developers.
If you have leadership experience, it’s better to go to some kind of manager, but here it will also be difficult without understanding the processes.
PS Developers of native mobile applications are really in demand now.

Answer 5

I, as a tester, would advise you to take on the development.
Basically, because of the subjective disadvantages of testing: most companies do not need a highly qualified tester, they are quite satisfied with a student randomly clicking on a product and getting 30 per month for it.
And a good tester with brains, experience and a store of knowledge still gets less than a developer with similar experience.
If you are ready to learn - choose a technology, try to master it as quickly as possible, write a couple of small home projects to attach a link to the github and go ahead.

Answer 6

Of course, I’m not 39 yet, but not 20 either, and I’m not on my way to this profession either ........ I’m going)))
For now, I’m reading Savin, everything seems to be clear to me, well, in 2 weeks I start studying course)
If I throw a link to the course program, someone will be able to see, evaluate, so to speak?

Answer 7

Of course real! A friend of mine is now attending courses (here, if interested https://qalabs.com.ua/ ) and wants to radically change her life. I decided to become a tester. Although she herself worked for many years in the banking sector. Vice versa. knowledge from other areas will be very useful as a tester.

Answer 8

I confirm that you first need to try with testing, and only then boldly into automation.