Transitioning from managing projects and teams to a technical career like a quality assurance tester may seem challenging. In truth, the change can be rather simple. If you have a support system in the company you work for or if you are starting over in another, you need to prepare yourself for this transition. Certain steps can make it easier. Once you have done that, your new adventure will start.
Table of contents
Qualifying questions
The main questions are:
1. How do you know if you’ll be the right fit for this role?
2. What are the benefits of your current managerial experience?
Let’s start with the first question.
To be a tester, you need to have a curiosity that usually comes naturally to people in this line of business. You want to know about products and what “makes them run,” you are interested in how everything works or functions, and you always find bugs in apps or programs you are already using. These are pretty good signs that you have a talent for being a quality assurance tester.
Self-education is very important depending on where you want to arrive and what you want to achieve. Investing in training, reading articles, and participating in webinars gives you insights into ways of working, processes, methods, and types of testing across the globe. Investing a fair amount of time in preparation could make initial testing projects much easier, especially if you work in a team. You’ll be prepared with the terminology and operating processes, making the onboarding faster and more efficient. Testing, per se, is a practice. The more you put your hands on it, the quicker you’ll learn.
Following the technical specifications, design, wireframes, and all other necessary documentation, you’ll learn how to test, what to test, and how the final product should function.
Managerial experience
The interesting question is, what benefits can you bring to the table in testing as the former manager? First of all, client management and communication skills are key. Depending on the project and in the testing role, you could probably participate in client communication and support. This refers to clarifying all the points of product build, shared testing processes, and user acceptance testing when aligned.
The managerial experience also brings a deeper understanding of internal processes, connections, and dependencies between departments and an easier understanding of high-level decisions. By having both perspectives, you’ll be able to understand and give valid input when discussing the volume of the work, budgets, and timelines.
This is when your matured bigger picture vision comes into play. Obstacles and risks could be easier to foresee as you can grasp all parts of projects from beginning to end, especially if you need to negotiate with a client, support him when new ways of working are required, and lead him through the process. Moreover, you will find yourself in a unique position bringing to “your teams’ table“ something your colleagues may not have in their background. Many quality assurance testers started directly in this field or switched from development. They probably did not have a chance to develop skills that you already have.
Managers usually come from a firm and rather strict way of working that follows a Waterfall model. In the waterfall model, project activities match sequential phases, where each phase depends on the deliverables of the previous one, while the newer agile ways of working are quite different. It is important to recognize that many agencies already work in some form of agile or are transitioning to one while many clients still use the “old” system. Knowing how both of them work gives you a strength that you will probably need in the future.
Quality assurance tester
If the company is still transitioning to agile, your skills could make the entire process simpler. As a manager and a tester, you could help educate other managers on how to be agile and how to lead clients and help them make the same transition in their respective fields. You speak their language in terms of costs, efficiency, ROI, and delivery deadlines. Having a development and testing team working in Agile is simply not enough. All departments must be in sync for Agile to work.
As you’ve probably figured out, integrating old and new systems can be quite a challenge. Your managerial experience could help you pinpoint the benefits of refined processes, such as increased delivery, improved customer experience, and high-quality end products.
It suffices to say that transitioning from management to testing has many perks. A manager can offer many skills in the role of a tester. So, if a career in technology and testing inspires you – go for it. You’ll learn, adapt and explore not only products but other parts of yourself as well.
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