Why SQE is hard and why it’s still worthwhile to pursue it as a career Pt. 2

In my previous post, we looked at why SQE is hard. So then why should anyone consider a career in it? The short answer is, you should consider it if it works for you, but that’s no answer is it?

Here are 5 good reasons I can think of off the top of my head, 

1) It will give you flexibility in your career

SQE has a wide breadth. Contrary to popular opinion, SQE doesn’t start after the developer compiles the code/project and sends out an email about it and gloats about it to Jane from pre-sales for 2 hours. No, SQE spans the entire SDLC (whichever model it may be).

As you progress in your career in SQE you will get more opportunities to shift left and get involved earlier on in the process. Product Owners, Project Managers, and members from other business functions will value the technical exposure you have had at the ground level. In my experience, I have seen engineers move left but I don’t think I have heard of anyone moving from left to right.

The other side of the story is SQE's develop more carry-forward skills(A.K.A. Transferable Skills) than developers. For example, the testing body of knowledge is not bound by any technology or tool. Yes, if you join a new company you will still need to learn to use their automation framework or other technologies but you won’t need to learn how to design test cases or how to manage defect reports again.  

2) It's a stable software engineering discipline  

This is because, one, the carry forward skills SQEs develop. It’s a lot easier for an SQE to jump companies after putting in 5 years in a niche domain than a developer.

Two, the relatively slow speed of change in SQE tools, methods, and technologies. Because there isn’t as much money to be made making tools for SQEs as there is for developers, the rate of change and new entries to the market is low.   

3) It's a relatively safe way to keep scratching the software engineering itch

The world has a way of giving you what you ask of it and the truth of the matter is if you’re in software engineering because of an itch to understand the nuts and bolts, then because of the nature of the beast sooner or later there’s going to be way too many types of nuts and bolts for you to even have an idea of where they all fit. Yes, you can always put in the time and figure out where a particular type of nut or bolt should go but then you quickly come to the realization that you don’t have that kind of time and that sometimes people just keep handing you more just because you’re not just in it for the money.

   

Now if you are a developer, to climb the ranks (in your organization or community) you need to show your expertise(maybe the level of expertise you need to show is negatively correlated to how good you are with your people skills and social standing but let’s not get into it <wing tongue out emoji>). This is hard because sometimes the technologies and tools the management pushes down on you are unproven or have no easy way of learning let alone mastering. So you can find yourself between a rock and a hard place.

The situation is better if you’re in SQE. Depending on how technical of SQE role you’re playing you may be expected to know absolutely nothing about the innards of a System (think black box or COTS UAT) or just enough to verify and validate the developers' work. This translates to safety. You can learn new things or the same things as the developer but at your own speed without risking a mess.  

      

4) You get to shape the quality of a product

As an SQE you will have a say in the quality of the products that run through you. Unless your company is banking on a cost advantage it makes sense for them to push out the highest quality products. Even if the price is your company's competitive advantage, if the quality is lacking new arrivals can take market share. If you are someone who really appreciates quality over quantity, chances are you will find SQE work inherently rewarding and you will grow.

5) Pay is good

Depending on how technical the SQE role is and a few other factors like how good you are at your work and how well your company is doing, SQEs can expect to be paid as much as developers.