Automated Testing is a new emerging niche skill which pays well
Companies only want to hire you if you have experience and it is hard to get experience without a job.
There can be challenging online code challenges which only 1 to 5% of applicants score sufficiently highly to proceed to the next step of the interview process
There are not enough jobs to apply to locally
It is hard finding 100% remote jobs to companies in other jurisdictions. Companies in other jurisdictions find it high risk to employ someone outside their jurisdiction - they also may not have the time to manage new software devs and get them up to speed.
Traditionally developers to not apply for manual testing jobs as they cannot see a future in it. Manual Testers find it hard to move into coding automated tests as they do not know how to code. This lack of people who can code automated tests means it is much less competitive than going for software dev positions.
Usually the interviews for automated testers do not have challenging online code challenges. This means you do not need to be in the top 1 to 5% of coding ability. Instead the client will likely ask you basic language questions of Java or Python. It is easy to learn the basics of a language but it is hard to score in the top 1 to 5% for code challenges.
Local companies do employ manual testers but they are a bit behind when it comes to automated testers. When they see a CV which shows experience of automated testing you have a competitive advantage and are bringing new skills to the table.
Companies in other jurisdictions may have their delivery pipeline set up but are lacking code coverage in their automated tests. Code Coverage measures what percentage of all execution paths is called by the tests. Basically at runtime or build time log statements are injected into the code. The Code Coverage tool knows how many log statements it added and how many were actually called during the duration of all the tests. The Code Coverage tool can easily report for example that only 20% of the code was tested. Untested code leads to bugs which can alienate end users and destroy a product. The Client can absorb some automated testers and measure how the code coverage changes over time. For example the Client can say "thank you guys I see you have improved code coverage from 20% to 30% - I can see that in another couple of months it will be possible to improve that to 60% code coverage". This code coverage metric makes it much more easier for partners to place you with a remote client. It is easier for a client to say yes to a remote automated tester then a remote developer. The automated tester can get on with coding automated tests without messing up the code base. The automated tester can also get on with improving code coverage without too much input from the client.
When selling automated testers to a client, the sales people can explain that the automated tester route is a good way to absorb devs. The devs start of learning the software and improving code coverage and after a time they can move out of coding automated tests and move into software development.
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Page Author: JD