Should I become a developer?

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I have to fill out this profile for work. One of the questions is, what are my career goals.

I could play it safe by just progressing within my current role in software testing or - when I was in TAFE I really enjoyed coding. I thought I might enjoy being a developer. I know that coding is only a small part of software development. I know I wouldn't enjoy the endless meetings that devs sit through and when I was in TAFE I absolutely hated classes on software architecture.

Maybe I should "follow my dreams" but I'm not sure whether or not I'd enjoy the whole package that being a developer entails.

The other problem is, it would probably require me to study nights, either through TAFE or a university. I'm not sure if I have what it takes to combine study with full time work. This leads me to thinking in a loop.

1. I should study
2. Combining work and study will be too hard
3. Now you're just being lazy
4. Return to 1.

I really think combining work and study until I have zero free time will be painful for me. Yet other people do it. Am I just being lazy compared to them?

The other problem is that I fear getting a degree or other qualification than not getting the chance to use it. I know people who have degrees they never use. I would hate it if I struggled through long evenings after work, gave up all my free time on weekends and totally exhausted myself to get the degree while working full time, and then didn't get an opportunity to apply what I learned to my work.

Don't know, why not try it? If it doesn't work out, do something else.

If you want to be a developer one day this is the perfect opportunity to let your employers know it. With that knowledge they might ask for you to step into more of a development role without formal education, and just on-the-job training. That's how I got into SharePoint development.

Being at a crossroads in your career is exciting (and terrifying) and you can be honest with your employers that you've not decided whether you want to continue forward with software testing or instead move to software development. That could spur a conversation about qualifications that might allay your fears about getting a degree and never using it.

Also, being completely overwhelmed by trying to work full time and get a degree isn't about being lazy. It's about having a disability, and needing some extra help to cope with it. Don't let other people, especially one's without the same disability, set the bar for you. It's okay to doubt, and be nervous about a possible change, but try not to be too hard on yourself~ I bet with the help of your employer and any disability services they have at the school you'd be able to do it.

I wish you luck <3

I'm at TAFE part-time because I don't think I could handle full-time. I'm doing Cert IV in Programming. I think you must have already done this?

I say take the opportunity to let your workplace know what you'd like to do as Rhapsody said.

It never hurts to try, right?

Also, I have to admit- I'm totally jealous of your job.

Know your limits! I'm taking one online class and working only a few hours a day from home and it's a bit too much for me. Don't create a long-term miserable present for a future that may never come.

I've been considering switching to software testing. How do you like it, what's your day like, and how did you get trained/started? Do you think it's something a person could do freelance?

I like it a lot of the time. I've definately been enjoying it this week. The times when I don't like it are the times when they get me to test a system I don't properly understand. It's a horrible feeling to spend all day not knowing what to do and then at the end of the day you realise you got very little work done.

^ This was for some exceptionally complex and sensitive systems though. The main problem therein wasn't the testing itself but the record setups. Some companies require you to create the records yourself, in our case using an M204 based mainframe. Not fun

Much of the time the systems are easy to understand. In that case it's a fun and fast paced job. I really mean fast paced. Parts of require you to perform relatively simple actions in rapid succession. You can get into a mindless rhythm lol. In such cases, the only thinking required is when you try to interpret an ambiguous part of the spec.

As you know, executing tests is only a part of testing, just as coding is only a part of development. The rest of the time you'll have the slightly more sedate task of writing test cases or creating test estimates. Once you've written the first test case it's easy because the next 20 test cases will be variants on the first. Copy paste and change a few words.

Your milage may vary, different companies will give you a wildly different experience with testing and so will testing different systems. A bit difference is what sort of testware they give you. This is most frequently software for cataloguing the results but may also include automation tools. You can automate by recording your inputs but in some cases I've heard people have to encode the automation scripts themselves. If you do that, you've gone full circle back to coding

A few people at my company went from development to testing because they wanted an easier job. Not that they were incapable of developing, they just wanted something less demanding. I've never heard of a freelance tester but we have had a few testers that were contractors. They got paid a little more at the expense of job security. If you want to get hired in testing, it may help if you take the ISTQB exam. I'm taking it myself next week. It's a globally recognised certification and the study material is available online for free (just google it). It could give you the edge when applying for testing jobs (some companies almost expect it). Be warned, the study material is free but the exam costs thousands of dollars.