Episode 490: How do I break into software dev from QA automation and underselling

16 snips

Dec 8, 2025

A seasoned QA automation engineer seeks to transition into software development but faces resistance from managers and team members. The hosts discuss the organizational incentives that keep employees in their current roles, the hidden costs of QA taking on dev tasks, and the importance of managerial support. They also tackle the issue of underselling one's skills after relocating, offering tips to assert confidence and communicate effectively. Finally, they encourage listeners to craft a compelling narrative around their experience as they pursue new opportunities.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

QA Automation Can Lock Your Career In Place

QA automation roles can become a career sink because they're rare and valuable to orgs.
That scarcity creates pressure for companies to keep you in QA rather than let you move to product development.

ANECDOTE

Two Groups Resist Letting QA Move To Dev

Dave describes the two groups that will push a QA to stay: the QA manager and developers who dislike replacing a rare specialist.
That tension can make internal transitions practically blocked even when performance reviews are good.

INSIGHT

Doing Extra Dev Work Has Hidden Costs

Picking up development tasks informally can disrupt team planning, velocity, and ownership expectations.
Unexpected contributions force context switching and create hidden costs that frustrate colleagues.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

Hi Dave and Jamison, I’ve been in QA/QA automation for 13 years now with a CS degree, and I’ve been trying to change my role to a software developer for a while. My only issue is that every time I brought my career aspirations to my managers they seemed to “not care” or give vague answers to “kick the can down the road”. In the past I fully demonstrated I can do the work by submitting bug fixes, writing and deploying a few microservices by myself (all product feature work), on top of performing my QA duties. I get high marks in my performance reviews, but that doesn’t seem to be enough! I also seem to attract some resentment from my team (silently but it’s noticed) as they see a QA trying to soak up their dev work and I get a strong “stay in your lane” vibe. I do it to help them, not take all of their work. Any advice? Am I approaching this the wrong way? And what would you do in my situation? Thanks and all the best!
Hi!

Three years ago, I relocated from a third-world country to Europe for work. I tend to undersell myself a lot. I know I am a competent, hard-working, and smart engineer. I have strong opinions and can evaluate trade-offs. I can participate in discussions about complex systems, and I have experience managing projects.

But sometimes I’m afraid of looking dumb and scared of confrontation. This means I rarely voice my opinions or suggestions. I often let go of them at the slightest objection, even if I believe the other person is mistaken. Whenever I speak or comment on a subject in Slack, I always use phrases like “I’m not 100% sure”, “as far as I remember”, or “I have to look it up but I think … “. These would not matter If I was showing my confidence through other means like participating in discussions confidently, but these all add up to create an image of someone reliable in getting things done, but not reliable at taking more responsibility.

I was not like this before moving. Occasionally I struggle with the language when in big meetings or talking about complex matters, but I’m comfortable with English. It has an effect for sure, but it is not the cause.

I’m going to start a new position and I want to have a longer career there. But I’m afraid that I can not give myself the head start I know I’m capable of. How can I improve my own personal onboarding process and let my new colleagues and manager know how lucky they are to have me on their team?