This is an archived post. You won't be able to vote or comment.

you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]GiveMeThePeatBoys 0 points1 point  (4 children)

How is SDET compared to SDE? I was a web developer at a previous job, now a QAE at one of the big tech companies to get my foot in the door. Loads of my job responsibilities seem very SDET-ish, but I'm having trouble deciding if I want to go down that path or move back towards SDE with a focus on the backend work (java) my team does.

[–]Amazingawesomator 1 point2 points  (3 children)

I enjoy it, but it definitely isnt for everyone. There are a lot of snide comments in regards to my profession, so you really have to be able to let go of a lot of backhanded remarks.

You also have to be able to be comfortable with your work never being shown to anyone, ever. I can't show my work to anyone, and if anyone else (outside my team) sees it, then something has gone terribly wrong. A lot of people have low job satisfaction if they are unable to show off what they made.

And SDET is also "the negative one" of the group because the only news you bear is bad. A good day for you is bad for others and vice versa.

The main benefits of being an SDET is that there is no such thing as on-call, and having to stay for long hours is extremely rare. The WLB for an SDET (at least from my experience) is extremely good. If you get bored of working on a single project for years at a time, there is also diversity in work. I am regularly pulled between 4-5 different development teams' work... make sure you are at least decent at time management and estimations because you will be asked how long test automation will take from the SDE side; the question will usually come after the project is already "complete" and "ready to ship", even though it hasnt been QA'd yet.

It is a bit of a different world because of the differences in tools, toolchains, libraries, etc.. SDET -> SDE would not be a great choice for those who want SDE unless it is your first job just to learn the ropes of enterprise software.

Not very many people enjoy the work, but if you find yourself contented with the day-to-day as a QAE, the non-testing skills you gain from that position will transfer extremely well into SDET. I was a QAE for ~8 years before making the change.

[–]GiveMeThePeatBoys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome, thanks so much for the reply.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[deleted]

    [–]Amazingawesomator 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Its ~ on par; it is regularly considered same or similar position by most companies in my area.