Career PathsJun 23, 20264 min read
Career Path: QA Engineer to SDET in Bangalore
For every sdet we've placed in the last 18 months, we asked what they'd have done sooner. The list below is what they said.
Year 3 — make the external jump
Apply as a sdet with a portfolio of real work. Target teams that value your qa engineer background as an edge, not a gap.
Year 2 — get the title adjacent
Move internally to a team where sdet work sits next to yours. Internal moves are far easier than external ones at this stage.
Ongoing — close the credibility gap
Publish what you learn. A short write-up of one sdet project does more for credibility than a year of quiet study.
Traps that delay the jump
- Collecting courses instead of shipping one real project.
- Targeting only the biggest brands, where the bar for switchers is highest.
- Skipping the internal move that would have made the external one easy.
Map your skill gaps with Upplio's Resume Score — it shows exactly which competencies to build next on the way from qa engineer to sdet.
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