First published on TechieStory, 12 August 2020: archived copy. TechieStory also ran it in Vietnamese: archived copy. Roles and plans are as of that date.
I never thought I would have immersed myself in IT. I was more tempted by mechanical engineering. But the two were my consideration because I wanted to prove that girls can be bold and work as hard as guys. It didn't happen easily. My mom refused to let me go for it. She even locked me up in the house just because I insisted on applying for Bach Khoa. We were having a bad time back then. Things only improved when I managed to succeed in the entrance test with the highest score in the scholarship application list.
I always had a thing for logical thinking subjects like AI or Machine Learning. My biggest hurdle was that there weren't many AI companies at the time, not even product companies. They were mostly outsourcing firms for foreign companies. So either I spent time on science research and a master's degree, or I stuck my neck out into the working world and started exploring.
I worked in my first company as a Java Developer for three or four months. After that I realized I couldn't fit in a place where people keep burying their heads in computers like robots. I needed something more dynamic. And I decided to move forward, as a tester. Though I aimed for automation, this new role limited me to manual testing and shaped my workflow as a steady tester, writing test cases and reporting bugs day in and day out. Which, again, left me with a question: "Should I change my job?"
My next place was a product company, where they do the work on all platforms: Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. From web testing to mobile testing. I know. A whole new environment. But it had a downside, too. Not only were testers not taken seriously, as they tended to value developers more; they also fell for a prejudice: girls can't take care of the work as solidly as guys do. It was a barrier, and I had to put more effort into proving them wrong.
Working as a tester means you face the risk of going against developers almost every day. Sometimes it takes arguments to settle whether a bug is valid or invalid. I learned many lessons about teamwork and negotiation through this. It tells a lot about how you can explain and protect your point of view without getting offended and still make things work.
A question that many people will bump into is why an automation tester makes more than a manual tester. I believe it's due to the lack of automation testers compared to manual ones. Frankly, a manual tester can come from fields other than IT. That drives up the number of manual testers, because the path is easier to embark on. I've met many manual testers whose background was economics, medicine, or even gaming. But they can't switch into automation since they can't code. Automation testers, on the other hand, start their careers as developers. And they only turn to testing if they want to spend time learning something new, or improve other skills.
Still, in Vietnam, there is an underlying notion that testing is for those who can't nail the job as a developer. Or worse, people assume it's a women's role because there's no challenge or stressful moment. That somehow keeps students from pursuing testing as a career. They're afraid it will be an admission of "I can't code." But that isn't true. Testers are way more than just test cases and bug reports. What you want to do as a career should be based on your interest, not what others think.