So you want to become a Test Automation Engineer?

I see many people and personally have several friends and acquaintances that are interested in becoming a Test Automation Engineer (TAE), a.k.a. Software Development in Test (SDET)*, but they all have many questions:

• How do I become one and what skills do I gain?
• Do I have to program as well as traditional software developers?
• What does the job involve?

This is a very short list. I even left out questions about salaries and career prospects (hint: they’re pretty great wherever you are). To keep this article focused, I’ll provide actionable answers just for the three questions above.

Some insist that there are differences between a TAE, a SDET, and other titles. I found that most of these titles are used interchangeably and their definitions are fluid. Check out the “The problem with titles for testers” article.

I will use such titles interchangeably, and they all refer to the broad concept of a profession that involves the use of programming expertise to write a variety of functional (and non-functional) tests.

The Big Picture

A SDET is a highly in-demand profession, so it’s definitely worth considering a career in this direction. At the same time, you certainly don’t become one overnight. Not even after a week-long bootcamp either. But it is certainly achievable without going through a multi-year university degree program (a Computer…