4 tips for making things easier for career switchers in your team

By Audrey Moulins, Lead QA

I am currently a Lead QA at leboncoin, but that was definitely not part of the career path I initially set out on. Having studied graphics and received an Advanced Technician Certificate in Communication, I was destined to head a different way. But after working as a Head of Communication for a while, I started to struggle with getting up in the morning, completing tasks, and defending values that weren’t aligned with my own. After giving birth to my son, I knew it was time for a change.

Following discussions with some techies and my interest in testing out unknown features in apps, I signed up for a QA Analyst program being put on by Pôle Emploi (the French public employment agency). It was called The 5 Fantestiques (a play on the words “fantastic” and “test”) and aimed to hire 5 women from different backgrounds and train them to be QA Analysts at leboncoin. The company hired me after a 3-month training period to work on its messaging application, and one year later I became a Lead QA for a guild of 45 people.

Having experienced what it’s like to be a career switcher entering the world of tech, I know how difficult it can be to succeed and how valuable the help of a team can be. This article shares tips on how you can help the career switchers in your team, because you can make a difference to their career progression and job satisfaction!

Tip n°1: Value their background skills

Every career switcher brings some skills from their previous work experience with them. It would be a mistake not to consider these, since they might be useful in the switcher’s new role.

I use my communication skills every day to communicate effectively with all positions in the Feature teams (managers, product owners, developers, etc.), draft reports, give talks, and write articles like this one. My curiosity always helps me to look for better ways to solve problems and investigate areas that others might miss.

Those skills I acquired during my previous experience in communication certainly helped me get promoted to Lead QA.

Tip n°2: Train them appropriately

Your company will of course provide career switchers with some training and assist them in gaining the appropriate certification. Although it is important to teach them the skills they will need to do the job, keep in mind that it may also be too theoretical and not reflect what they will encounter in a normal working day.

While studying for ISTQB certification, I had trouble picturing my future role at leboncoin. Using the waterfall methodology throughout my training rather than the agile one, for instance, did not help.

Don’t hesitate to provide your career switchers with additional technical skills as well, so that they can understand roughly how a computer or the web works. One developer once taught me how to code websites over a few days, and I’ve also been learning how Cypress (a frontend testing tool) works. Even if what you share with them is superficial, it will still help them collaborate with other technical leads and encourage them to feel like they belong there.

To complete my initial training, I also had a senior buddy by my side for three months. This helped me acquire the core skills I needed.

Tip n°3: Allow them to ask questions without feeling judged

One important thing you can do to support career switchers is provide a safe place for them to ask questions. It can happen at a guild day or during meetings arranged with people participating in similar programs.

My nickname at leboncoin is Miss Question, and with good reason: I have never been afraid to ask questions whenever I’m unsure of something. This significantly accelerated my learning pace.

In those safe spaces, career switchers should also be able to ask what we might consider “stupid” questions. When I started as a QA Analyst, my buddy once taught me how to use staging URLs. In my never-ending quest to learn new things, I naively asked him for the production URL, which turned out to be … leboncoin’s website. Although I should have known that, I asked anyway and nobody judged me. We still laugh at it occasionally!

Tip n°4: Offer multiple levels of support

As a new QA Analyst at leboncoin, I had access to four levels of support, with each one teaching me something different.

1st level: A buddy

As already mentioned, I had a buddy for my three first months as a QA Analyst. At first I was just watching him do his job, but later he started delegating some of his tasks to me, with support if needed, and I ended up with 50% of his scope.

With this evolutive setup, I learnt to think for myself instead of asking my buddy questions. The more autonomous I became, the more comfortable I was in my new role.

2nd level: Participants in the training program

A meeting was planned every month with the other women on the program. It was good to have discussions with people who were evolving at the same pace as me and facing the same challenges. Sharing definitely helped me feel less alone in my struggles.

In addition, I gained insight into future issues from women who had attended a program for training developers three years previously.

3rd level: Meetings with peers

A guild day takes place at the end of each 2-week sprint, during which best practices and useful tools are shared. This is a time when peers can freely discuss difficulties and challenges.

Once, after sharing details of a mistake I’d made with using the wrong branch to test (once again, a URL issue!), I discovered that my mistakes were not always the result of being a career switcher — some senior team members told me that they had done the same thing.

4th level: Management

If you have a manager who you know has your best interests at heart (and only if this is the case), don’t be afraid to openly discuss your fears and difficulties with them.

This helped me overcome impostor syndrome and realize how much I had grown when I was promoted to Lead QA. After gathering details about what had contributed to my promotion, I understood better why I deserved it.

Conclusion

Changing careers isn’t easy and takes a lot of courage. Because career switchers believe they lack the relevant skills, they will doubt themselves more than any other colleague.

Through the advice I’ve given in this article, I hope you are able to see how you can help them become their best selves in their new position with extra support and assistance.

And keep in mind that, even with this help, it will take time for them to feel legitimacy. I and other women on these programs were referred to as The Fantestiques or Miss Code for years. It wasn’t until people stopped calling us those names that we realized our skills had become more significant than our career switch.

What about you? Are there any tips you would like to share? We’d love to hear from you, so feel free to leave a comment!