Dev —> QA, moving from development to QA is a downgrade?
Generally speaking, yes. It is considered a lesser engineering tier with a lower technical bar. However that sounds extremely smug, as it’s a totally different mindset entirely. You go from “how to I make this” to “how do I break this”.
Kinda.. in the value chain
Most of the time yes. There's usually a lower glass ceiling if you come from Test. Additionally, it will also be harder to get dev jobs if you change your mind in the future and your resume has QA written on it. On the positive side, you would be very well positioned skillwise for writing automations, unit tests, understanding buggy code etc.
Maybe. In bragging terms on blind. Definitely. However, if you’re dramatically better at it though you could end up being more successful/advance faster. I’ve worked with some QA folks who are god like at finding vulnerabilities. Especially if your in a company/team that values that work.
No, as long as you like doing it. I have many people in my team moving to functional roles. The pay is nearly same and challenges are equal. If you want to consider importance of QA, just look at what happened with Tesla X or Note 8. Elon had to come himself to do QA and Samsung lol, self expressive.
Is it a technical downgrade? Not necessarily. Is it seen as a technical downgrade? Very much so. Speaking as a former Sdet (hybrid role now), the fault lies in how the industry has hired for the role, and not the role itself. A good sdet needs to be able to call bullshit on dev code, not some how feel bullied because they are not as “good”
One more thing Qa or dev, you still have to keep on learning new technologies.
Sorry, but switching to QA from dev is career suicide. You can tell yourself whatever lie you want and convince yourself that it's the right choice but you'll eventually realize that it's a bad decision.
When is eventually? Switched more than 10 years ago to sdet, still happy, good pay and all.
Not trying to sound cocky here.. Layoffs are inevitable. And when it's finally time, devs are way more desirable to employers than sdets. And you know it !
Yes, yes n yes. Don’t do it if u care salary and recognition. Qa is a thankless role. If you are on visa, don’t do it until you get your green card coz moving from dev to qa will most likely reset your greencard process since job duties change significantly.
Whatever makes you happy man. Don't worry about what others think.