Aaron Said:

How do you get real? Every time I do a career test with a specific one in mind, the results change?

We Answered:

Pay attention to your feelings first, your ambitions second, and then seek experience (of the world around you).

In doing so, you may or may not become aware of the fact that some things are more rewarding emotionally than others.

This also changes from individual to individual, which is part of the reasons why those tests fail.

Katrina Said:

Where can I find totally free career assessment tests online?

We Answered:

There are a ton of free resources located on the US Department of Labor's website.

http://www.dol.gov/dol/audience/aud-unem…

Good luck!

Jorge Said:

How do I prepare myself for a First Career change?

We Answered:

I would suggest that you do some research and see about getting into some of the mainframe programming areas. Right now most of the 'old' mainframe support people are retireing and there is a huge vaccum in that area. Also in 35+ years of working in IT I have found that the larger the system and larger the company the more they pay. There are a number of 2 year community colleges that have a mainframe training program but there are a few 4 year schools that also have mainframe training programs.
All of the fortune 500 companies are keeping their 'bet your business' information on mainframes because of their security and reliability and they will be around for a long time so you will have job security.
Right now if you know Cobol, CICS, DB2 then you can get a job starting Monday morning.

Alvin Said:

What tests would you recommend for a possible career change?

We Answered:

This is a government site employment that offers many tests and different ways to research your career choices.
Good luck!!

Kent Said:

I am looking for a career change, Is software Testing right career for me? What should I do to get into this?

We Answered:

Well software testing is usually heavily involved in programming, so if you don't want to get into programming, you won't want to get involved in testing. Plus, the majority of testing is done by the developers, so there isn't always much demand for a separate tester.

You see, most testing done is called unit testing. This is where each module of code is tested individually to make sure it always behaves as expected. This code is then integrated with other code and tested again. This process repeats itself until the entire product is assembled.

The only testing a non-developer would do would be delivery testing. This is the last line of testing where the final product is tested as a whole right before it goes out the door. I certainly wouldn't say this is a particularly interesting, well paid, or successful carrier path. This is the kind of thing companies make lowly interns do.

There is an exception to this, and that is with software validation. Software that is intended for some heavily government regulated task, such as for use in the pharmaceutical, medical, or aviation industries, must undergo additional testing called validation. This is where every aspect of the final product is tested and documented to show that it will always work as expected. You should note that this focuses a lot more on documenting the testing than on the actual testing. A validation specialist would have a more successful career than just a tester, but not by much and they certainly won't be a high roller. The best bet here would be to become a validation manager, but even then the work is not at all enjoyable and pay isn't that great.

QC is a good way to get your foot in the door of the development industry, as the requirements for the jobs are pretty low and pretty much anyone can handle it, but it's just not a good career goal. If you want in on this industry and actually want to go somewhere, you'll have to become a developer. QC, while a great starting point, is a dead end.

Dawn Said:

is software testing an emerging career?is it possible to change from testing to development domain?

We Answered:

Yes, and yes. I'm a software tester and many people in my dept have made the move from tester to testing engineer, to development. I also think it makes you a better developer because you look at the design differently when you come from a testing background.