My 5-Year Career Plan Ahead: A Journey from Past to Future

The story of a young person feeling a bit stuck and anxious… The plans he made to open new paths for himself and the time spent pursuing these plans. Here is the story of my 5-year career journey from past to future!

A Brief Summary of the Past 2 Years: Transitioning from History to Technology

February 2022: Back then, I was a second-year student majoring in History at Ankara Social Sciences University. Our program was 100% in English, and to be honest, I had the idealistic dream of becoming an academic. But the harsh reality was this: I would spend at least 5 more years at the university. I wanted to earn my own money as soon as possible. I started thinking, “If I took a software course and dedicated myself to it day and night, could I get a job?” After all, I could encounter much better opportunities 5 years later, and during this time, I would have earned my own salary.

A friend told me about software test automation. I researched it, it made sense to me, and I enrolled in a Software Test Automation course.

March 2022: I started the test automation bootcamp. It lasted 8 months. In the first 4 months, I learned Java and passed Oracle’s Java certification exam. In the next 4 months, I learned the basic concepts of testing and test automation. After passing the ISTQB exam and obtaining my certification, I learned Web UI, API, Database, and Mobile Testing processes using tools like Selenium, Postman, RestAssured, MySQL, and Appium. The course fee was €2,500, but it was worth every penny.

In December 2022, I found a job! Since I didn’t have a university degree, the salary was a bit low, but starting work was enough for me.

Immediately after starting work, I enrolled in the Associate Degree Program in Computer Programming at Anadolu University’s Open Education Faculty (AÖF). For two years, I have been successfully continuing my courses there. My goal is to graduate in January 2025 with at least a 3.5 GPA.

My Plans for the Next 5 Years

Currently: In the project I’m working on now, we use Cypress as our Web UI testing tool. But my love for Java is immense! As soon as I finish my work with Cypress, I will return to Java with RestAssured for API automation. All 189 endpoints in my project are prepared in Postman collections for four different environments (dev, test, pre-prod, prod). My next goal is to automate these.

1-) My Project: PHR (Personal Health Record)

In this project, I am solely managing all QA processes: Web, mobile, and automation testing. When I consider that 3 million people will use this project, the weight on my shoulders feels truly heavy and sacred.

The FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standard we use is a globally accepted system in healthcare software. Testing each of these resources in Postman and constantly updating them according to new requests is a big job, but I have learned to handle it. In this process, most people complain about preparing request bodies, and they’re right. But I have a solution for my company:

1.1-) FHIR Automation Tool with RestAssured + Java

I will develop an application that automates all FHIR resources in Postman. This application will not require users to enter complex data. With just a few clicks, you will be able to enter the patient information you want and create the desired resources. Normally, this task takes 3 hours for someone unfamiliar with the work, but with my application, I will reduce this time to 10 seconds. (Yes, literally a 1000× speedup!)

1.2-) ChatGPT & JIRA Integration

By using ChatGPT API’s and JIRA APIs, I will create and upload a bug report to JIRA by simply pasting the text. Thus, the 10-minute bug entry time will be reduced to 10 seconds. Again, with a 60× speedup, I am going to add so much 10-minutes to my life, which is invaluable for me and my job! 🎉

2-) Automating PHR Mobile Application Testing with Appium and Android Studio

Our PHR mobile application currently undergoes entirely manual testing processes. One of my goals is to implement end-to-end automation testing using Appium and Android Studio. By automating these tests, we can significantly reduce testing time and ensure a more reliable application for our users. This will also free up valuable time for the team to focus on new features and improvements.

3-) Completing and Mastering Harvard University’s CS50 Course

I plan to complete and fully internalize Harvard University’s renowned CS50 course. This course offers a comprehensive introduction to computer science and programming, which will deepen my understanding of software development principles.

4-) Passing the ISTQB Test Automation Certification Exam

After obtaining my ISTQB Foundation Level certification, my next target is the ISTQB Test Automation certification exam. Achieving this certification will validate my expertise in test automation and demonstrate my commitment to excellence in the field.

5-) Gaining Basic Knowledge in Cloud Management with AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification

To broaden my technical skill set, I aim to study for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam and earn its certification. This will provide me with a foundational understanding of AWS cloud management. Having basic knowledge in cloud services will allow me to integrate cloud-based solutions into our testing environment.

Academic Plans: Continuous Learning

In January 2025, I will graduate from the Open Education Faculty’s Computer Programming program.

In June of the same year, I aim to take the Vertical Transfer Exam (DGS) to transfer to the Management Information Systems department. The DGS is an exam in Turkey that allows students to transfer from a 2-year associate degree to a 4-year bachelor’s degree program. From there, I plan to graduate in August 2027.

Then, I will join Gebze University’s Master’s Program in Software Test Engineering. By the time I turn 29, I will have an associate degree in computer programming, a bachelor’s degree in management information systems, and a master’s degree in software test engineering.

Passion for Continuous Improvement

I plan to achieve all these goals within the next 5 years, and perhaps even sooner. My passion for improving my work and myself in this field is immense. I am genuinely happy to have turned to this field, as it aligns perfectly with my interests and aspirations.

Conclusion

I am progressing step by step towards achieving my career goals. Hopefully, at the end of these 5 years, I will be either a Senior Test Automation Engineer or in a Team Lead position. Of course, life may take me to different places, but the most important thing in this journey is to continue developing at every step.

Thank you for taking the time to read about my journey and future plans. If you have any questions or would like to connect, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. Your support and interest mean a lot to me!