DancingBagel
DancingBagel

QA Automation vs Backend Development – Which Path Offers Better Growth in Top Product Companies?

I have 8 years of experience in QA, specializing in automation, framework development, and design. Currently, I’m working as a Senior Application Developer at Oracle.

I’m targeting top product-based companies like FAANG, Adobe, Salesforce, Atlassian, Flipkart, and Myntra. Given my background in Java, Spring Boot, and automation frameworks, I see two potential career paths: 1. Double down on QA Automation – Continue growing in test automation and framework design to join top-tier QA roles in product companies. 2. Transition to Backend Development – Leverage my Java and Spring Boot experience to shift into backend engineering roles.

I’m looking for advice: Which path offers better long-term career growth, salary potential, and opportunities in these companies?

Continue With QA Automation
Transition to Backend Development
13 votes21d left
8d ago
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JumpyPotato
JumpyPotato

Tricky. Confused what to say.

QA automation is pretty badass tbh, lot of heavy lifting, scope and importance. But I assume it lacks innovation or cutting edge newness of tools/methods in the domain.

Backend is ever glamorous, but its completely saturated and in the next 5 years, the scope will drastically reduce even more. I will still overlook that because you will be having ~15 YoE by then, you can find another way out in case laid off. The question is will you be as important and as equal level in the hierarchy if you switch domain completely now? Will the peers look at you as a SME of backend, like they probably look at you now as a QA? Will your seniority, expertise and knowledge be as serious as it is now?

DancingBagel
DancingBagel

Thanks for responding — you’ve perfectly summarized many of the doubts I’ve been grappling with.

I’m fairly confident in my technical skills, but after spending 8 years in QA, I’ve realized that the mindset, approach, and way of thinking are quite different from someone who has spent 8 years in backend development. It’s not just about getting tasks done or knowing the tech — it’s also about domain depth, ownership mindset, and how you approach problems.

JumpyPotato
JumpyPotato

Yes, that's why only. I want to say that switch to backend, but I dont have conviction that you will be taken as seriously and may have to again spend 5 more years there to be just take seriously and given importance to

MagicalLlama
MagicalLlama

After having 8 years of experience in QA, it won't be easy to transition to a backend dev role especially when it comes to product dev. I'm assuming you would be looking to transition to a senior dev role and not like to restart from scratch. Based on the work that you have done on Java and Springboot you might find the coding related tasks to be quite up your alley but a backend dev role especially a senior one will come with much more nuanced expectations as well. You need to ask yourself how good are you with designing systems and identifying the best infrastructure to use for certain use cases and provide proper justification to go along with it. These are only some of the things that a senior dev is expected to know. If you're comfortable with these, then you can look to transition.

Good luck.

DancingBagel
DancingBagel

appreciate suggestions from backend developers.How do you view a colleague transitioning from a QA background — specifically someone with 8 years of experience in QA? Do you think such a person can successfully transition into backend development and earn the same level of respect? I’m genuinely interested in understanding your perspective.Please comment and Vote

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