Forum: workplace.stackexchange.com
Tags: <career-development><developer>
Title: How do I tell if a position I am being offered is a Demotion?
Question: I am a Software Engineer and have been specializing in C++ for several years. Due to market demand, I've been applying to several Java Developer positions but have been declined due to my lack of prior professional experience in the language. I have been offered a position as a Software Test Engineer that uses Java, but I am concerned that will send me down a different career path.   Money aside, how can i figure out if changing from a Software Engineer to a Test Engineer a demotion?

Answers:
sents: text: I would only call it a demotion for you since you want to be a software engineer, but so what?
text: Continuing to work in C++ doesn't seem to be preparing your for Java according to the places you've applied.
text: It is possible you will eventually find something staying in your current job.
text: How long you're willing to wait is up to you.
text: The next question is will having the role as a tester, be enough of a prerequisite for a developer.
text: One advantage you would have is experience as a software engineer in another language with the added benefit of Java experience even though it is as a tester.
text: There are no guarantees, but I would consider taking a job as a java tester only if the company, team and boss are better than where you are at.
text: Getting with a good company probably offers a better chance to become a Java software engineer through an internal position change than trying to explain to other companies how you split experience makes you a better candidate than someone who has already been a Java developer.
text: Personally, I find C++ developers to often (not always) have better insights to what is happening "under the hood" with their code and usually apply that in ways that someone who just knows Java does not.
text: Maybe you need to push that thought a little more in your next interview?
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 5
sents: text: Personally,I as a Software Engineer found the Software Engineering field to be more dominant and advance than testing whether it's manual or automated.
text: (Hopefully I am not being biased)Salary wise also
text: I believe Software Engineers make more than testers.
text: (On average) I am afraid working as a test engineer is not the most direct and efficient way to move from C++ to Java developer, unless you have so much of interest and enthusiasm to expand your Java skills outside your working environment.
text: (Such as reading related books or contributing to an open source Java application and use that in your resume)
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/65972/comxyz
score: 4
sents: text: Generally changing from software engineer to test engineer is not a demotion, and money is of course an excellent indicator for whether a career is pointed upward or downward, or at least this is true within an industry and field.
text: The reason is that the fields have converged in much of the methodology, skill and intelligence required.
text: It sounds like your resume is diverse in constructive ways that tell a story conducive to your goals.
text: This experience sounds wonderful.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 3
sents: text: What kind of QA is this?
text: QA responsibilities vary widely.
text: Sometimes testing means manually clicking through an application and recording the result.
text: Sometimes testing means test automation, ie writing code to test other code.
text: Places that expect their test engineers to write code might use the SDET title: Software Developer Engineer in Test.
text: I think the SDET title helps keep you marketable as a software developer.
text: Eg "I provide business value by creating software; most recently the problem domain was test automation".
text: The first product at my last employer was a system and platform for front-end web application testing.
text: This was in the QA arena, but it was most definitely about developing and delivering code.
text: We later hired another dev who was focused on load testing.
text: Here again, in the QA arena, but the day-to-day was writing code to deliver a product.
text: There will be some people who don't immediately understand this kind of QA experience.
text: But you can market yourself.
text: You learn how to talk about your skills to other devs, non-coders, and non-technical people.
text: This is definitely anecdotal, but during my last job hunt I only talked to one person (a non-technical recruiter) who couldn't understand how a software developer might be part of QA.
text: The other couple dozen or so (including all other recruiters) understood and valued my skill set.
text: Finally, some practical advice..
text: ask these questions:
text: Is there any cross-over from QA engineers to product development?
text: what does that look like?
text: can I meet that person?
text: Do product developers ever cross-over to QA?
text: is that unusual?
text: why?
text: Are QA engineers expected to write code as part of the day to day?
text: And don't forget the Joel test .
text: Well, an updated version.
text: Ask about CI/CD.
text: Make sure you write code during at least one of your interviews.
text: Etc
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/9515/djeikyb
score: 3
sents: text: Yes, this is a demotion.
text: In general QA engineers are less valued and its typically treated as an entry level role at large corporations, with hires eventually moving into engineering or getting out (either pushed out or finding a developer job elsewhere).
text: It probably shouldn't be since a good QA engineer is very useful, but it will definitely be seen as such by people reading your resume later.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/66714/Gabe Sechan
score: 3
sents: text: It seems you have experience doing A, applied for jobs doing B in which you have no experience and got rejected, and got offered a job doing C.
text: If you want to get experience doing B, you might apply for jobs doing A with a chance to learn B.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/16101/gnasher729
score: 1
sents: text: Why should it be a demotion?
text: It's a valued field in the industry.
text: The only people who tend to look down on testers are programmers, just as testers look down on programmers (both considering the other the core of all their problems)...
text: If you're getting paid less as a junior test engineer than you were as a senior C++ programmer that's because you're going from a senior level job to a junior level job,
text: not because you're going from programming to testing.
text: Java experience could come in handy when working with Java based test tools, especially if you're expected to write unit tests for Java applications (though I'd expect that to be mostly done by the programmers, having a tester who can assist in it is very handy).
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/3429/jwenting
score: 0
sents: text: Generally speaking this is not a demotion.
text: A Test Engineer and a Software Engineer are two very different things.
text: Software Engineers often get paid more, but that would also be true if you compared a plumber to the HR person at a plumbing company.
text: Different careers have different pay rates.
text: That being said if you want to be a Software Engineer, experience as a Testing Engineer will not be as valuable to you.
text: Unless you have a good reason for switching, I would recommend staying the course with your current job until you have something that suits you more correctly.
answer_details: author: workplace.stackexchange.com/users/61349/mwbl
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
This could be considered a demotion. The salary should be a good indication.
The answer to this question is highly subjective and it is not easy to tell whether moving into a completely different job is up, down or sideways. It's very difficult to say with certainty whether this change amounts to a demotion.