From Tester to Coach

A couple of months ago, I was a Quality Assurance Engineer with a privately held company. There I would write automated tests in Ruby/Cucumber, and generally test the product with a combination of manual testing and automation. I was paid alright, and the work wasn’t the worst I’d ever had. I enjoyed the company of my co-workers and (for the most part) enjoyed going to work every day.

There was a problem, though: I didn’t feel challenged anymore. I was able to go in, completely shut off my brain, do my job, and then leave. I felt like I was stagnating, that there was no growth in my professional or personal life. I wanted something new, something to challenge me and help me to grow as a developer and person.

I was able to reach out to an old friend at LeanDog, Cheezy. I told him my situation, letting him know that I didn’t feel like I was growing anymore, and wanted a new challenge. That’s when I imagine he rubbed his hands together and laughed. Of course that didn’t really happen, but I like to imagine it, if only for my own amusement.

I headed out to the LeanDog boat here in Cleveland, had a couple of interviews, and then got the call to put in my two weeks notice.

It’s been a long time since I was this excited about an opportunity. Not only would I be able to teach and help others grow like I wanted to, but I’d be getting paid for it? Where do I sign?!

Flash forward a month, and as I’m writing this, I’m in Cheezy’s SUV and we’re headed to Agile and Beyond over in Deerborn, Michigan. Then it’s off to a client and my first real gig. (This was March 8th.)

It’s going to be a great year.