Several of our clients are currently working to improve development team efficiency by hiring Software Development Engineers in Test (SDETs), to drive a deeper level of testing effectiveness by thinking through the design of both the code and the related testing process and frameworks, from the very beginning of the development lifecycle. As the role name suggests, successful SDETs combine developer and test engineer acumen, which allows them to work hand in hand with the development team on an equal footing.
Let us draw a Major League Baseball analogy, in our experience, if you consider test engineers “those that can pitch” and developers to be “those that can hit,” in searching for candidates the role requires an emphasis on the hitting portion of the task. Each task on its own is very hard.
The universe of candidates is certainly full of pitchers, QA engineers who have learned frameworks and now present themselves as SDETs. But in many cases, candidates lack the coding background to be successful in the role. They have been around hitting, but they haven’t had many at-bats.
Here are considerations for those that are looking to fill SDET positions as a candidate or one of our client technical leaders:
- For aspiring SDETs, if you are a QA engineer candidate looking to make the jump to an SDET role, find a way in your current role to bolster your coding experience… you will increase your odds of success! You don’t necessarily have to be a developer, but you must be able to read code and prove so in a technical screen.
- For CTOs and tech leaders, we’d expect most of your developers are not interested in making a full transition to an SDET position. Consider requiring/advocating for testing framework skills from a portion of your development staff and then have them rotate through the SDET position so they remain primarily developers.
In the realm of Major League Baseball, Don Drysdale is known as the classic “pitcher who can hit.” He recorded twenty-nine home runs in 1,169 career at-bats. Shohei Ohtani represents the modern embodiment of a dual-skilled superstar, achieving thirty-nine home runs this season alongside an ERA of 3.43. Just as baseball enthusiasts look for players adept at both pitching and hitting, we, too, search for SDETs who embody a harmonious blend of coding and testing prowess!
Good luck finding (or becoming) the next Drysdale or Ohtani!
As for the CC Pace team, we will be on the lookout for these highly capable pitchers that can hit. While this is not an easy role to quickly fill, we have an extensive referral network that is growing every day. Give us a call if you’re ready to find the perfect fit for your team.