Any crowdsourcing or other real opportunities to get into automation?

Question

I've been working as a full time tester for the past 6 years, but I've mostly done manual testing. I had the chance to do some automation using java selenium webdriver + robot and a specific java api framework. However, I've always wanted to gain more automation experience.

I know of crowdsourcing sites like uTest or BugFinders, but I haven't seen any real automation opportunities there.

Is there any automation crowdsourcing site where I can get some experience? Or is there any opportunity other than crowdsourcing for me to do some real work for a project (instead of just setting up a fake environment to practice)?

Answer 1

First, adding to Bobby's answer: test automation projects on "freelance" websites are (in my opinion) not a viable option for you. The main reason being that competition is fierce; hirers are looking for profiles with experience and a high rating (or good reviews). Some of these "freelancers" work terribly cheap as well. So getting paid for something you still need to learn is not realistic (via this channel).

If you want to learn test automation properly, some options include:

• follow decent online courses; your employer will pay for these, I should hope. For example this one seems worth the money.
• get a consultant hired in your company (say, for six months) to set up a good automation framework. This allows you to learn from someone in person, and also ensures you get the basics down properly. (If you're new to automation, your first framework probably won't last.)
• become a test consultant yourself, so your career path will lead you to many projects and clients and thus you'll get lots of opportunities to develop your skills. Especially because consulting firms tend to invest in the career of their consultants, and they have tons of in-house knowledge and courses.

Answer 2

Talk to your manager. Say you want to automate repeatable processes to save time and resources, and ask where. Show that you are willing to learn stuff in your own free time, that you have drive and dedication. So, find opportunity to automate something in your current job. Does not have to be big. Small opportunities are abundant.

If you are lucky, you will get chance in your company. If not, look for another manual tester position where you can also spend some time learning automation.

Answer 3

Freelance sites like Upwork or Freelancer.com often have smaller web automation projects, like "Automate data upload to website xyz" or "Automatically generate reports on website abc".

The tools used for these project are typically the same that are popular with web testers: iMacros, Sikuli, Kantu Automation, Scrapy and of course Selenium/Webdriver.