How to Become a QA Engineer in 2026: 7 Steps That Actually Work

You want to become a QA engineer but you have no degree, no experience, and no idea where to start. I get it. I was you.

As someone without a college degree or any working experience, I was able to become a QA automation engineer in 2011. Here are the 7 steps that actually worked.

Step 1: Fix Your Heart, Before Your Pocket

As a delivery driver, I was making minimum wage by working maximum hours. No matter how hard I worked, I was not able to provide a good life for my wife and two children.

A 4-year college was a very expensive dream for a new immigrant like me. I did not have money, neither time to pursue.

While delivering packages to all those beautiful houses in Leesburg, VA, I was thinking, what do these people do for a living? Why are they so happy? Their kids are jumping on trampolines and their dads are watching them smiling, sitting on their porches.

It started with a feeling and desire. I wanted to do that for my loved ones. Many think you start an IT career with coding, that was not the case for me.

It started in my heart, my mind. I was constantly thinking what can I do to provide that kind of life for my kids? I was constantly reading, talking to people, while driving listening to audiobooks instead of music.

If I did not feel that way, if I did not look for a better life, if I did not have a burning desire, I would not look for the direction and roadmap to change my life.

Getting a high-paying job is a pocket problem, however, without solving the problem in your heart and mind, you will have to chase the pocket for the rest of your life to fill it.

I know it's unconventional. Step number one to get into a QA career is actually filling your heart with a purpose and filling your mind with the right mindset.

Step 2: Be Open-Minded

Many are too skeptical about everything. So when there is an opportunity to talk to new people, join a free class, or attend networking events, they already made up their mind that it's not going to work, it's probably a scam and they will waste their time.

Many scroll three hours a day, they don't mind. But if you ask them to talk to a person who's working as a QA engineer, or show up for an online or in-person QA event, all of a sudden their time becomes so valuable.

One of the reasons it worked out for me is because I took risk. I told myself every time, what is the worst that can happen? Actually, nothing. So I started meeting QA people in my community, joined QA sessions, being open-minded about it. Since all other doors were closed for me :)

Step 3: Set Right Expectations

Right expectation. See, I am an immigrant that escaped communism. Came to the US with no English, no degree. So my reference point was not become rich quick in 12 weeks. I was thinking, many people study four years in college, they still work in low-paying jobs, so, success was never that easy. I accepted the idea of not giving up for at least 2 years, and I will pursue it relentlessly for my family. Because of right expectation, I did not quit, even though I genuinely felt stupid when I did not understand why my code was working or not working. It takes time.

Step 4: Budget Your Time

Talk to your family, get their support. It's a long journey. We are doing this for our family, so for the next one year, I will not be able to spend time on X, Y, and Z. Because the more time you save, the more time you can invest to build your technical competencies. The more support you get from your family, the more likely you will be successful.

Since none of my friends were going to pay my rent and my kids' tuition, I was able to say no to all the parties, movies, and BBQs. Because I needed time to learn. Eventually, those time slots I saved, 15 minutes, 45 minutes, couple of hours, they all added up.

See, many have a budget for their money. However, they don't realize they can always make more money, but time is the only currency that they cannot reproduce or increase. I invested every extra minute that I had into either spiritual growth or professional one.

Step 5: Stop Listening to Everyone

There is a famous saying, if you want to make a mistake, listen to everyone.

Look around, look at everyone. Are they happy? Are they successful? Are they where they are supposed to be? Sad reality, most people are not there. So if you want to have the life of everyone, yeah, go ahead listen to them. If you want to move up in life, you gotta stop taking advice from everyone.

Here is the thing, if you decide to play video games or watch Netflix for the rest of your life, no one would bother to stop you. As soon as you want to invest in your future, want to change your life, learn a profession to have a better income, all of a sudden the economist who works at 7-Eleven will tell you why it's a bad timing because the economy is bad. Even if you learn, you probably won't find a job.

The "AI expert" who does DoorDash for a living would tell you AI is going to take away your future job, why bother?

You got the point. Bottom line, if you don't want to be like everyone, stop listening to everyone. Focus on your dream and cut off negativity from your life. Don't let those "life coaches" ruin your dream.

Step 6: Fundamentals Are Still Important. Even If AI Can Do It.

Even though AI can write code, still learn how to code. You would probably not make money by typing code manually, you will use agentic AI tools to build apps, write test scripts. However, when 99% of the vibe coders only have vibe, you will have strong and deep fundamentals. You will understand how databases work, why do we need APIs? Why systems will fail and not scale? All of this requires technical fundamentals.

We had calculators when we were children, why did we still bother to learn math? Do you regret knowing that 6 x 6 = 39? :)

Here's what the numbers say: QA engineering positions grew 17% in the last two years. Traditional developer roles? Only 9%. Because AI writes code faster than ever, but it's terrible at catching its own mistakes. Every AI-generated line of code needs human quality verification. That's what a QA automation engineer does. Companies are paying $65,000 to $180,000+ for people who can do it. 62% of QA professionals say their roles actually expanded since AI coding tools became widespread.

Fundamentals still matter. Period.

Step 7: When Artificial Is Cheap, Organic Becomes Expensive

The waxed, pesticide-sprayed, mass-produced shiny apples at Walmart are way cheaper than the apples that are sold at the farmers market. Why?

Because artificial makes organic more desirable.

Artificial intelligence is cheap, accessible, and it solves most of the technical problems. Today, companies are not worried about the technical issues like the old days. What they want is someone with high organic intelligence.

You need to improve your human skills. Such as, emotional intelligence, communication, problem-solving, and creative thinking.

If you follow all these steps, you are already ahead of many.

How to Start Your QA Career Now

If you're serious about becoming a QA automation engineer, you don't need to figure this out alone. I built CYDEO so people like you don't have to take the hard road I took. In 6 months, you learn QA automation with Playwright, TypeScript, and AI tools. No experience needed. No CS degree required. I teach the live classes myself, every week. 14,000+ graduates across 36 countries in 10 years.

Good luck on your new journey.