QE Academy: Starting a new job, made easy

Introducing a head start for your QE career.

It’s always a little scary to start a new job. The change can come with a new role, unfamiliar hierarchies, different environments, untried technologies, and so much more. Before you can truly jump in, there’s that awkward phase where you’re needed, but not yet knowledgeable enough to help. These are the days spent reading documentation (if you’re lucky), listening to meetings filled with unfamiliar acronyms, getting all the access to all the things, and generally being lost. It’s a lot.

Enter, the Quality Engineering Academy!

How does it differ from a typical ‘new job’ start? First, there is a plan. No more days sitting at your desk trying to figure out what to do between the meetings you don’t understand. At the Academy, your first 5 weeks are completely scheduled, with thoughtfully planned sessions hosted by QE professionals dedicated to your learning and growth— as opposed to that well-meaning colleague trying to teach you something while simultaneously putting out a project fire. This is a great chance to meet your fellow Builders, and be inspired by their passion for quality.

Second, you get to learn how to do your job before actually doing your job. The academy lets you calm your worries of breaking production or slowing team velocity and simply focus on learning. This way, by the time you’ve completed the Academy and are deep into your first project, you’ve had time to settle in; you’ve made connections with people in your office and beyond, you’ve got your computer set up and tools running.

And finally, you’re not alone. In the Academy, you get to work with an Academy cohort, as well as instructors who you’ll likely bump into as you move into different projects post-Academy. Here, you won’t be the one new person who doesn’t know how to use the coffee machine. It’s both comforting and valuable to be starting with a group; everyone comes in with different experience, and that’s celebrated. You start learning from each other and working together early on. We all know some things, and we all have some things to learn.

Job-ready on day one

Once the Academy was complete, I was amazed at how much easier it was to get up to speed on a project using what I learned. Sure, there will always be more to learn, of course. New tools will be developed, and different projects will have different needs and constraints. The Academy is not a cheat sheet for any project, fully contributing in one day—but it definitely makes it easier. I didn’t just gain a foundation for my job, it set the tone for how I do my job; how I approach overwhelming tasks, how to ask for help, how to work collaboratively—even while working remotely. And most importantly, how to enjoy my work and the people I do it with. Whether quality engineering is your final stop or not, the Academy provides invaluable tools and experiences to take into your career.