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Was a software developer but realised it’s much easier to be competitive, if you’re a good but not great dev, to get higher paying SDET roles.

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Don’t they get paid much less? Let’s say you’re a 7/10 dev, wouldn’t you get paid more as a dev?

Honestly, no. I found salaries were similar for the same level of role (maybe a little more in dev) but I was able to get much more senior SDET roles which counteracted this. Instead of being a mid-level dev, I was a senior/lead SDET approaching staff level.

Edit: When I made the shift initially from dev to SDET, I had a 50% pay rise. In London I regularly get approached for £85k/$100k roles as an SDET. True devs might earn more than that at the same companies but it’s already much higher than most devs earn in the UK, and I’m not experienced enough to compete for the dev counterpart roles.

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