Before I won the Green Card, I worked at a private school. It wasn’t a bad job, paid well, enough to make a very modest living.

After I found out about winning the green card, I started reading all the forums about the USA: our Diesel, govorimpro.us, etc. I was mostly interested in the topic of how others successfully adapted in the land of opportunity.

✅ Of all the forums, this is where I learned the most: ?govorimpro.us

? On this forum many immigrants from CIS wrote about their experiences of switching from other professions to IT?.

To be more specific, into a software tester. While reading other people’s success stories, I got the idea to switch to IT.

But, there were huge doubts, I thought, “Well, where am I and where are these IT people?” But shit! I wanted a change, I didn’t want to do what I was doing before. ?

And all the ones who had retrained as testers talked about their jobs with such passion and pride. Reading their progress, I longed to experience feelings of joy and pride in myself as well.

My husband supported me and told me that I would succeed. Although, I did not believe it ? I did not do well in the exact sciences at school. In fact, I did not do well in all subjects. I had no interest in learning.

When I told my acquaintances about my plan to study IT, there were people who reminded me of my academic success and tried to dissuade me by saying that in the USA it’s not that easy.

? But, I am very grateful to @yulka_yolka and @albinaileeva for supporting me at that time. On the forum totally strangers encouraged me and told me that everything is possible, the main thing is desire and persistence.

? That’s how I learned to be a software tester ??? in 4 months at @portnovcomputerschool and got 2 job offers.
? By the way, I was one of the first in my group to get a job.

? Anything is possible, the main thing is to have a great desire, patience and persistence to go all the way.

? made after the first interview.

Loosing a job is the time when many men and women ask themselves if that is the career change time. In many cases the career transition gets easier because of financial support provided by WIA (Workforce Investment Act of 1998) program.

If you have an inclination for an intellectual work, if you have passion for quality inside of you, if you are not afraid of working hard and being challenged with new evolving technology on everyday basis – then Software Testing career might be the one to consider.

Software Testing (Software Quality Assurance) is a unique IT job market niche for those who have limited time frame to change career path to a dynamic well paid profession.

The profession is relatively easy to learn. Simply put the job of a software tester is in finding and reporting differences between actual behavior of a software product and its expected behavior. The more technical knowledge the person has the more jobs that person could qualify for. But even with fairly limited technical skills, you can test many web applications from the user stand point. For example, E-mail, online retail store, web-communities, online banking, games, educational services, and many others.

There are many technical definitions of the “Software Testing” or “Software Quality Assurance” terms you can find on the WEB.

We at Portnov Computer School define Software Testing as your  chance to change your life.

Software QA Testing deserves serious consideration if you are thinking of a career change opportunities. There are many reasons for that:

• Your previous professional experience and education count. Think about software you use in your professional field – someone tested that software. That person possesses knowledge of the field as well as the knowledge of Software Testing.
• Age is not a problem. Many companies value stability of a QA person, her maturity, understanding of quality, tolerance to routine work
• In each profession there is a component of quality control, verification of what you do. It is not testing the software per say, but it is a transferable skill.
• It takes just 3-6 month to learn the Software QA and you can keep your job while attending the school. And the training is very affordable…
• The first job will pay $25-35 per hour or $55K-65K a year. Within 2-3 years the compensation will easily grow to $40-$60 per hour or $80K-$100K
• We are here to walk you through each and every step and  we have being doing that since 1994 with 2000 successful graduates. You are getting training and job placement force behind you – the Portnov Computer School

Do your research about the profession and us as your guides to the employment in that profession. Visit the school, audit a few sessions, talk to the students, instructors, administration. It might be your life time opportunity.

You have a college degree, which is a great achievement!!! Congratulations!!!

What is next? Do you have a career? Do you want a career?

Software Quality Assurance (Software Testing) field recruits college graduates from all the imaginable ways of life. And career in Software Testing is really the rewarding one. It offers much better financial compensation compare to most of the non-IT professions with starting salary ranging from $50-55K to $60-65K. In 3-5 years you are looking at 6-figure income potential, which is very common in IT.

It takes 4-6 month to complete classroom training and internship to get your first job. We have heard that many times – it sounds too good to be true. It is not how the world turns around.

It makes Software Testing even more attractive because it is a real job market niche, because you can learn it in a few month, because our training is real – you can stop by, you can audit a few sessions, you can watch our training on Youtube, you can look at the job placement log, you can join the school if you decide to explore the opportunity.

You can even keep your existing job or you can take the training online at a substantial discount. Another attractive detail – our best on-campus program, which includes internship with a local Silicon Valley company, costs a fraction of what you used to pay for a semester in a 4-year college.

Many new Americans are facing the problem of deciding which way to go professionally. Immigration means a big change in your life style and it is a great opportunity to apply yourself in a dynamic and open US job market. You can become anything you want to be.

If you don’t know exactly which way to go or if you do not feel comfortable with the opportunities which you have looked at so far, then think about Software Testing.

At Portnov Computer School, we have trained newcomers from all over the world – such as countries of former Soviet Union, India, China, Israel, Peru, Phillipines, Pakistan, Mexico, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Canada, and Nepal.

Many DV Lottery winners from Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, and Baltic States are choosing Silicon Valley as their new home and Portnov Computer School as their guide to a new life. If you are looking to start a new life in America, we can help in many ways, starting with basic accommodation and building a network of new friends and colleagues.

If you have college degree (not necessarily in IT or any kind of engineering), enjoy intellectual work, and prefer the working environment of an engineering company rather than business, construction, security, or retail – think twice and research the Software Testing career opportunity.

If you have questions, such as whether or not you are good enough to join, whether you have enough computer skills to learn software testing, whether your written and verbal communication skills are good enough to do the job, or if Software QA jobs exist in your area, you should speak to a school counselor who can help you to determine if it makes sense to enroll. You can research the job market, ask your questions, and share with us your doubts and concerns.

Read publications on the Software Testing profession and the Portnov Computer School – we have some good links on that website.

Feel free to call or e-mail us if you have any questions.