About two weeks ago, I left my previous company.
I didn't start looking for a new job right away. I went to Wudang Mountain for a few days first, walked around, took a break, and let myself slow down a bit. When I got back, I started looking.
I've been in QA for 15 years. I've done functional testing, API testing, automation, and test framework work. These days, though, I'm spending more time figuring out how to actually use AI in my work, how to make it improve my efficiency without letting it confidently take me in the wrong direction.
The Job Hunt
The funny thing is, I really don't like applying for jobs.
It's not that I don't want to work. I just hate the application process. One company, one job description, one resume. Open the recruiting site, scroll through a bunch of jobs, and sometimes I'm already tired.
So I wasn't doing some massive job-search campaign. Usually it was one or two applications a day, maybe a few more when I was in the mood.
And then came the part everyone knows.
Most of them were read and ignored. You send a message, someone opens it, and then nothing happens. No rejection, no follow-up, just a little "read" sitting there.
It's actually easier when someone rejects you. At least you have an answer.
When they just read your message and disappear, you start making up your own answers. Is 15 years of experience too much now? Is age becoming a problem? Are there simply fewer QA jobs? Is everyone looking for someone who's "AI Native"? Does my resume just not look AI enough?
I had no idea. So I kept applying.
In the Meantime
But I wasn't spending all my time job hunting.
Honestly, I'd much rather sit down and keep working on my own project, AI, Ego & the 36 Stratagems.
The series has grown quite a bit by now, and I keep going back over the stories, checking technical details, making sure the characters don't suddenly know things they shouldn't, and fixing all the little continuity problems that nobody notices until you make one of them impossible to ignore.
When I get to the translation stage, I sometimes ask several AIs to polish and translate the same piece at the same time. Then I go through the results myself, line by line. The irony isn't lost on me. I use several AIs to help with the work, and then I still have to sit there and decide which parts are actually good.
Sometimes an entire afternoon disappears and I've changed only a few hundred words.
I enjoy it, though. I've even started thinking about something slightly ridiculous: could the whole thing become a game someday?
Not just an interactive version of the stories. I mean an actual system where characters have different information, people can mislead each other, decisions have consequences, and AI behavior is part of the game rather than just something sitting behind the scenes.
I've been thinking about that more than I probably should.
So the situation was a little strange. I was looking for a job, but I wasn't obsessing over it. I sent a couple of applications here and there, then went back to my own project.
Until last Friday night, when an old colleague called me.
"How About Me?"
He used to work with me and now works at a startup. They're building an AI Agent web platform and putting a team together, and apparently they needed a tester.
He wasn't actually calling to recruit me. He was asking:
"We're hiring a tester. Do you know anyone you could recommend?"
I thought about it for a second.
"How about me?"
Haha.
That's how I ended up going over the next day, Saturday, to meet the CTO.
Saturday With the CTO
The conversation was different from most QA interviews I've had. There wasn't much of the usual checklist about test cases, API automation, or whether I knew a particular testing tool. We talked much more about AI agents and what people should actually trust them to do.
One question that came up was how much judgment we should hand over to AI, and where the human should still have the final say.
I told him I don't really see humans and agents as replacements for each other. I see them more as partners. An agent can execute things, analyze information, and make decisions within a defined scope. One agent can even call another agent and hand part of the work over.
But I still want someone standing at the last gate.
You can delegate part of the judgment. You can automate the execution. You can let AI review the result. But somebody still has to look at the final output and decide whether it's actually good enough.
If something looks wrong, run it again. If something feels off, dig into it. And sometimes you just throw the answer away and start over.
The annoying thing about large language models isn't that they make mistakes. It's that they can make mistakes that look perfectly reasonable.
An obviously wrong answer is easy to catch. An answer that looks polished, sensible, and completely fine can be much harder to question.
That's why I still believe AI can help make a decision, but it shouldn't automatically own the final decision.
In testing, at least, I still want a human holding that last vote.
The conversation went well, but nobody told me I had passed. I went home and carried on with my weekend.
Then Monday came.
My old colleague called again.
"Wait for HR to contact you."
That was when I knew I'd passed.
From a Friday night phone call to a Saturday meeting with the CTO to a Monday confirmation, it all happened pretty quickly. Still, after more than a week of applications and a lot of read-and-no-reply messages, hearing that was a relief.
The new opportunity is also a better overall deal than my previous job. Nothing dramatic changed in the monthly salary, but the overall compensation and benefits are better, and there seems to be room to grow if things go well.
That's enough for me.
At this point I'm not really looking for some perfect job. I want the work to make sense, I want to keep doing things I'm good at, and I'd like to have the chance to build something rather than just maintain whatever is already there.
Looking Back
Looking back, the interesting part isn't really the job itself. It's what happened before that phone call.
To most companies, I was basically a resume.
Fifteen years of experience, automation, test frameworks, AI, a few projects, some keywords. Compress all of that into a page or two and hope somebody decides it's worth a closer look.
Of course companies need filters. Recruiters need filters, and recruiting systems need even more filters now. That's not a bad thing. There are too many applications to deal with otherwise.
But a resume is still just a compressed version of a person. It can tell someone that you might be a fit for the job. It can't easily tell them what you're actually like to work with.
My old colleague already knew that part.
He had worked with me before. He knew how I worked, what I was good at, and how I usually dealt with problems. He didn't need to reconstruct me from a list of keywords.
So when he asked whether I knew anyone who might fit the job, I didn't need to think very hard.
"How about me?"
And somehow, that one sentence got me from a recruiting site to a chair across from a CTO.
That made me rethink job hunting a little.
I used to think the most important thing was having the right resume: the right skills, the right project descriptions, the right keywords, the right formatting. All of that still matters.
But a resume is still only a compressed version of you.
Sometimes what gets you through the door is the person who already knows what isn't on the resume.
About two weeks ago, I left my previous company. I went to Wudang Mountain, came back, and started sending out one or two applications here and there. In between those applications, I kept working on my 36 Stratagems project and thinking about how to turn it into a game.
Then, last Friday night, my phone rang.
It was an old colleague.
"We're hiring a tester. Do you know anyone?"
I said:
"How about me?"
On Saturday, I went to meet the CTO.
On Monday, I got the call.
"Wait for HR to contact you."
I knew what that meant.
I got it.
Not a bad result for someone who really hates writing resumes.
And if you're looking for a job right now, or getting ready to start looking, I hope a little bit of that luck finds its way to you too. Good luck, and keep going.
As Forrest Gump said in the movie, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
I guess that's exactly where I am right now.
P.S. English isn't my first language, so yes, I used AI to help translate this. I still went through it myself, because apparently I don't trust AI enough to let it have the final word. ๐
Top comments (22)
Congrats! I'm really happy to hear that! ๐ธ
I guess saying โHow about me?โ must have taken a lot of courage, but you actually did it, and it worked!
It also feels like taking the right kind of break helped you move forward to the next stage!
Anyway, congratulations again! ๐
Thank you so much! To be honest though, I didnโt really feel like it took much courage at the time. My exact thought was: โWow, what perfect timing! I was just dozing off and a pillow shows up.โ Hahaha ๐
Awww congrats!!!! I knew it would be fast for you to find a new job ๐ฅฐ๐ฅฐ
Awww, thank you! ๐ Honestly, I wasn't sure about that after so many read-and-no-replies. ๐คฃ But somehow, one call from an old colleague did the trick!
Congrats, man! Iโm really happy for you! ๐
Long time no see, buddy! Thanks a whole lot, haha ๐
The "read and no reply" thing is worse than a rejection, honestly. At least a no gives you something to work with. Silence just makes you invent reasons, and none of them are ever good for your head.
What got me was the CTO conversation being about judgment and trust instead of tool checklists. That's a much better interview than most QA roles run, where it's just "do you know Selenium" for forty minutes. The point about AI mistakes being dangerous specifically because they look reasonable is the real skill in testing right now, not knowing which tool to run.
Also, "wow, perfect timing, a pillow shows up while I was dozing off" is a great way to put it. Congrats on the new role.
I couldnโt agree more. Getting readโandโnoโreply responses is really crushing. So whenever HR gives me a genuine reply, even a rejection, I sincerely appreciate it. Getting to talk directly with the CTO was only possible thanks to my former colleague vouching for me. And once you reach the CTO interview stage, there is no need for basic toolโlevel questions anymore.
Back when I worked as an interviewer for QA roles, besides questions about everyday QA tools and techniques, I would always end with one question for candidates: โWhat exactly does testing do?โ I got all kinds of answers โ keeping projects stable, ensuring smooth releases, improving customer satisfaction, and so on. But what I really wanted to hear was the simple answer: testing is about finding bugs. No matter if it is manual testing, automation, or any other approach, finding bugs is what a QA engineer is supposed to deliver.
Haha โa pillow shows up while I was dozing offโ is a local idiom from where Iโm from. Glad you caught the reference ๐ Thank you very much.
Congratulations ๐
My Dear wise old sage!!
Been waiting for this day!
Haha what, Iโm still so young! Donโt call me an old sage, hahaha.๐คฃ
sorry , sorry
๐ค๐คฃ
I donโt know why, but I just canโt stop myself from saying this. Iโm sorry if it bothers you.
Haha๐คฃ itโs totally fine, I was just joking. Time catches up with everyone, I am indeed getting older. Still, strangers on the street call me big brother instead of uncle, and Iโm pretty satisfied with that ๐
The reason for saying this has absolutely nothing to do with age. Thereโs actually a completely different reason behind it, just like there is a reason behind โThe Lazy Girl.โ
Alright then, Iโll happily take it ๐๐
Congratulations, nice !!!
Yeah, personal networks beat the best resume, simple as that - even in the "AI era" ...
Well, I've been hired more than once via references from my personal network - it makes things so easy ...
Also nice to see you kept your cool and didn't fret about things - confidence is gold :-)
Thanks! ๐ I think you're right. A good resume can get you into the queue, but someone who has actually worked with you can sometimes get you straight to the right conversation.
And honestly, working on my 36 Stratagems project probably helped me stay relaxed. I was busy doing something I actually enjoyed, so I didn't spend all day staring at the recruiting site. ๐คฃhaha
Yeah and I'm sure that being relaxed and confident helps a lot in an interview!
Haha ๐ Exactly. I kept totally relaxed the whole time, just like chatting with an old friend. He didnโt act like a highโandโmighty CTO at all.
Congrats, Xu ๐ So happy for you ๐
Thank you so much. I also owe a lot to everyoneโs support ๐