Why TripleTen’s Externship Was the Missing Link in Josh’s QA Career Transition

Running his own website-building business gave him a broad skillset, but Josh Kleckner found the operational demands overwhelming and wanted to focus on what he enjoyed most: improving systems and finding bugs. That desire led him to enroll in the QA Testing Bootcamp at TripleTen. With a strong foundation in manual and automation testing, Josh applied his new skills during an externship at TaskTrain, gaining real-world experience. Find out how TripleTen’s externship program has given Josh the confidence he needs to successfully transition into QA testing. 

What inspired you at this point in your career with building websites to get into QA testing?

I own a website-building business, but it's been a lot of work to run it. It requires you to know all aspects of business, like accounting, taxes, sales, and marketing, and that isn’t where my strengths lie. My strengths are attention to detail and problem-solving. I was looking for a career shift when I found TripleTen and their QA testing bootcamp. I have always been interested in how things work, why they break, and how to improve them, and a career in QA is a great way to funnel that curiosity. QA also seemed like a good way to use my passion for continuous improvement and put those skills to use.

There are quite a few QA testing bootcamps — What set TripleTen apart from the rest?

I did a lot of independent research on TripleTen before I enrolled, and compared it to other bootcamps. For the most part, TripleTen reviews were all positive. The job guarantee at TripleTen was a benefit. It assured me that I wasn’t just going to finish the program and be done. I also really liked the community at TripleTen. Everyone is in a chat channel together, so you have a lot of peers helping each other out since everyone is in the same situation. 

I liked how many tutors at TripleTen had a lot of availability, and the core structure of the bootcamp was very promising. The externship opportunity was also crucial. Getting that real-world, hands-on experience was important to me. TripleTen taught you the skills, and the externship showed you how to apply them in the real world.

When you were applying for the QA Testing Bootcamp at TripleTen, did you need to have any previous technical experience to get in?

No — they make it clear that you can be a complete novice and enroll. They will teach you everything you need. I had some of these skills coming into the bootcamp, which gave me a head start, but there were students in my cohort who didn’t have any tech experience and they did great with it. The bootcamp starts slow, beginning with an introduction to computers and technology. This helps everyone build a foundation before moving on.

Did you receive any of their financing or scholarships to make that tuition more affordable?

I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I didn't need financial aid, but TripleTen did allow me to break up my tuition into two payments to make it more manageable.

What did a typical day look like in the QA testing bootcamp?

I would start each day on the TripleTen chat channel, networking with students, checking on tutor hours and group learning days, finding out about upcoming career talks, and reading the latest from students. Later in the day, I would spend a few hours working through lessons. In each lesson, they give you an overview of certain skills that you need to learn before you get to the project. For the projects, I tried to block out larger chunks of time where I could focus. Typically, I would work on my projects on the weekends when I didn't have to focus on other work.

How did you balance the bootcamp while working? 

The amount of time I dedicated to the bootcamp varied depending on how busy my job was. I tried to commit 8-10 hours a week to the bootcamp. The projects do take quite a bit more time, but TripleTen will give you estimates on how many hours it takes to complete. Overall, TripleTen is flexible with the schedule. If you have a week where you're swamped or personal stuff comes up, they can give you extensions. I did take advantage of those. 

What did you learn in the QA Testing Bootcamp at TripleTen?

The curriculum started with a heavy focus on manual QA. We learned the basics, including what QA is, before getting into test design and documentation, which is a huge piece of QA. Then we moved on to executing and reporting the bugs.

We got into web application, mobile app testing, and then APIs, learning about requests and everything related. From there, it got more technical. We learned about database testing and automation testing

What kinds of projects did you work on in the bootcamp?

One of our projects was mobile app testing. TripleTen developed a ride-share app, so you have to go in and test it. It felt like a real-world experience because you're not just doing exercises, you're actually testing an application! We were testing the full process of setting a route and ordering the car in the app. We checked the front end and back end, and made sure requests went through. For this project, we learned Android Studio, and that is just one of the tools that we'll be able to use in our career. 

Later in the bootcamp, we did some automation testing, but I think the best project was the final project where you combine everything you learned. It's a great way to reassure yourself and celebrate everything you learned. For the final project, you’re working with a mobile application. You're reviewing the requirements, creating your full test suite, and then writing some code for the automation testing. We also did some more API requests and we used GitHub for it. Throughout the final project, you're learning how to create your repositories, and  pull and push to the repository.

Through TripleTen, you completed an externship at TaskTrain. When did your externship start during the bootcamp?

There are eight sprints in the bootcamp, and you can apply for the externship at Sprint 6. There is a waiting period for it, and the externships are limited. These externships are with real companies, which means you have to wait until they're ready. My externship started about four weeks after graduating from the bootcamp, but that can vary depending on the company and the student.

How do you choose the company to work with for your externship? 

TripleTen assigns you to a company. I started my externship with a group of TripleTen students who completed the externship alongside me.

What is TaskTrain? What problems do they solve?

TaskTrain is a standard operating procedure (SOP) tool used by companies. It's a great way to organize the steps to complete tasks and make sure everyone is aligned with the process. Consistency is really important in these situations, so you create manuals with the steps that need to be taken, and assign tasks.

What was the time commitment like for the externship? 

The externship was six weeks for 10 hours a week, but you could commit more time. They told us that the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

What kinds of projects did you work on at TaskTrain?

When the externship started, our mentor received the scope of the project, and then let us know so we had a good idea of what we’d be testing. There were 12 of us in the externship, so for parts of it, we broke into smaller teams to focus on different sections of TaskTrain. I started with testing the procedure creation feature, which meant creating the procedures, making sure every aspect worked. We carried out comprehensive testing that addressed both functional requirements and non-functional criteria.

We did a lot of exploratory testing, which was cool. It was something we didn't learn at TripleTen, so we learned a new skill right away in the externship. Exploratory testing helped us learn how to be inquisitive and intuitive in what we were testing. Another new thing we learned was the Gherkin language. We were reading Gherkin feature files and using them with our testing. Later on, we also got to write new Gherkin feature files and these files would be used for automated testing in the future! Overall, the externship was a great way to learn more and boost existing skills. 

If you were struggling during the externship, how could you get support? Was it through TaskTrain Mentor or could you also reach out to TripleTen?

TripleTen has mentors for these externships. The mentorship was really involved and there was always somebody there to help. My mentor was Jonathan, and if I was struggling with anything, I could reach out to him through a separate chat channel. You can also do one-on-ones. We had weekly meetings during the externship where we would review everything we did the previous week and learn about our next task for the upcoming sprint. 

Since I was working with other TripleTen graduates in this externship, we helped each other, too. If we ran into a small problem or weren’t sure about something, we could reach out to one another. Plus, the owner of TaskTrain was in the chat channel, so if there was a question that needed to be answered by someone at TaskTrain, he was there for us.

What did Career Services look like at TripleTen?

Throughout the whole bootcamp, you have access to a career coach. You can schedule 15-minute one-on-ones with them, which they call Ask Me Anything. Those sessions are focused on a specific problem or question you may have. TripleTen also has bi-weekly career talks throughout the bootcamp, where you can learn more about the job search or what it’s really like to work in the field.

Once you graduate, they have Career Acceleration where you are assigned a coach who helps with the whole job search process, like learning more about yourself and how to position yourself to land a job. They help you with writing and refining your cover letter and resume. They give you job search strategies and teach you what to look for in a job. If you have a specific interest, they help you figure out how to leverage that. For example, I’m really into nature and the environment, and they’re helping me find a job that resonates with that. They also do mock interviews and interview prep. They cover everything you need!

For how long can you access career support from TripleTen after you graduate?

Career support is for life at TripleTen. If I decide to ever look for a new job, I still have access to a career coach to help me with my resume and do mock interviews. That's another great thing about TripleTen: they give you more confidence, knowing that you have support at and time.

What tech roles do you feel qualified to apply for now?

I would say a junior QA testing role, primarily working with manual testing, before working up to test automation roles. TripleTen fully prepared me to get a job in QA, but I don't expect to be at a high level like a team leader right away. To get a role in test automation, I would need to do a bit more learning, but some companies will help you get there. Companies don't expect you to be an expert in everything when you're first coming in as a junior. 

Since you’re still running your own business and building websites for clients, are you using what you've learned at TripleTen on your job?

Definitely! Halfway through the bootcamp, it hit me that I had been doing QA already when building websites. I realized that in my business, I’m building websites and testing them before delivering to clients, which means making sure they look well and function. Even after delivery, I still follow up, to make sure they're still running smoothly, and there are no new bugs. A lot of the QA is already being applied to what I do, but it gives me more insight into what to look for in the back end.

At this point in your career, is TripleTen worth it for you?

Definitely. I don't have a dedicated QA job yet, but I feel super confident in everything I learned and how to apply all these new skills. I know the job market is tough right now and it probably will take a while, but I feel confident that I will get a job. I feel ready to dive into a QA role and I know  I can perform and reach all the goals at whatever company I work for.

What is your advice to TripleTen students on making the most of their externship experience? Is there anything that you wish you knew before you started at TaskTrain?

Take it seriously because it's a real-world experience. You're working in a team, you're working in sprints, and you're using the Agile methodology. The project you are working on is for a real company and real stakeholders. They expect good work from you and they deserve it. You will also gain a lot from the experience, so give it your best effort. This is your first glimpse of what it's going to be like having an actual QA job!

Find out more and read TripleTen reviews on Course Report. This article was produced by the Course Report team in partnership with TripleTen.