Description
Manual QA + Automation + Ai + Internship + Career Program
Course begins June 9, 2025
Course lasts XVI Weeks
This course contains the following sections:
- Manual QA
- JAVA Basics for Automation
- Selenium Automation Framework Setup
- Writing Auto Tests for Selenium
- HTML/CSS/JS Basics For Frontend Scripting
- Postman For API
- Alternative QA Automation Frameworks: Cucumber/Cypress
- LLM Theory & AI Foundations
- Prompt Engineering for QA and Career
- AI-Powered Testing Tools
- Basic Multi-agent AI System Design
- Internship at a SaaS Company
- Career Mentoring with AI Enhancement
PREREQUISITE: English B1 (Intermediate). Classes will be held in English.
Tentative Schedule: MON – THUR 5pm – 8pm Mountain Standard Time (MST) (Denver, CO).
The software quality automation job market is set for robust growth over the next decade, driven by digitalization and technological advancements. The market size is estimated at USD 58.6 billion in 2025, with projections suggesting it could reach USD 120-130 billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of approximately 7.7% (Research Nester, 2025). This growth reflects increased IT budget allocations for testing, expected to be 10-15% by 2035, as organizations prioritize quality assurance in agile and DevOps environments.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital adoption, likely increasing long-term demand for testing jobs due to remote work and cloud solutions. The shift from traditional Testing Centers of Excellence (TCoEs) to integrated quality approaches is changing the job landscape, reducing specialized roles and boosting cross-functional QA positions (DevPro Journal, 2024).
The Tech Career “Manual QA + Automation + AI Fundamentals + Career Coaching Crash Course” Program is an intensive 15-week course designed to prepare students for careers in information technology with an added focus on AI integration for QA professionals. Starting in June, 2025, participants will gain hands-on experience with the latest tools and technologies used in the industry today. Through a combination of lectures, projects, and mentoring from experienced IT professionals, students will build a strong technical skillset in areas like quality assurance, automation, AI-enhanced testing, and software development. The program focuses on both hard and soft skills, ensuring students are career-ready. Participants will refine their resumes, practice interviewing, and receive career coaching to help them secure jobs after graduation. By the end of the intensive bootcamp, students will have the knowledge and confidence to launch successful careers in Tech with valuable AI skills that expand their career opportunities.
Instructors:
Eugene S. – LinkedIn (tap to open)
Eugene is a Senior Quality Assurance Engineer at Intermountain Healthcare with over 10 years of QA experience. He specializes in web and mobile application testing with expertise in test automation using Selenium/Java and Appium/Java. As a QA instructor at Tech Start since 2023, Eugene has been empowering individuals with the skills needed to succeed in IT.
Natalia V. – LinkedIn (tap to open)
Natalia is a Senior QA Engineer with over 16 years of experience in telecommunications, cybersecurity, and manufacturing industries. She’s worked at TEKsystems, Amazon, and Kaspersky, specializing in test strategy development and automation using Java/Cucumber/Appium. Natalia has extensive experience mentoring new hires and developing comprehensive test documentation.
Artur K. – LinkedIn (tap to open)
Artur is a Front End Developer at SmartAsset with extensive experience in web development using HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript/PHP. He specializes in translating UX wireframes into responsive features and has managed projects with QA teams from planning to launch. His combined development and QA experience makes him ideal for teaching HTML/CSS/JS and version control.
Elena T. – LinkedIn (tap to open)
Elena has 8+ years of experience in QA Testing for web and mobile applications, currently working at Inside Real Estate. She’s proficient in numerous testing methodologies and technologies including Python, Postman, REST APIs, and Selenium WebDriver. Her comprehensive QA background makes her an excellent instructor for career development and interview preparation.
Meerim T. – LinkedIn (tap to open)
Meerim is an ISTQB-certified Lead QA Automation Engineer working on an Apple project at OSI Engineering. With 7+ years of QA experience, she’s created automation frameworks using Python/PyTest and Cypress/TypeScript. Her versatility with testing tools and languages makes her ideal for teaching API testing and Postman.
Aleksei M. – LinkedIn (tap to open)
Aleksei is a seasoned Product Designer currently working on a major bank’s business mobile application. With experience at companies like Megaplan and HuskyJam, his expertise spans UI/UX design, graphic design, and art direction. As an instructor and mentor at TSA, Aleksei helps students work on design skills and advance their careers.
Kirill F. – LinkedIn
Kirill is a Chief Data Scientist at Ozzmart with expertise in AI and machine learning. He’s proficient in Python and various ML frameworks including PyTorch, TensorFlow, XGBoost, and YOLO. His background includes experience at NOVATEK and Gazprom Neft, with skills in MLOps systems like ClearML, MLFlow, and NVIDIA Triton Inference Server. Kirill’s strong technical expertise combined with his presentation skills makes him an excellent instructor for AI foundations and practical data science applications.
Request an individual consultation:
Course Schedule:
Week I:
- Mon (2h): Alex
- Group Intro; Class Intro; Intentions; Course Requirements; Company Intro
- Tue (2h): Alex
- CPB Setup; Shopify Hosting Infrastructure; Tools / Apps Used in a SaaS; Jira / Youtrack / Zendesk / Shopify / Google Cloud Platform; Gitlab
- Wed (2h): Alex
- Workflow; Team Roles; SDLC; Documentation; User Guides; Wikis; Changelog; Terminal; Git
- Thur (2h): Vlad
- Internship Onboarding
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week II:
- Mon (3h): Eugene
- ABC of testing; QA VS Testing; What is a bug?; Triaging; Jira
- Tue (3h): Eugene
- Lifetime of a bug; Types of testing; Testing tours; White/Gray/Black box testing
- Wed (3h): Eugene
- Advanced testing techniques; Dev tools; Cookies
- Thur (2h): Natalia S
- Tester Job Essentials; Career Planning
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week III:
- Mon (2h): Aleks M.
- UX/Ui Design Introduction I. Figma Basics. Desktop.
- Tue (2h): Aleks M.
- UX/Ui Design Introduction II. Figma Basics. Mobile.
- Wed (3h): Artur
- Version Control/Git: Understanding the basics of version control using Git, a system for tracking changes in source code during software development. Workshop.
- Thur (3h): Artur
- Web Hosting and Deployment: Learning how to publish a website on the internet. Gitlab > Linux Server via terminal.
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week IV:
- Mon (2h): Eugene
- Homework Session
- Tue (2h): Eugene
- Homework Session
- Wed (3h): Artur
- HTML / CSS I: Desktop Development; Xpath; Selectors; Id Injections; Relative path; Absolute Path
- Thu (3h): Artur
- HTML / CSS II: Mobile
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
- No code tool; Flutterflow Overview; Self Study
Week V:
- Mon (3h): Artur
- JavaScript I: Learning the basics of JavaScript, a programming language that makes web pages interactive.
- Tue (3h): Artur
- JavaScript II: Learning the basics of JavaScript, a programming language that makes web pages interactive.
- Wed (3h): Natalia V
- Portfolio Page Cross testing; Filing bugs in Jira
- Thur (3h): Natalia V
- SQL1: Basics; CRUD; E2E: FrontEnd (WordPress) and BackEnd (SQL) testing approach
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week VI:
- Mon (3h): Natalia V
- SQL2: Joins / NoSQL databases
- Tue (2h): Natalia V
- Postman; One big lecture; CRUD; API testing; Swagger; Gray box testing; Tests in postman
- Wed (2h): Natalia V
- JMeter; Basics of performance testing
- Thu (2h): Natalia V
- Charles Proxy; Android studio; Browserstack; Testflight; Advanced mobile testing techniques
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week VII:
- Mon (3h): Eugene
- Prompt Engineering for QA: Creating effective test prompts
- Prompt patterns to evaluate software quality
- Using AI to generate test cases and identify edge cases
- Tue (3h): Eugene
- Introduction to Web Automation and Java; Selenium Webdriver
- Wed (2.5h): Eugene
- First tests: Different Locators, Assertions
- Thu (2h): Natalia S
- Resume + Career
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week VIII:
- Mon (2h): Eugene
- Intermediate tests: Alerts; Modals; pop-up; Annotations (2/2)
- Tue (2h): Natalia S
- Career Planning in IT
- Wed (3h): Eugene
- Advanced tests: DOM; Different types of auth; Data provider; Dynamic content
- Thu (2h): Eugene
- Shopify/CPB test cases (Manual>Automation); Homework; Java; iFrame
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week IX:
- Mon (2h): Eugene
- Shopify/CPB test cases (Manual>Automation); Homework recap lecture; Java; DRY > (reusable methods and classes)
- Tue (3h): Eugene
- Shopify/CPB test cases (Manual>Automation); Java; SDLC; Agile; Kanban; Helpful tools: Chat GPT, SelectorHUB, SelectorGadget
- Wed (2h): Eugene
- Shopify/CPB test cases; Homework review; Q/A session
- Thur (2h): Natalia S
- Career Planning in IT
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week X:
- Mon (2h): Eugene
- Setting up a testing framework I
- Tue (3h): Eugene
- Setting up a testing framework II
- Wed (3h): Eugene
- Setting up a testing framework III
- Thu (2h): Eugene
- Setting up a testing framework Extra Practice
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week XI:
- Mon (2h): Eugene
- Alternative Frameworks: Cucumber / Cypress
- Tue (3h): Alex
- Cybersecurity Basics
- Wed (3h): Kirill (ISTQB CT-AI Fundamentals)
- Introduction to AI Testing
- AI-Based vs Conventional Systems
- AI Development Frameworks and Technologies
- Quality Characteristics Specific to AI-Based Systems
- Testing Challenges for AI-Based Systems
- Thu (2h): Kirill (ISTQB CT-AI Fundamentals)
- Machine Learning Fundamentals for Testers
- Forms of Machine Learning (Supervised, Unsupervised, Reinforcement)
- ML Workflow and Testing Touchpoints
- Understanding Data Quality and its Impact
- Practical Workshop: Testing ML Model Performance
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week XII:
- Mon (2h): Kirill (ISTQB CT-AI Fundamentals)
- 📘 AI-Specific Testing Approaches
- Testing Self-Learning and Autonomous Systems
- Testing for Bias, Ethics, and Transparency
- Test Oracles for Non-Deterministic Systems
- Hands-On Exercise: Explainability Tools for Testers
- Tue (2h): Kriil (ISTQB CT-AI Fundamentals)
- 📘 Advanced AI Testing Techniques
- Metamorphic Testing for AI-Based Systems
- Back-to-Back Testing Approaches
- A/B Testing for AI Systems
- Practical Workshop: Applying Metamorphic Testing
- Wed (3h): Eugene
- AI-Powered Testing Tools: Introduction to AI testing assistants
- LLM-enhanced test generation and execution
- Automated bug detection and reporting
- Thu (2h): Alex
- AI for Career Development:
- Leveraging AI to enhance your QA career
- Basic Multi-agent AI Systems: Introduction to AI agent systems
- Building simple autonomous agents
- Relevance.ai & n8n Workflows for Job Hunting
- Fri:
- Internship + Homework
Week XIII:
- Mon (2h): Alex
- Cybersecurity Basics
- Tue (3h): Evgeny
- 📘 CT-AI: Test Techniques (A/B, Meta, Back-to-Back), AI for Testing (UI, Regression, Defect Prediction)
- Wed (2h): Alex
- AI for Career Development: Leveraging AI to enhance your QA career
- AI skills that make QA professionals more valuable
- Future of QA: From manual testing to AI orchestration
- Thu (2h): Elena
- Resumes, Sprints, and Success: Standing Out in IT
- Learn resume structuring, the role of metrics, and job-specific tailoring.
- Explore sprint planning, test coverage, and effective job hunting strategies.
- Fri:
- Homework
Week XIV:
- Mon (2h): Elena
- Metrics, Tools, and Job Search Essentials
- Explore the role of TestRail, Jenkins, and metrics in test management.
- Learn how to optimize LinkedIn, craft tailored resumes and cover letters, and navigate the hiring process.
- Tue (2h): Elena
- Mastering Interviews, Testing Strategies, and Career Growth
- Learn to answer interview questions effectively, prioritize tasks, and improve collaboration.
- Explore handling flaky tests, automation strategies, and optimizing your resume for success.
- Wed (2h): Elena
- Interview Success, Testing Strategies, and Workplace Insights
- Learn how to structure interview stories, use TestRail, and analyze network calls.
- Explore test plans, automation challenges, and cultural differences in the workplace.
- Thu (3h): Evgeny
- Revision of Automation Framework. Homework review
- Fri:
- Homework
Week XV: Individual Career Mentorship & Final Week of Course
- Mon (2h): Maria
- Job hunting vs jobs search and how to hunt for a job in today’s market when nobody is hiring
- Tue (2h): Rodion
- QA Engineer AMA: Inside the World of Software Testing
- Gain insights from a real QA engineer working in our startup
- Wed (3h): Evgeny
- Revision of Automation Framework. Homework review
- Thu (3h): Evgeny
- Automation Mobile Testing
- Fri:
- Homework
Week XV: Individual Work
- Wed (3h): Eugene
- Revision of Automation Framework; Homework review
Week XVI: Individual Work
- Wed (3h): Eugene
- Revision of Automation Framework; Homework review
QA Automation Part Highlights:
- QA Automation course
- Main ideas: What/ When and how to automate. Test pyramid. Ideas and conceptions.
- Introduction of Java for Quality Assurance engineers. Selenium with Java.
- Selenium – Interface which defines set of methods / Webdriver – API.
- The Must: How to find an element: Locators. Ids / CSS Selectors / XPath etc
- What we can do with elements: Actions with elements / Javascript actions. (different examples)
- First tests: tests for the most common functionality. (Login/ Menus/ Buttons etc)
- Advance test structure: Annotations / Assertions
- Tools for Automation testing: JUnit/ TestNG/ Maven
- Putting it all together: SELENIUM FRAMEWORK architecture/ component/ reporting mechanism /CI/CD
- How to pass an Automation interview.
AI for QA Highlights:
- LLM Theory and History
- Understanding how large language models work and their evolution
- Key AI concepts relevant to quality assurance
- Limitations and strengths of AI in testing contexts
- Prompt Engineering for QA
- Creating effective prompts for test case generation
- Using AI to identify edge cases and potential bugs
- Building prompt libraries for common testing scenarios
- AI-Powered Testing Tools
- Overview of AI-enhanced testing platforms
- Automating repetitive testing tasks with AI
- Using AI for test analysis and reporting
- Multi-Agent Systems Basics
- Understanding autonomous agents for testing
- Building and orchestrating simple test agents
- Integration with existing testing frameworks
Full Program Highlights:
- As a part of the program you will be going through an internship at our SaaS company
- Get support from real QA engineers working in the US
- Participate in weekly group calls where you can ask any questions (there are no stupid questions!)
- Meet your future colleagues and support each other along the journey in the chat
- Complete homework and practice tasks that will help to get the most out of the course
- IT Overview: tools, infrastructure, team structure
- Get access to YouTrack and Zendesk
- Start working on real QA tasks and tickets
- Prepare interview answers for the most popular company and product related question
- Career prep: Build your first resume
- Prepare interview answers for the most popular technical questions
- Prepare interview answers for the most popular behavioral questions
- API & SQL master classes
- Get familiar with release process
- Career prep: Round of mock interviews
- Start applying for jobs
- Get real time support during application process
+ Get Professional Career Mentorship to make sure your resume and interview skills stand out from the crowd. Your mentor will:
- Help tailor your resume to highlight the skills and experiences most relevant to your desired position.
- Provide advice on the best format for your resume, ensuring it is visually appealing and easy to read for potential employers.
- Help you include keywords relevant to your desired position, improving your resume’s visibility to potential employers.
- Help you articulate and highlight your achievements, demonstrating the value you can bring to a company.
- Assist you in writing a compelling cover letter that complements your resume and showcases your qualifications.
- Provide mock interviews to help you practice and refine your interview skills, increasing your confidence and chances of success.
- Advise on incorporating AI skills into your professional profile to expand job opportunities.
IMPORTANT:
Lessons will be held from 5pm to 8pm Mountain Standard Time (MST) (Denver, CO) MON – FRI. Every day you will need to spend at least 3.5 hours on the course in order to succeed. So plan accordingly. We will offer you lesson recordings, so that you can revise on your own. You will also have homework. Upon course completion you will have an exam (interview).
Our courses: https://techstartacademy.io/
Contact us on Telegram: https://t.me/Tech_Start_Academy
Email us: hello@techstartacademy.io
Our Telegram Channel: https://t.me/techstartacademy
