In many QA organizations, career growth is often equated with becoming a people manager. But what happens when your strengths — and passions — lie elsewhere?
In this session, we'll share a tale of two testers, metaphorically climbing QA Everest. Using our experiences and lessons learned to help you navigate the decision, "do I want to manage or do I want to keep testing?"

We'll each share some of our personal journey from QA individual contributor to manager and back again. While you can value the opportunity to lead, you may ultimately realize that the parts of the role that energize you most are mentoring testers, improving quality practices, staying hands-on with testing, and supporting projects through strong organization and communication — not the people-management aspects like performance reviews, HR responsibilities, or navigating formal management structures.

This session challenges the idea that you have to keep climbing the mountain toward higher base camps, including management. Instead, it reframes the individual contributor role as a powerful, intentional career choice that brings deep value to teams. We'll discuss the decision points and key characteristics to help you determine where you want to stop on your journey up QA Everest. Then, we'll outline ways QA individuals can advocate for themselves, define success beyond titles, and continue to grow their influence without managing people.

Whether you’re a tester questioning your next career move, a people manager considering a change, or a leader looking to better support IC career paths, this talk will offer validation, clarity, and practical takeaways.