The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Graduate Scheme / Internship
1-2 yearsSkills to master
- Structured problem-solving, foundational financial product knowledge, basic UAT and documentation, professional communication.
You're ready to move on when
- Consistently accurate bug reports and documentation.
- Ability to independently complete assigned testing tasks.
- Proactive in learning new systems and asking insightful questions.
- Positive feedback from manager and team on collaboration.
- 2
Customer Service / Helpdesk Role
1-3 yearsSkills to master
- Deep understanding of customer pain points, troubleshooting digital issues, empathetic communication, navigating internal systems.
You're ready to move on when
- Demonstrated ability to resolve complex customer digital issues.
- Strong understanding of common digital banking frustrations.
- Ability to translate customer feedback into actionable insights.
- Experience with logging and tracking customer issues.
- 3
Junior QA Analyst / Tester
1-2 yearsSkills to master
- Formal testing methodologies, test case design, defect management, automation basics, understanding of software development lifecycle.
You're ready to move on when
- Proficiency in creating and executing detailed test plans.
- Strong experience with defect tracking tools (e.g., Jira).
- Understanding of different types of software testing (functional, regression).
- Ability to work closely with development teams.


