How do we balance championing the Quality Assistance model with the reality that many early‑career quality engineers haven’t yet experienced working this way?

Interesting question from Jesse Berkeley on quality assistance model - https://www.ministryoftesting.com/moments/ama-about-transitioning-to-quality-assistance-model

I took a few days to think about this question and honestly I do not know exact answer to that. I didn't work with early career quality engineers for a while and I have little insights what knowledge and skills they own today. I think I would experiment with that.

If I had to do that, I think I would start from showing them that tester aren't only breakers, they are also builders, partners and supportive colleagues to developers. We aren't the one who are slowing team down by bringing bad news, we are the ones who communicate to the team where gaps are and what risks are waiting for us if we don't take actions. It's also being proactive, opinionated about testing, persistent and have ability to question the state of things if they look weird or off. That what is the role in essence that is not that different from quality engineer role per se.

I think I would start from championing mindset rather than the model. Mindset that brings early careers testers closers to whole quality engineering principles. Once you have it, it's easier to work out the model. Quality Assistance is a model you can operate while exercising and balancing some practices, but it's the mindset that drives outcomes.