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Career · Building digital products

QA tester

Checks programs and apps, finds bugs and helps make the product easy to use.

Career overview

What a day looks like

A QA tester opens a new version of an app and tries using it the way an ordinary person would. They write down what broke or seemed odd and pass it on to the developers.

Try it yourself this week

  • 30 minutes

    Find 5 problems in your favourite app and describe them like a tester

    1. Choose an app or game you play or use.
    2. Explore it for 15 minutes and look for annoying things: confusing buttons, extra steps, strange wording.
    3. Write down five findings like this: what I did, what I expected, what actually happened.
    4. Mark which problem is the most annoying for users and explain why.

    What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you notice small details and enjoy finding things other people missed.

What you can do next

  1. Next 3 months

    • Find bugs in your favourite app

      Do the task about five bugs and describe them using the template: what you did, what you expected, what you got.

  2. In six months

    • Learn how bugs are reported

      Find free sample bug reports and try writing your own for the school website.

  3. In a year

    • Take an intro course in testing

      Pick a free course with no sign-up, and with your parents find out where this job is taught.

What it pays

Pay varies by region, experience and employer. The figures below are approximate ranges from public sources.

Notes on sources are in Russian, as in the original source.

In Kazakhstan

  • All levelsstatistics

    233,980 ₸ per month

    data: 2025 · checked: September 2026

    Медиана в предложениях работодателей. Соискатели ждут около 269 000 ₸.

    Source: almaty.hh.kz (opens in a new tab)

For comparison: Russia

  • Beginnerstatistics

    25,000–110,000 ₽ per month

    data: February 2026 · checked: September 2026

    Разброс очень большой: зависит от города (Москва, Санкт-Петербург, регионы).

    Source: career.hh.ru (opens in a new tab)
  • Experiencedstatistics

    184,000–200,000 ₽ per month

    data: February 2026 · checked: September 2026

    Разброс очень большой: зависит от города (Москва, Санкт-Петербург, регионы).

    Source: career.hh.ru (opens in a new tab)

Where to study

No verified information is available in this section yet.

How to get into college

College gets you a profession faster than university. You can apply after grade 9 or after grade 11.

  • Colleges accept students both after grade 9 and after grade 11. After grade 9 you study longer — about 3 years 10 months; after grade 11, about 2 years 10 months. The exact length depends on the college and the specialty.
    Source: kchk.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • About 80% of students admitted to colleges in the 2024/25 school year study on a state order, which means in state-funded places (in 2023/24 it was about 70%). But each college and each specialty has its own number of state-funded places.
    Source: inbusiness.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • There are also paid colleges. For example, training as a nurse at ADILMED costs 450,000 ₸ per year. Check the price and conditions on the college's website.
    Source: adilmed.kz (opens in a new tab)
UNT: which subjects to take for university

The UNT (Unified National Testing) is Kazakhstan's national university entrance test. You need it to get into university after grade 11.

  • The UNT 2026 has three compulsory subjects: History of Kazakhstan, Reading Literacy and Mathematical Literacy. On top of these, you take two profile subjects, chosen to match your specialty.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • In total, the test has 120 questions (maximum 140 points) and you get 4 hours. The format is the same as in 2025.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • Profile subjects depend on the group of specialties. For example: information technology — Mathematics and Computer Science; nursing and veterinary medicine — Biology and Chemistry; electrical engineering — Mathematics and Physics; law — World History and Fundamentals of Law. The full list is published by the National Testing Center.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • For creative specialties (for example, media and design), you take History of Kazakhstan and Reading Literacy through the UNT, and two creative exams at the university itself.
    Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab)
  • Some universities have their own admission rules. Nazarbayev University, for example, requires a UNT score of at least 85, a GPA of 4.0 and English at IELTS 6.0 level.
    Source: nu.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)

Courses and opportunities

Courses

Free: 1. Paid ones are listed for reference — check the price and terms on their website.

Opportunities near this field

Can you work before you turn 18?

Under Kazakhstan's Labour Code, teenagers can work, but with limits.

History of the career

No verified information is available in this section yet.

Well-known people in this field

No verified information is available in this section yet.

Is this right for you?

The article is about the career; the conversation is about you. The AI mentor will help you see which fields are worth testing.

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