Left IT and ended up at Netflix. The story of a former tester who found herself in less than a year after burning out in IT

A 10-year journey into IT

The “IT” environment surrounded Victoria while still at university. She graduated from the Faculty of Computer Science of Karazin University in Kharkiv and started working in the industry in 2015.

Closer to the end of her studies, Victoria decided on a career vector, realizing that she was most interested in testing. As the former tester notes, at that time QA was a fairly young field for the Ukrainian market. After university, Victoria took specialized courses that laid a structural knowledge base, and deepened them through active self-education.

Following the interviews, she received an offer from G5 Games and began her professional journey as a Junior QA in the mobile games industry.

"Those were great times, there was a lot of everything, both challenges and achievements. In fact, IT was my first job (I was in testing for all 10 years and worked for only two companies). During this time, I grew up in every sense, both as a professional and as a person," Victoria shared her memories.

The pre-pandemic era holds a special place in her memories. Victoria nostalgically recalls the special "lively" atmosphere of working in the office, joint corporate parties, and the warm circle of colleagues who created the feeling of a real team.

Burnout that is not cured by vacation

However, a decade in one area took its toll. When fatigue became chronic, Victoria realized that the usual two weeks of rest were no longer helping.

The idea of ​​this decision had been brewing for a long time, but the turning point came in March, when Victoria took an unpaid leave for a whole month. The Aitivitsa realized that the standard two-week breaks had lost their effectiveness, as fatigue remained with her both before and after the rest.

“I left tired and came back tired. That's why I decided to take it for a longer period,” Victoria recalls about her vacation at her own expense in March 2025.

Above all, Victoria values ​​the new experience and knowledge she has gained. Her main goal was to go beyond her usual role as a tester and try her hand at other areas, if not for the sake of full realization, then at least for the sake of expanding her horizons. This stage became a real “second wind” for her.

"I really loved testing at one time and was passionate about it, developed, and built a career, but it seems to me that I just got stuck in one area and I needed this fresh air in the form of a different job," Victoria warmly recalls her career in IT.

As for internal hesitations, they accompanied her only until the final decision to leave IT was made. After this step, the doubts disappeared.

"There were experiences, uncertainty, anxiety sometimes, but as for such doubts that I made a mistake with the choice - no. Because I know that it was the necessary decision for me at that moment," Victoria explained.

From Spanish teacher to filming a Netflix series

After being fired in May, Victoria devoted the first months to a full recovery, only occasionally conducting spot-check consultations on testing. Later, the question of the future arose. The former tester deliberately did not immediately return to her usual work, because she wanted to try herself in new roles and expand her professional horizons.

This thirst for novelty led her to SMM courses. The decision was dictated by both the desire to master a new field for potential earnings and a sincere love for content creation. Currently, she uses the acquired skills to develop her own pages and considers SMM as an investment in the future. In addition, the training turned out to be useful not only in terms of knowledge, but also in terms of networking, where Victoria found a friend.

The next step was teaching Spanish. The idea of ​​teaching had been brewing in her mind for a long time, because living in a Spanish-speaking country had turned this language into the main tool of everyday communication and an object of sincere admiration. Previously, the implementation of this idea was hindered by a full workload in the field of testing.

“Finally, I had some free time and I decided, yes, why not try it. I have teaching experience (I taught in testing courses), I am fluent in Spanish. I will combine my skills. I started with an online school, where I am a teacher, in addition to this I have private students, I started developing my blog on this topic,” said Victoria.

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Modeling became another activity “for the soul”, complementing her passion for the Spanish language. This page of life opened spontaneously, Victoria did not look for opportunities in this area purposefully, but simply responded to the offer, deciding to try something new. Thus began the story of filming in advertisements for local brands, collaborating with photographers to replenish her portfolio, and participating in fashion shows.

What started as a hobby has grown into professional shoots for local brands, participation in fashion shows, and even a role in the cast of a Netflix series.

“It was an extra role (so-called “extras”). It was a very interesting experience and an opportunity to be in a real movie,” Victoria shares her impressions of the filming that took place in December.

A new reality and a comparison of two worlds

The transition to self-employment has forced Victoria to reconsider her attitude towards money. Her income level is now lower than it was in IT, and the main challenge has been budget planning in conditions of instability.

"Currently, the level of earnings is, of course, different from what I had in IT. Again, the difference is that when I worked as a tester, I had a certain amount of income every month, essentially unchanged (and if it changes when reviewing the salary, then in a larger direction). Currently, every month it's a kind of lottery - how much will be. You can plan a little, of course, but not like before," Victoria noted.

She is particularly pleased by the opportunity to monetize her own passion — the Spanish language — because the process of transferring knowledge to others inspires her no less than the result itself.

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She approaches competition philosophically, considering it an integral part of the market, which can only be avoided with a unique niche product. Her confidence is based on the belief that modern clients are not looking for a "dry" service, but a unique mix of professionalism and personality.

"I don't go to yoga classes just anywhere, but to a specific person, precisely because of their personality, because their values ​​are close to me (expertise, of course, is also taken into account). So, I have no fear of competition, I know that I won't take all the potential clients in my direction (actually, there is no such goal), but 100% of them will come to me," Victoria said about her attitude towards competition.

Advice and plans for the future

Victoria's main advice to those who dare to make changes is to carefully weigh all the risks and be sure to create a financial cushion for at least six months. She considers an important psychological aspect to be the ability not to perceive a possible return to the previous field or the need for a temporary part-time job as a personal defeat.

"I also went somewhere not knowing how it would turn out, and analyzed different potential situations from different angles. Doing what you love is great, but covering basic financial needs is also very important," Victoria noted.

Today, Victoria Golovchenko feels happy, despite the difficult moments of the transition year. She plans to scale her project from Spanish and continue to develop as a model.

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