Testing is, in the large, not respected. When you have a really good, competent, creative tester, the contribution can be invaluable. But... many organization

Testing is, in the large, not respected. When you have a really good, competent, creative tester, the contribution can be invaluable. But... many organizations tend to rank testers somewhere around the janitorial staff. (By the way, get incompetent janitorial service, and watch what happens to your work environment... And, personally, I've found many of them to be plenty competent, caring, and helpful -- better people than many of the suits.) Then, there is the other side of testing... It does exist. People who couldn't hack (aka "handle") any more, and who really are more or less button pushers. They are the ones who provide "QA signoff" as opposed to real troubleshooting. It can be difficult to argue your value, when much of your field is a morass on two axes: Lack of respect, and lack of competence.