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Real ways for moms on maternity leave to earn money: from software testing to remote accounting

Home » blog » Real ways for moms on maternity leave to earn money: from software testing to remote accounting

Maternity leave is not only a time of joy and caring for the baby, but also an excellent opportunity for self-realization and additional income. Many moms, while staying at home, look for ways to apply their skills or learn something new to improve the family budget or even lay the foundation for a new career. If you are also wondering how to combine motherhood with work from home, this article is for you. We will talk about current and real ways for moms on maternity leave to earn money, which will allow you to maintain a flexible schedule and develop professionally.

Proven Ways for Moms on Maternity Leave to Earn Money

The profession of software tester is perfect for moms on maternity leave who possess attentiveness and systematic thinking. Your task is to find errors and flaws in the operation of applications, websites, and programs, ensuring their flawless functioning. You can learn this through online courses, and the testing process often allows you to work on a flexible schedule.

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You can also consider other directions:

  1. Content Manager: fills websites, manages publications, monitors metadata. Average income – $316-$569 for part-time work.
  2. Targetologist: sets up advertising in social networks. Courses take 2-3 months, basic income – from $380.
  3. Accountant: handles remote reporting for small businesses. Working with 2-3 individual entrepreneurs brings in from $506.
  4. Lawyer: advises on contractual and family matters, prepares documents.
  5. Blogger: creates useful content, grows the audience, monetizes expertise.
  6. Copywriter: writes articles, descriptions, advertising texts. Starting rate – from $1.30 per 1000 characters.
  7. Designer: designs presentations, social media, logos. Clients – small businesses, startups.
  8. Programming: task automation, website creation, mobile applications. The most promising industry with income starting from $1010 with sufficient skills.

Each of these directions offers in-demand ways for moms on maternity leave to earn money with real returns. Online professions are scalable, do not require an office, and can be adapted to the child’s schedule.

Self-Realization in Numbers and Facts

Self-realization and money during maternity leave are not mutually exclusive concepts. Remote employment offers a stable income, intellectual challenge, and an opportunity to step outside the household circle. One of the working models is combining household chores with completing orders during quiet hours. The schedule is fractional, flexible, and free.

Average workload – 3-4 hours per day. Average income – $315-$760 per month. The best specialists earn significantly more by combining multiple directions. Online work eliminates transportation costs, expenses on clothing, and meals outside the home.

Remote work during maternity leave evolves through three main stages:

  1. Learning and mastering basic skills.
  2. Completing initial orders, collecting feedback.
  3. Stabilizing income, expanding the client base.

Basic training takes from 2 weeks to 2 months. Demand for specialists remains high – especially in areas where accuracy, attentiveness, and the ability to complete tasks are valued. These qualities often distinguish moms who balance home life and professional realization.

Where to Find Real Orders and Job Opportunities

Online work relies on platform solutions. Freelance exchanges, niche websites, and Telegram channels regularly post orders and job opportunities with flexible schedules. Suitable platforms to start with are Kwork, Freelancehunt, Work-zilla, FL.ru – where tasks related to copywriting, design, translation, and administration are posted. Projects are paid per piece or per hour. The minimum entry threshold starts from 200 ₽ per task. Active performers earn $19-$38 per day within the first few weeks.

Niche resources deserve special attention:

  • for accountants – “Chief Accountant,” “Kontur.Tolk”;
  • for designers – Dribbble, Behance;
  • for programmers – GitHub, Stack Overflow Jobs.

It is on these platforms that not mass, but qualified ways for moms on maternity leave to earn money are posted, designed for long-term cooperation.

Online Schools and Courses: Quick Entry into the Profession

Education has become compact. Online schools teach sought-after online professions in 1-3 months – from targetologist to administrator. Access to materials remains forever, tasks are checked by mentors, and the course completion includes an internship on a real project.

Popular directions include:

  1. SMM and targeting – in demand in e-commerce, b2c, niche retail.
  2. Content management – ideal for moms with a philological or humanitarian background.
  3. Online legal consulting – includes templates, legal analytics, case support.

According to Skillbox and Netology, 62% of women who have completed courses start earning their first income within two months. Online professions allow combining work and childcare without losing professional identity. The main focus is not on diplomas, but on practice and results.

Why Ways for Moms on Maternity Leave to Earn Money Have Become Permanent Solutions

Previously, working during maternity leave was seen as a side job until “real” employment. Today, it is a full-fledged career format. Remote work provides flexibility, maintains qualifications, and allows investing in professional growth even in the midst of a busy life.

The advantages are obvious:

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  • no expenses on transportation and meals outside the home;
  • work adapts to the child’s schedule;
  • active participation in family life does not require sacrificing income.

Earning money during maternity leave is built on an individual scenario: for some, it’s 2 hours of rewriting, for others, it’s starting a small home-based business. There is no universal path. But there is one unifying factor – choice, which allows women not to put their lives on hold.

Conclusion

Ways for moms on maternity leave to earn money have ceased to be a compromise. Software testing, accounting services, copywriting, freelancing – all of these are full-fledged professions with a flexible work model. Working from home does not limit but expands. Each skill becomes a step towards financial independence, development, and preservation of professional identity in any life rhythm.

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Demand for software testers is growing. Businesses lose millions due to errors in products, so they are increasing investments in quality control. A stable trend has emerged in the industry: employers are no longer focusing on diplomas. Companies are choosing those who can find bugs, write reports, and collaborate with development. The question of how to become a tester from scratch without formal education receives a pragmatic and measurable answer — through skills, projects, and a systematic approach.

What the work of a tester includes

Quality control covers everything: functionality, stability, performance, security, and user interface convenience. A specialist observes the product’s behavior, compares it with requirements, identifies discrepancies, creates bug reports, participates in regression testing, and checks fixes. The arsenal includes test cases, checklists, scenarios, and documentation.

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Tasks are divided into directions: manual and automated testing, backend and frontend, mobile and desktop applications, APIs, and databases. Each segment operates with its stack of tools and approaches. Without a clear understanding of testing goals, it is impossible to ensure product quality control and improvement.

How to become a tester from scratch without formal education

Entering the profession requires minimal investment — primarily time. Theoretical knowledge forms the foundation. Practice solidifies the results. Immersion is the most effective way of learning. Companies are looking for confident mastery of tools and real experience, not diplomas. To build a career without a relevant education, several stages need to be completed.

The path to becoming a tester from scratch without formal education — until the first job offer:

  1. Studying testing basics. Understanding SDLC and STLC. Differences between QA and QC. Types of testing: smoke, regression, exploratory. Methodologies: Waterfall, Scrum, Kanban.
  2. Applying theory in practice. Working on test cases and checklists. Writing bug reports. Applying knowledge in educational and real projects.
  3. Mastering bug tracking. Jira, YouTrack, Redmine. Working with tasks, statuses, priorities. Creating bugs according to standards.
  4. Getting familiar with DevTools. Inspecting DOM, logs, console errors. Monitoring network requests. Working with cookies and storage.
  5. Learning SQL and API. SELECT, JOIN, WHERE for data verification. Postman, Swagger — analyzing REST requests. Response statuses, headers, payload.
  6. Building a portfolio. Collecting examples: test cases, reports, bugs. Participation in open source projects or simulators. Documenting processes in Notion or GitHub.
  7. Entering freelancing. Applying on platforms like crowdtesting.io, uTest, TestIO. Completing tasks with time constraints. Receiving initial feedback.
  8. Studying automation. Selenium, Cypress, Playwright. Basic scripts in Python or JavaScript. Understanding PageObject and locators.
  9. Feedback and growth. Reviewing cases, consulting with QA leads. Hackathons, meetups, communities. Expanding knowledge base.
  10. Preparing for interviews. Answering technical and behavioral questions. Solving cases. Working on logical tasks and situations.

Increasing Chances of Entering the Profession

Novices compete not with university graduates but with practitioners. Activity in QA communities, blogging, participation in hackathons and open-source projects build reputation and increase visibility. Employers track GitHub, Telegram profiles, presence on platforms like Stepik, Coursera, QA.Guru. A candidate without experience but with a strong portfolio receives offers faster than a course graduate without cases.

Where to Learn for Free

How to become a tester from scratch and without formal education for free? Entry into QA remains one of the most democratic paths. Resources freely available cover up to 80% of initial knowledge. Stepik, Testbase, Codecademy, Khan Academy, Savin’s blog, materials from the Ministry of Testing. Most platforms offer projects, tests, simulators. Instead of memorizing terms, beginners immediately move to practice: finding bugs, describing behavior, testing boundary conditions.

What to Expect on the First Project

The first experience brings not only knowledge but also mistakes. Testers work under constraints — time, information, documentation. The key task is to quickly grasp the product, understand the logic, and start searching for critical bugs. Main problems include misunderstanding task goals, incorrectly documented bugs, and ignoring requirements. The solution lies in clear communication, clarifying details, and logically describing reproduction steps.

Career Growth and Specialization: Becoming a Tester from Scratch without Formal Education

The tester profession does not end at the junior level. After 6–12 months of real practice, paths open up to automation, load testing, security. Specialization depends on interests. Automation requires programming languages (Python, Java), frameworks (Selenium, Pytest, TestNG). Security demands knowledge of XSS, CSRF, SQL injections. Mobile testing involves proficiency in Android Studio, Xcode, crashlytics logs.

A mid-level professional works with CI/CD, Git integration, mastering Jenkins, Allure, Docker. Further progression leads towards QA lead, testing architect, product analyst.

Salaries and Opportunities in 2025

In the CIS, a Junior QA earns 700–1200 USD. In Europe and the USA — starting from 2000 USD. A Middle-level position brings in 2000–3000 USD, while a Senior earns 4000+. Income growth depends on English proficiency, toolset, specialization. The demand for QA is increasing: automation is strengthening, but manual testing remains critically important. Especially in startups, fintech, e-commerce, and mobile development.

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Conclusion

The answer to how to become a tester from scratch without formal education lies in sequence, discipline, and perseverance. A diploma cannot replace real skills. Identified deviations, documented bugs, resolved cases form expertise. Employers choose candidates who can solve tasks, not those who only talk fluently about the profession.

Entry into QA is open. The availability of tools, communities, projects creates equal opportunities. A career starts with one click — launching a simulator or creating the first test case. Then comes growth, specialization, demand.

The modern world of work has undergone significant changes, and the profession of a QA engineer is no exception. If just a few years ago working in an office was the norm, today remote work format for testers has become not just a trend, but a strategic choice. By 2025, every second QA specialist prefers to work not from an office desk, but from a comfortable chair in front of their laptop screen.

This decision is not driven by simple laziness or a desire to avoid commuting, but by specific, measurable advantages that directly impact productivity, work quality, and overall well-being of the specialist. Remote work opens up new opportunities for optimizing the work process and personal development, turning the standard “obligation” into a flexible and efficient environment for growth. Let’s take a closer look at why remote work has so many advantages for testers.

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Time Savings and Improved Self-Organization

Working from home allows a tester to save 2–3 hours a day on commuting. That adds up to 660 hours a year, or over 80 full working days, which are reclaimed. This time can be directed towards learning, analysis, personal development, or additional projects.

Remote work requires strict discipline and time management, but with the right approach, it becomes a plus. Using timers (e.g., Pomodoro), digital calendars, and task management systems (Trello, Jira) helps to structure a clear workday. Autonomy and the ability to build one’s own work system become important competitive advantages.

Increased Concentration and Productivity – Key Benefits of Remote Work for Testers

Office noise and distracting factors can reduce concentration by up to 40%. Remote work allows creating an ideal environment: silence, comfort, and personal space. This is especially important for conducting regression testing, where it’s necessary to keep hundreds of conditions in mind. A Google QA specialist noted a 30% increase in productivity after switching to remote work.

Effective Communication and Teamwork

Remote work does not exclude teamwork dynamics; it makes it more purposeful. Tools like Zoom, Slack, and Notion enable productive discussions where each message and meeting have a clear goal. The number of empty conversations decreases, and the decision-making process speeds up. This is particularly relevant for international projects where a distributed model is the standard.

Ideal Workspace and Health Care

At home, you can customize your workspace to suit your needs: lighting, chair, monitor height, temperature. This not only improves mood but also has a positive impact on physical health. Testers report less back strain, better vision, and overall endurance.

Continuous Learning and Career Growth – an Important Benefit of Remote Work for Testers Aspiring for More

Remote work not only does not hinder development but also stimulates it. Remote specialists often dedicate time to learning new approaches, documentation, and online courses. They can easily join a webinar during lunch break or read a manual at a convenient time. On average, up to 4 hours a week are spent on learning, significantly more than in an office environment.

Significant Cost Savings

The absence of the need to commute to work, eat out, and spend on office attire leads to noticeable savings. The average QA engineer in the USA saves up to $4000 per year, and in the CIS – up to $1300 annually. These funds can be directed towards development, leisure, or investments.

Burnout Minimization and Access to Global Projects

Flexible schedule, absence of a toxic environment, and control over one’s space stabilize emotional well-being and reduce the risk of burnout. Studies show that remote employees are less likely to experience anxiety disorders.

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The remote format provides access to international projects, allowing testers to participate in the development of systems worldwide. This offers the opportunity for global competition, where results are valued over location.

Benefits of Remote Work for Testers: Conclusion

The benefits of remote work for testers go beyond mere convenience. It is the foundation of productivity, professional growth, and autonomy. Flexibility, the ability to focus, and access to global opportunities create an environment where the quality of a QA specialist’s work naturally improves. The remote model ceases to be just a format – it becomes part of professional identity, allowing for development precisely, confidently, and without limitations.