Product Tester

That's a great question. There are a few roles within our industry that test product:

Journalists: Just like the crew here at Vital MTB.

R&D with a job at a company: Testing is often part of engineering or technician roles.

R&D for a company: Many brands use skilled testers who have other jobs just to get lots of time and opinions on
prototype products. They often look for a diverse crowd with a variety of riding experience so they can hear about their new goods from a number of perspectives.

Pro rider: The Pros can put products into situations and through loads most mortals can't, so many brands use them as part of the test process.

In all cases, it's important to build your testing experience prior to applying for a job or test role. For starters, I suggest riding everything you can. Nothing beats actual saddle time. It may be best to specialize in a certain area though. Pick a few products that you feel knowledgable/passionate about and focus there for a bit. Back to back testing of two or more products on the same day will often be the most revealing.

One key component of the tester role is being able to communicate what you feel on trail. It's not all about smashing stuff to bits. As you build your experience, consider leaving member reviews in the Product Guide here on Vital. We award the Top Reviewer with a $100 gift card to Jenson USA every month and it's a great way to get started.

As I mentioned, "it's important to build your testing experience prior to applying for a job or test role."

You'll be competing against riders with years of experience for these positions, and the number of positions is very limited.

So, it could be very hard to do without credentials...I do have an idea no one in our industry has accomplished yet. So I also buy athletic shoes(Jordan, Nike, Adidas, etc). People have style vlogs that become very popular and they end up getting free stuff and are invited to tons of events...not sure if doing it kinda the same would work. Just a thought