With a saturated job market like that of QA testing, the recruitment process has become fine-tuned to select only the deserving candidates. In such a scenario, it is important to spruce up your QA tester resume to show all of your skills in an optimized manner.
Research shows that QA testing is set to grow from a market value of $12.6 billion in 2019 to $28.8 billion by 2024. As the scope for testing increases and more people move to this field, you need to take extra steps to ensure that you are on the right track.
Instead of spewing all your details on a document and calling it a day, taking time to optimize your resume based on industry standards will help you get further ahead. We have gathered a few tips to help you integrate your QA testing skills into your resume.
Profile Title
One of the ways in which you can showcase your authority and expertise is through your profile title. Albeit seemingly inconsequential, writing down the appropriate profile title can help your recruiter assess your knowledge accurately.
In addition to QA Tester, you can write your designation before it to match closely with your job role. As a Senior QA Tester, it would be counterproductive for you to just write QA Tester. This rule applies to any designation, as it helps you get opportunities that match your caliber.
Professional Experience
Through properly worded sentences, you can use your work history to explain your testing skills. Instead of writing elaborate notes with complex structures, you can trim them down to save space and time.
Here are a few tips to help you achieve that:
- Split your sentences to fit a bulleted list of one-liners
- Start your one-liners with power verbs
- Group similar work functions and highlight crucial points
- Maintain a cause-effect relationship
- Quantify relevant details to complement your claims
Additionally, you can extract relevant keywords from job descriptions enlisted by companies and integrate them into your resume to increase compatibility with the Applicant Tracking System. If you have multiple work experiences, make sure that you list them in reverse chronological order.
Certifications
In your work experience section, you typically do not tend to write the knowledge that you gained but focus on your practical experience instead. Certifications are the easiest way to show your recruiter that you are constantly learning as well.
You can use this format to include a certification in your QA testing resume:
Certification | Certifying Authority | Date
Provide them in a bulleted list and refrain from providing descriptions for each certification unless necessary. However, if you underwent training in a subject, you can create a separate section for it and delve into details.
Testing Skills
As a QA tester, no matter how many years of experience you have, you would possess a repository of skills. It would be a mix of technical and hard skills, and both would deserve equal consideration.
You can go into great detail about your areas of expertise in this section by separating technical tools from your hard skills. In your Key Skills section, you can add skills like:
- Product Maintenance
- Product Testing
- Automation
- Software Testing
Keep in mind that all of the software and languages can go in another section titled Technical Skills. Here is how you can phrase it:
- Automation: Selenium, WebDriver
- Programming Languages: C#, JavaScript, HTML
Make sure that you refer to both your skills and job descriptions listed by companies. Doing so will make sure that your QA testing resume is compatible with ATS scanners.
Resume Summary
As it is the first piece of career-related information on your resume, it is the perfect place to showcase your tester skills. Instead of making a bulleted list of all of your skills or stating them simply, you can weave them into a well-phrased paragraph of four to five sentences.
Before you draft your resume summary, here are a few tips to help you:
- Maintain a cause-effect methodology to provide well-rounded explanations
- Begin your sentences with action words
- Mention your significant achievements and exclude ones that are less important to your target job
- Keep it concise and avoid over-explaining
- Include soft skills like leadership or team playing qualities
You can also weave relevant keywords from job descriptions in your resume summary. However, make sure that you do a decent job of covering all the main bases of your career history.
Additional Sections
As a bonus step, you can showcase your expertise at your job by adding other relevant sections like Research, Training, or Projects.
Evaluate your professional history thoroughly and create extra sections that align with your target profile. Adding unique information will help you stand out from the rest of the applicants. It can also interest your recruiter as you portrayed yourself to be passionate about your subject.
Key Takeaways
If phrased properly, all sections of your resume will complement each other to speak the same story. It is why it is not impossible to integrate your QA testing skills into your entire resume. Here is how you can do that:
- Add the accurate profile title by mentioning your seniority level before your job title to provide an accurate representation of your expertise
- Write a bulleted list of one-liners in your professional experience section and organize them further by grouping similar ones under relevant subheadings
- Include certifications that resonate with your target job by following the format to show your knowledge in the subject
- Split your testing skills into Key Skills and Technical Skills to cover all bases of your proficiency and organize them into specific categories
- Draft your resume summary by mentioning your most important achievements from your career and maintaining a cause-effect relationship for all sentences
- Evaluate your professional history and create additional sections that are relevant to your job
Use this guide to create a killer QA tester resume that accurately portrays your passionate nature!