Software Testing Resume – Help!

An impressive software testing resume can make the difference between getting the interview and not ever hearing from them again. If you want the chance to show what an amazing Quality Assurance Professional you are, you will need a solid software tester resume to get your foot in the door.

There are so many jobs and so many applicants that you need a way to differentiate yourself. Your resume is where you start. If you can’t get the phone interview or the face-to-face interview, it will be all but impossible for you to really show any potential employer the amazing things you can do.

My Two Cents

Below I’ll point out some key points that you should attend to when writing or editing your software testing resume. They are simple, but are often overlooked – or at least not given the attention they deserve.

Also, always remember that even though there are specific criteria that are searched for on a software testing resume, if will be reviewed by a human. When an employer or recruiter is attempting to match an applicant to an open software testing job or game tester job they may start by looking at keyword matching your tech skills, but eventually your resume will be read by a person.

This means that you should not take their desire to interview you or the lack of communication from them personally. Each person reads and reacts to each resume at least a little differently. If you are applying to become a QA Tester, remember that your resume is one of many that are being reviewed. The resume read before or after yours may affect how yours is viewed.

When applying for a position as a QA Lead, remember that every company has a little different spin on what “QA Lead” means. If you submit your software testing resume to fill the role of QA Manager, there will be even greater subjectivity placed on what you write and how you position yourself.

So, in short, create a solid software testing resume that is representative of YOU. Attend the details, and let your resume help to match you to a position that really is right for you. Humans will review it. Humans are not perfect (please). Humans are prone to great opinionating and subjectivity…don’t take it personally.

It’s “Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y” Assurance

It doesn’t matter if your role will entail running automated tests or just being a beta tester – the goal is “Quality”. Whether you will help develop processes and procedures or just want an entry-level game testing job – the point is “Quality”.

Anyone can test poorly (and many do). Why should they hire you?

Why? Because you understand “Quality” and demonstrate this with your software testing resume. How do you demonstrate your understanding of “Quality”? Let’s start simple (my personal favorite)…

When you publish your software testing resume, you are giving people their first glimpse into who you are and what you can do professionally. This means that you should make sure your resume is clean and sparkly. What do I mean by that? Simple – everything you write should be spelled correctly.

This is easy and it’s free. It’s almost an intelligence test these days:

There are so many word processing programs on the market these days, several of them are even free, that it just makes you appear to be anything but QA material if your software testing resume is rife with spelling and grammatical errors. Even if you don’t speak the language fluently (as is the case often enough) ask a friend who does to give you a hand.

You are applying for a Quality Assurance position – act like you have some understanding of what that means. There is no faster way to have your resume tossed in the shredder than to have it contain spelling errors.

What’s Your Sign?

Are you just starting out in the industry and are trying to get an Entry-Level position? Maybe as a video game tester? Great! Build your resume as such.

If you don’t have a strong testing background, what makes you valuable to a test team? What do you bring to the table that will make a QA Lead want to work with you? How will you enhance the project to which you are assigned?

List computer skills and fluencies that will be of benefit to a testing department. Highlight areas where you succeeded in tracking fine details. Are you organized? How can you show that off?

If you are looking for an entry-level position, then your software testing resume should focus on your differentiators; problem solving skills, creative and critical thinking, working successfully with a team, being a very quick learner – these are all traits that are valuable as a QA Tester! Show how you know to be valuable.

If you are past the entry-level stage, then you can draw on your work experience when you update your software testing resume. What have you done and what do you want to do?

Are you a Manual Tester or an Automation Engineer? Or do you actually excel at both?

When crafting your software testing resume you should focus on one or the other. The positions that are available often take a bit of both, but the way you advertise yourself in your resume will make a difference in whether you are considered or not.

If you are a top-flight manual tester that does not want to get involved in the machinations of automation, that’s fine. If that’s the case, highlight the ways in which you have succeeded with manual testing in the past.

Focus on where automation would not have been cost-effective and thus your skills were at a premium do to the aggressive release schedule (don’t tell me they gave you plenty of time). What problems did you solve as a black-box or grey box specialist? There is great value in being an excellent manual tester – find what differentiates you and highlight that.

If you would rather work at the code level as a QA Engineer or are a champion of automated software testing, then you should craft your software testing resume with that in mind. Your resume should focus on the environments you are comfortable in and familiar with. List prominently the computer languages that you know.

No two software tester resumes are the same, nor should they be. As a QA Engineer, you should show how you used the technology that was available to solve challenges.

How did you affect the cost-savings in your QA department? What steps did you take to enable the company to perform better testing, more quickly and at less cost? What did you create and innovate? What, as an engineer, sets you apart?

What if you are a Senior Tester or Lead or Manager? If you have and want to continue working at the senior levels of Quality Assurance, your software testing resume should focus on specific accomplishments. Accomplishments that show how you were able to motivate, innovate, and overcome.

By this time you should have worked with several different computer languages and technologies, websites, databases, perhaps hardware, firmware, enterprise level, etc. Because of this, you should not have to focus too greatly on specific technologies with which you worked (I say “shouldn’t” because there are still plenty of recruiters out there that don’t know the difference and may need you to be specific).

Focus your software testing resume on what you and your teams have done. What improvements did you implement? What challenges did your team overcome – to help the company retain a client / remain profitable / get to the shelves on time?

What efficiencies did you discover? How many of your former team members have advanced through the ranks of Quality Assurance. Your software testing resume should speak to the leader that you are, the positive changes that you make, and the wonders that you leave in your wake.

Tell Your Story

A good software testing resume tells your story. Why were you in the position, how did you get their (briefly), and what impact did you have. Keep this succinct and interesting, but give your reader something to relate to. Don’t make up a story just to make the reading more interesting – you need to create a resume that represents you. Describe yourself in a good light, but always keep it real.

When writing your software testing resume, remember that human will have to read it. Try something like this:
Joined Game Company “X” in *insert date here* as *insert position held here* to help achieve *insert goal here*.

Or something like this (taken from an actual software testing resume):
Recruited into managerial role during start-up phase to install, develop, and expand testing efforts and disciplines for the flagship products at *company name withheld*.

Do you see how that begins to tell a story? For each position that you list on your resume, you should have a brief story about why you were at the company and what you did. Then you can list bullet points that highlight the impact you made.

When describing your duties and responsibilities in your bullet points, continue your story. A story keeps the reader interested – or at least it’s supposed to. When I come across a software testing resume that reads:

Tester at Game Company “X”
• Tested games
• Logged bugs
• Tested fixed bugs
• Attended meetings

I can tell that I am dealing with someone who is either incredibly boring and would be awful to work with, or more likely, someone that has no idea how to create a resume.
**I’m not throwing stones here, there was a time when my resume read very much the same way**

A slight improvement might look like:

Tester at Game Company “X”
• Tested “Monkey ABC” game
• Logged bugs as necessary
• Responsible for 80% of bug regression
• Participated in weekly cross-functional meetings

Well, that’s a little better. Shows a slightly better command and use of the English language, but is still a bit too dry (for my taste – remember a human will have to read these…and not everyone is as much fun as me). You need to engage your audience with your story.

Try something a bit more like (this example is again taken from an actual software testing resume):
• Supported 25% annual project increase in addition to substantial volume of unscheduled projects
• Improved project tracking, reporting and, test metrics by 75%
• Created real-time test progress tracking and reporting

Not the sexiest descriptions ever, but much more engaging than the lists above. Here our writer describes and quantifies their impact. These bullet points state what was achieved and how it was achieved. Clear and concise…accurate and truthful…and hopefully, engaging.

Tips ‘n’ Tricks

The balance you must strike is between sounding impressing and being truthful. Always keep it real. Use wording that puts you in the best light, but make sure you don’t embellish just because it’s your resume.

Should You Have a Professional Review or Not? Think of the monetary cost of getting your resume polished to a fine sheen by a professional. Now weigh that against how much you can make per hour…or in a year. Do you think the cost of having a professionally edited software testing resume is offset by having a solid, high-paying job? Your choice…

Playing the Numbers Game. Since everyone else is posting their resume on Monster, Dice, HotJobs, etc. how can you possibly stand out? Well, hopefully you have crafted a professional resume that represents you accurately. That is a good start – and will be what is important once an employer is looking to match an employee to a role.

But how do you get that far? One little tip is to do something to change your resume every day. Nothing major, just a comma here or a word there. Each time you do this, the job listing sites where you have your resume re-list your resume as “new” for that day. You have to upload it after your edit anyway, so why not consider it new?

Since recruiters can only look at so many resumes, I have heard from more than one of them that they only search “today’s” resumes. That supplies them with at least 200-300 resumes to sort through, which for them is plenty to start with. Now this will not replace the need for having a good software testing resume, but it will keep you on the radar. And trust me…you are not the only one doing it.

I hope that helped shed some light on a couple of ways to improve your software testing resume. Remember, this is Quality Assurance so attend to the little things…they make all the difference.

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”
~Henry David Thoreau