10 Steps on How to Land a Well-paid QA Engineer Job that You Will Love

I recently went through three QA Engineer/Software Tester interviews and I have received an offer from all of them. All three of them were super interesting jobs which I think I would enjoy. Some of them offered more money. That was mainly due to the complexity of the job and also because I was not scared to express how much I think my time was worth.

That made me analyze what really makes one successful at software tester interviews. Since I am doing interviews with QA Leads from all over the globe, I also have some insider info about what they expect from their candidates. That helped me to confirm my analysis of the topic. When I did some research about successful software tester interviews online I could not find any accurate steps or rules that would confirm my experience.

So here are 10 steps that helped me to land a super interesting and well-paid QA Engineer/Software Tester job. Check them out as they may work for you too!

1) Train not to be nervous

Everybody knows that doing a job interview can be scary. If you are nervous at the interview you won’t be able to show the real amazing you. And that is sad because you are amazing. Sometimes you just don’t know it yet. Software testing interview does not need to be scary with the right practice. If you know that you get anxious and nervous easily, it is a good idea to find a QA Engineer/Software Tester buddy with who you can practice your interview. There a lot of blog posts about Software Tester interview questions so you will have plenty to choose from or you can do them all. After a couple of rounds, you will be much calmer and ready to kill it at the real interview.

2) Show your personality

When QA Leads are choosing the candidates for the job they are not only looking for a skilled person. They are after somebody who will fit their team. Since QA Engineers/Software Testers need to have good communication skills you need to be able to show that at the interview. You might think that your personality is boring but maybe you are wrong. Also trying to be somebody else at the interview might cause you ending up in a job which you will hate. So please do yourself a favor. Be yourself!

3) Be curious, adaptable, and show your love for learning new things

There are many skills a successful QA Engineer/Software Tester needs. The two most important ones are your curiosity and your love for learning. If you don’t show that to your interviewer, you might not get the job. Even if you have a computer science degree. And what if you are not curious, adaptable, and hate learning? Well, then you might be in the wrong profession. IT is evolving at almost a light speed so you need to learn to keep up. There are many tools and technologies you will have to be able to learn in a short period of time. If you do not like learning and bettering yourself, you will be left behind sour and negative. So yeah, start working on yourself. Find the beauty in being curious like a little child again. And get into learning new things. Everything can be taught and trained, even personality traits.

And then when you are at the interview let your personality shine. Proof the interviewer that you are an easy-going responsible person who is also fun to work with. Show your interest in software testing tools and technologies. To stay in the loop of new testing trends, check out Software Testing Weekly, and Testing Bits where you can find what’s new in the QA Engineer/Software Tester world. You do not have to know all the trends and tools but at least some of them.

Learn some basics of accessibility testing and let the interviewer know about that. Ask them questions about the technology they are using. If you know some special plugins and/or tools that can be useful for their project don’t be scared to suggest them. And always ask the interviewer the question of whether further education is supported (financially) by the company. That will give the interviewer the sign that you are really interested in learning. If you do not ask this question, I bet you won’t get the job.

4) Learn about the company

For every software tester interview, learn about the company who you are interviewing for. This should be a no-brainer for any interview. The company is not hiring you just to do the job. They want you to want to work for them. And you need to show that. If you are interviewing for a company in a specific industry, they might ask you why are you choosing that industry. It is good to think this question through before your interview unless you are really good and quick in improvising. I also really like the idea in the QA connection blog where the interviewer suggests that the candidates should check the company’s website and try to find bugs there. It is an awesome way to show that you really care about the specific company.

Also while doing the interview, ask questions about the company and the project. Find out if it is more of a corporate setup, startup, or hybrid. This will again show your interest in the company while you will find out if it is the right fit for you. If you are applying for an automation QA Engineer position, ask a lot of questions about the codebase. Even ask if you can see it. That way you can get an idea about how clean the code is. You can also dodge the bullet of a super messy spaghetti code if you ask this question.

5) Know the fundamentals of testing methodologies

Whether you are applying for your first or any following jobs in your QA Engineer/Software Tester career, you should always know the basics of testing methodologies. When applying for your first job, you might have to memorize them and try them out on your pet project. When you are applying for your subsequent job you should be able to understand them from your own experience. However, you might not remember much of the theory so it is good to jog it a little bit by reading up on the methodologies again. In my opinion, this website is amazing for learning the basics of software testing and getting all the necessary lingo down.

6) Learn the basics of automated testing and coding

When you are looking for an automated QA gig, you need to show that you already have some knowledge in this area. Either from your last job or your own study. Some companies are willing to train the right person in automation even if you do not have the necessary experience. But you have to show that you have already started working on it. Maybe take a Udemy course in automated testing or read some free information online. If you are applying for an automation QA job with cypress, you need to show some basic knowledge of javascript. You can learn it here for free. If your future automation will be selenium then python or java is your friend.

If you would like a free roadmap on where to find the necessary info online, please subscribe to this blog. In case you are right now thinking about changing your career to tech, check out my other article focusing exactly on that.

7) Have a testing portfolio

It always helps when you have something to show your testing skills on. You can test a random website or your favorite app, write a test plan, test cases, and bug report for them. You can also run some accessibility testing on random websites or even better on the website of the company you are interviewing for. When it comes to an automated testing portfolio, the easiest way is to find a project on Github and write an automated test for it. Or you can team up with developers at your current job who are creating their own programming portfolio and you can write tests for it. If you can show your prospective employer that you don’t mind spending your free time on testing projects they will be more inclined to hire you (even if you don’t have a tech degree).

8) Write a blog about testing or tech

Another way to show your interest in tech is having a blog about tech or testing. There is always something interesting to write about. Writing is also a great creative outlet. I use it to analyse my tech work experience and deduct some rules out of it to help others in the same position. You can write about your journey to IT. All the obstacles you had to get over and your wins. You can write on medium or start your own blog with WordPress. If you manage to have a big audience you can even get some passive income out of it. Sky is the limit.

9) Find out the average salary and reviews of the company

Before you are finally invited to your interview, it is always good to find out what is the average salary for the position you are applying for. You will be usually asked in the interview what is your salary expectation. It is always better to be prepared as you might not give the right sum in the heat/anxiety of the moment. Usually, it is better to postpone naming the amount towards the end of the interview but they might not let you. They want to know if you are within their ball park. So in that way, try to aim for the higher end of the average salary spectrum. That way you can keep space for negotiation.

Another quite important thing is to check what the other employees say about the company. There are usually reviews online. There might be some bad ones from an employee who was not the right fit for the company. So please do not judge based on only one review. On the other hand if most of the reviews are really bad then you should think about whether it is a good place for you to work at all. I usually check these reviews before my interview takes place and if there is a certain concern for me I ask about it at the interview. That way I show the prospective employer that I am not scared to speak up and also make sure that I understand the reason behind the negative review.

10) Have the courage to ask for $$ your time is worth

In my opinion, the worst situation for asking what you are worth is when you are applying while being unemployed. I did it a couple of times myself(because I was traveling before or I left a company too early). When you are looking for a job while still being employed there is no pressure on you. You can truly be yourself in the interview and ask for what you think you are worth. You can be more choosy with your next software tester job.

When I do interviews for multiple companies I usually ask a little bit more in the next one. I love giving it my all when doing a job but for some reason, I have always struggled with selling myself short. This way I am learning to know my worth within the boundaries of the average salary for the position. And when I am asked for the amount at the interview I always go for the higher end of the average salary range. Because I know that if the interviewer finds out that I am a great fit for the company they will be more than willing to pay me what I am worth.

So I hope these steps will help you find the most amazing job you will love and where you will be paid well! If you think that you need something else to land an amazing QA Engineer/Software Tester job, please let me know in the comments!