Should I list manual vs automated testing on my QA resume?

Yes. Show both—manual for exploratory and edge cases, automation for regression and scale. Quantify where you can (e.g. 'Maintained 500+ automated tests').

QA Engineer Job Description & Resume Guide

QA engineers ensure product quality through manual and automated testing. The role combines technical skill with attention to detail. This guide covers typical job requirements and resume keywords for QA and SDET roles.

60-second answerUpdated September 2026

QA Engineer resumes in 2026: what gets you screened in (the 5-point short version)

Declare whether you are manual, automation, or SDET, and in what ratio. These are three different hiring pipelines with different salary bands, and an ambiguous QA resume is routed to the lowest of them.
Name the automation stack precisely — Playwright, Cypress, Selenium with the language binding, Appium for mobile, REST Assured or Postman for API, k6 or JMeter for load. Add the CI system the suite runs in and how long it takes.
Quantify quality outcomes: escaped-defect rate, regression-suite runtime, flake rate, coverage of critical paths, and release cadence enabled. 'Cut regression from 6 hours to 38 minutes and flake from 12% to under 1%' is the strongest line in QA.
Show test strategy, not just test cases — risk-based prioritisation, the test pyramid you actually implemented, what you deliberately chose not to automate, and how you handled test data and environments.
Include the shift-left evidence teams pay for: involvement in requirements and design review, contract testing between services, accessibility and performance checks in the pipeline, and production monitoring you helped define.

Responsibilities

Design and execute test plans and cases
Build and maintain automated test suites (e.g. Selenium, Cypress)
Report bugs and work with development on fixes
Participate in release and regression testing
Improve test coverage and CI integration

Required skills

Test design and methodology
Automation (e.g. Selenium, Cypress, Playwright)
Programming (e.g. Python, JavaScript) for test code
API and database basics for test data
CI/CD and agile practices

Salary range

Often $70,000–$130,000 depending on level and location.

Typical career path

QA Engineer → Senior QA → SDET → QA Lead

Top resume keywords for this job

automationSeleniumtestregressionCIbugcoverageAPIqualityrelease

QA resumes should show impact: coverage improved, bugs caught, release quality. Include automation stack and scale (number of tests, environments). Tailor to the product type and stack in the job description. WadeCV can help you align your QA experience with job descriptions.

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Common mistakes to avoid

Only listing test types; show outcomes and scale
No automation or tool depth
Vague defect descriptions without impact

Frequently asked questions

Should I list manual vs automated testing on my QA resume?
Yes. Show both—manual for exploratory and edge cases, automation for regression and scale. Quantify where you can (e.g. 'Maintained 500+ automated tests').

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Upload your CV and paste a job description—WadeCV will highlight your fit and generate a tailored resume.