How to Get a Software Testing Job as a Fresher

Lots of the time I get asked this question “How to Get a Software Testing Job as a Fresher”. I know, you are keen to know possible tips to be in a job profile of a software tester. Here, I have some tips for you. Some of these are just check points before you really move to this part of IT sector and some of these are really important points on which one should work to grab the job. Of course, it is easy to get a job. But, it is not that easy if you are not putting your best foot ahead to work over required skills for having a software tested profile. Let’s start;

#1) It is a life long commitment. Do you really want to be a software tester?

Why are willing to be a software tester? Certainly, a graduate in computer application or computer science can go for software developer profile. An interviewer will certainly ask this question to be clear about your intent.

It is right that you can be a trained one in software testing and having certificate to be eligible for a software testing job. But, you need to clear an interview to hold a job and your attitude will be under scanner. I would suggest for keeping a check over your passion regarding software testing work. If one is here for software testing then he/she should be really passionate about software testing.

Before deciding to jump to become a software tester, you must be really passionate about software testing. You must have an interest in quality assurance. In case, you are not having that much interest then you must go for the profile where you find yourself perfectly fit. Otherwise, you will find this software testing work as a true burden and count it as a barrier on your success path.

#2) Testing is not an easy job. Improve your skills to become a tester.

With passion for software testing, you need to have excellent analysis skill and skill of upgrading your knowledge on daily basis. If you have all this in you then no one can stop you from grabbing a good job.

Yes, it is not that tough to understand basics of testing methodologies and other useful tools. You can join a good Training Institutes to have significant exposure about understanding test scenarios and also, about writing test cases. You should start after having the good knowledge to tackle interview rounds. In case, you can add something in your experience like some Freelancing work in some software testing projects. Of course, you can grab some software testing projects on the basis of your knowledge from communities like uTest. You can also go for crowd-sourced testing.

No doubt, addition of some sort of experience will benefit you. Every manager love to hire people with some sorts of certifications in software testing. You can also go for ISTQB certification.  Well, it is not must. But, it raises your chances in a great way. Beside this, you certainly need to read some books too.

Get idea of popular testing tools to have practical experience! You may start with Selenium first and then go for other software testing tools like QTP, LoadRunner, RFT, Bugzilla, etc.

Attend some software testing training in your locality. It is important to learn from an experienced professional. The trainer will be able to tell you about the real life examples of software testing job. You can use that knowledge during your interview.

You might also want to get yourself ISTQB Certified. Talent Plus Plus offers sure pass training for ISTQB Foundation Level exam in Gurgaon.

#3) Decide what you want to become.

Before looking for the answer of this question, how to get a software testing job as a fresher, you should first understand about the best way to survive in IT sector. And, it is nothing else but about being selective about a technical niche. It means, you need to specialize in one testing niche. Like software development, one should be focused on a single area of testing to get first job and also to furthermore career in IT sector.

Following are popular niches in software testing sector;

Manual Testing – It’s about testing like an end user. One needs to do all testing work manually to detect bugs in the concerned software.

Automation Testing – As the name suggest, one needs to write script to automate all activities of a test for the concerned software. This one is a fast technique and also a cost effective idea to test the concerned software.

Performance Testing – This way of testing is about checking load capacity and responsiveness of any software against a specified workload.

When you are working to gain knowledge about software testing, you might go for having bit knowledge of all these niches. But, you must acquire expertise in one of them. You should clearly state in your resume about your expertise and look for the job in that particular niche.

4) How do you want to sell yourself to your future employer?

I will suggest for not applying to twenty jobs at once using that same resume. I will suggest that you should be selective while applying for a job! Customize your resume as per the concerned job!  One must write resume creatively and one should never state any sort of fake information. Remember, your resume should reflect your personality and set of skills in an impressive way. You should always add a cover letter with your resume. Many of the questions in any interview will be coming from the resume itself. Thus, it should be actually about you and you should be confident about everything written in that resume. In case, you quote something fake then you will not be able to sale it. Interviewer will easily understand that you are faking on these many points.

#5) Start small and aim for higher goals

Well, you are looking for a start and on the other hand, one startup is also in its initial phase. There are good chances of hiring a fresher in a startup company. Most of the times, startup and smaller sized company hire fresher candidates. Of course, these are good for learning experience. When you go for an interview then you will notice that big IT companies are not hiring candidates without any professional experience. Hence, one should also be open to these startup companies for gaining experience.  After having a reasonable work experience, you can move to any bigger name and this sort of gradual move will make your resume very impressive.

#6) Your  communication skills is one most important skill of all

Job profile of a software tester needs proficiency in written and oral communication. One needs to be good in communication. It is not just about English proficiency. It is more than this. You will be requiring proper documentation of testing process, bug reporting and presentation development for other concerned profiles in the business. Hence, communication skill will be tested in interview rounds. Brush your skills and then, go for interview rounds!

Prepare for software testing interview questions, including general HR interview questions. Here is a good example of how you will prepare to speak about yourself.

The Bottom Line

All those who are looking for the answer of this question, how to get a software testing job as a fresher, should understand that software testing is certainly not a simple job. Although one should not count it as rocket science. But, it does require good analytical ability.

Before going for the interview, remember to float your resume properly on job sites as well as on forums. This might raise your chances. A good recommendation works well in every type of interview. As you are a fresher, interviewer will not have too many expectations from you. An interviewer will certainly look for your knowledge level especially practical, not theoretical. Hence, you should revise well about basic concepts of software testing.

Many interviewers raise this question; which is better; software testing or software development. Remember, Software Testing is quite different from Software Development. Thus, there is no comparison between them. You should avoid argument by showing equal respect for both. Software testing is also important as software development. And, experience of one domain can’t give you easy pass to the other domain. Well, it is something you need to remember in your interview round.

Remember, interviewer is there to hire a wise person, but not an over-smart person. Don’t add fake information in your resume and also, be truthful about your skill set. It usually attracts an interviewer.

Be confident and avoid showing any sort of hesitation while giving answers. You should look confident in regard of your communication skill. This is really important for this profile. A software tester need to prepare test reports and it should be well documented. Hence, interviewer will look for this skill in each candidate. Last, but certainly not the least, expertise with some software testing tool is going to raise your chances. Most of the times, interviewer will look for experience in Automation-Testing Tools, Performance-Testing Tools and Bug Tracking Tools.

Hopefully, this article has given you better understanding about preparation for a software testing job interview. If you are working on these above given tips then I assure you for getting a software tester job. I have shared the needs of this profile and suggestions regarding areas where you need to check for improvement. While reading this post, you might be thinking of few more questions. If yes, then post in your comments right now! I will try to clarify doubts in my replies.

At Gurgaon, we help freshers to get a job in software testing. Take a look at our software testing course in Gurgaon. You can send us a Whatsapp message to get a demo class during the weekend.