If a specialist has passed any basic QA course, he/she has more chances to get a job as a software tester.

But unfortunately, a received certificate doesn’t guarantee that he/she will be invited to an office and then – be employed.

Sometimes people send numerous resumes and don’t receive feedback on some of them.

At this stage, they may simply be disappointed and stop looking for a good job in a software testing field.

Further, we will talk about [highlight dark=”no”]five most popular mistakes[/highlight] made by junior QA engineers and the ways to not make them.

Mistake 1: you are not interested in software testing basics

For example, you are interested in a good salary in this field, real possibilities of career growth but you are not fond of this job.

If you are bored when thinking about test design and bug search, then this job is not made for you.

You don’t need to convince a potential employer of things you are not sure about.

A clever HR specialist or QA consultants, that will be present during a job interview, will easily notice that you lack work motivation.

Mistake 2: you lack self-confidence

It’s OK to not be completely sure about your professional skills since you lack experience in passing IT job interviews.

We can assure you that HR specialists completely understand your apparent worries and will try to create an absolutely convenient atmosphere during a job interview.

An HR specialist doesn’t try to make you fail a job interview.

To look calm and self-confident, try to find a way to stop worrying: tell your story yourself and prepare answers to the most popular questions, that may and possibly will be asked during your job interview.

Mistake 3: your resume is incorrect

A resume is a document that helps an HR specialist make a first impression about a tester during a job interview.

If an HR specialist sees that the document is badly structured, contains numerous mistakes and inconsistencies, he/she will simply delete it and start analyzing the next one.

You should spend at least one hour, writing a resume, to not simply write about yourself but also find evident mistakes and inconsistencies and properly correct them.

Use the following checklist to make your resume look good:

• Check that your initials, a company name, and a position are written correctly;
• Check if the document has grammatical and linguistic mistakes;
• Format the text (equal indents, the same font, markers for each element of a list).

Mistake 4: you don’t know how to use theoretical knowledge in a real life

It’s good to know the theory but proper usage of knowledge in a real life is much more important.

First of all, simply practice: for example, you can register on online platforms where clients communicate with freelance testers, search for bugs in applications that are on your local PC or smartphone.

Mistake 5: you believe that everything can be learned after employment

When you get your first job, you will need to work with a real product and you won’t have enough time to learn software testing basics.

Now your time is paid by a client. He/she will hardly spend money on your learning.

Therefore, if you want to become a software tester, you should take specialized courses or training beforehand and so you will definitely become a sought-after specialist in your field.

Conclusion

We have analyzed above the most popular reasons why you may spend a lot of time trying to find a job as a tester.

[highlight dark=”no”]You should be critical about this list[/highlight], try to fill the gaps in your skills and you will definitely become a good applicant for a job as a junior QA tester.