Getting a Software Testing Job as a Fresher

How to Get a Software Testing Job When You Have No Experience?

1) Be Passionate About Testing
Why do you want to do a testing job?
This is probably the most common question across all testing interviews. You should have a clear answer as to why you plan to pursue a career in this field.
If you are a computer science engineer, why did you not choose software development? If you are from some other streams, why not look for a job in your field of study?
People who are passionate about this field and would love to grow as a quality tester often end up getting the best jobs out there. Anyone can be trained. But only the people with real interest in this field can make a name for themselves.
Remove all other career paths that you’re currently working on. E.g. you might be searching for oracle, C, C++, Java, Software Testing, etc. If you want to get into software testing, just keep preparing and applying for software testing jobs only. If not today, then tomorrow you will get your dream job. But till that time keep mastering your skills.

2) Have the Right Skills Required For the Job
As a software tester, you’d be spending most of the time trying to “break” the software. You should have excellent aptitude skills coupled with knowledge of testing methodologies and tools.
As a fresher, most of the time, you would not have exposure to any test cases. In such cases, you could join a training institute that offers hands on testing training. You could also take up some freelance work to improve your experience.
Nowadays most job openings require you to have some certifications. This is made mandatory by most companies so that the candidate can be productive from day 1 and no amount of time or money need to be spent on training the candidates on the basics.
If you are serious about testing career, you could go for certifications like ISTQB which will enhance your value in the job market.

3) Choose Your Niche

Have you heard the saying “Jack of all trades but master of none”? Well, these days, especially in IT field, you need to specialize and not generalize. A specialist is always preferred over a generalist by most companies.
Some of the popular testing niches you can choose are:
Manual testing: In this method, a tester takes on the role of the end user- one who will be using the software product. It’s a tedious process by which the tester has to use all of the software features to find bugs. In most cases, testers perform these tests based on an already laid out plan.
Automation testing: Using this mode of testing, a tester can evaluate software by writing scripts that automate the tasks. No need of manually doing everything which saves a lot of time. This is often the most cost-effective way of testing software over the long term
Performance testing: In this method of testing, software is tested against a specific workload. Some of the metrics that would be evaluated are responsiveness, maximum load capacity and so on.
Similar to software development, software testing is a vast field. So you should focus on one area of testing. This will make you a hot property in the job market. Even though you should specialize in one area, you should also try to be familiar with other areas. You must also be flexible enough to shift to another track if required.
But don’t enter into automation or performance testing career without knowing the ins and outs of manual testing. Remember slow and steady wins the race!

4) Bust All Myths
Sadly, the industry and students have a lot of misconceptions about software testing jobs.
Some of the myths still prevailing are:
Myth #1: Software testing is a simple job. So anyone can do it:
Although it’s not rocket science, testing still requires a lot of work and intellect from the part of the tester. So don’t think this is a walk in the park type of job and jump into it.
Myth #2: Testing is a second tier job compared to development:
We had one reader apply for a job who supposedly thought that she was entitled to a testing job since she had already worked as a software developer.
Her argument was that since testing is inferior to development, and she cracked development interview and worked on a project or two, she was entitled to a job as a tester without an interview.

Well, we have news for you. It isn’t the case! Software testing is just as important and valued as software development. So experience in one domain doesn’t necessarily entitle you to a free pass to another.
Myth #3: Automation testing means clicking a few buttons and the software will do it for you.
While it can be true for some existing test cases, most of the time you’d have to create the script for automation testing. So don’t think that it will be easy and since you don’t know/hate programming, it’s the perfect opportunity for you.

5) Write a Perfect Cover Letter and Resume
How many times have you applied to a set of jobs at a stretch using the same resume and not even thinking about including a cover letter?
If you are like most people applying for a job, your reply should be “most of the time” or “always”.
There are many candidates who simply attach their fresher resume and blindly apply to just about any job they can without even reading the titles. Do you really think a recruiter will take the pain to evaluate you after such an attempt?
Always customize your resume and make sure that you include a custom cover letter with each application. Instead of trying to apply to 50 different employers at a stretch, apply to just a few relevant ones.
You’ll drastically improve your chances of hearing back from the employer.

6) How can a fresher looking for a software testing job get relevant experience?
I’ve discussed various options in later chapters but here are a couple of options to get started
1) Get some experience by working on dummy projects available on the internet. Search for online dummy projects (e.g. Inventory management software) and download test software and all available documents. Test this software with complete STLC.
● requirement analysis,
● writing test cases,
● executing test cases,
● logging defects and,
● preparing test reports
If possible, get your work (defects, test reports etc.) evaluated by experienced software testing professionals.
2) By adding dummy projects learned from software testing courses: If you have joined any software testing course to learn manual or automation testing then add these dummy projects in your resume. This way you will get some experience to put in your resume and project section in your resume won’t be entirely blank. This way you will have an added advantage compared to other freshers