Software Tester Resume: Complete Guide for You + Tip

And that is why we are here! To help you out! We will ensure that you learn all there is to learn about writing a professional software tester resume by the time you done reading this article.

And that means, we will talk about how to write a professional software tester resume, where to begin writing the professional resume and how, how to choose the resume format and how to use resume template, what should your resume outline look like and how you should write each sections of your software tester resumes.

So without further delay, let's dive right in!

Professional software tester resume guidelines

Writing a professional software tester resume requires some knowledge of how the corporate world works to understand what is expected from your professional resume of software testers. A professional software tester resume is defined by traits such as accuracy, visual appeal, formal tone, proper labels, accessibility and so on. Here we will talk about how to achieve these qualities in your own software tester resume.

• To ensure that your resume is professional your resume should be written according to professional resume standards and should be properly labeled as well. That means your resume document should be labeled with your full name (first name and last name) and include the term 'resume' or 'CV'. This will allow the reader to know what they are looking at when they open the document at first. Reading your name in the document label will also help the reader remember it for longer time period.
• Your resume should be saved in the most compatible document formats such as PDF document format and Microsoft Word document format. The reason is your resume will be viewed by many people on various platforms, mediums, devices, software and applicant tracking systems, and not all of those will be compatible with wide range of document formats hence you should only use PDF or Microsoft Word format so the reader is able to open and read your resume document.
• A professional resume should be accurate and that means you cannot leave any grammatical mistakes, spelling mistakes or factual mistakes on your resume, if you have spelling and grammatical mistakes, you will be perceived as someone highly unprofessional person who doesn't care enough to pay attention to details, who is reckless and not so sincere about their tasks. If you have factual errors, it can lead to even bigger problems, most employers run a background check and they make sure that everything that you have mentioned on your resume is true and factual, if the background check is run before hiring, you will lose the opportunity, if the background check is run after you are hired, there is possibility that you will be fired, and sometimes big companies also take legal actions for fraud and such claims. What this means for you is you need to make sure that your resume is accurate, not just in terms of language but also in terms of facts. To ensure this you need to make sure that you proofread your resume twice before saving it and that means ensuring there are no mistakes or errors on your resume. In case, you are able to, you should ask a friend who has a good command on language. If that is not an option either, you don't have to worry. You can go on the internet and find many sites that help you proofread your content and even suggest the changes that need to be made and with the help of those you can easily proofread your software tester resume.
• A professional resume is written with formal language so how can you ensure that your resume has formal language? To give your language on the software tester resume, the formal tone, you need to use past tense and third person on your resume. When you use past tense and third person on your resume, it helps you give your language a formal tone. You need to make sure that you use past tense and formal tone throughout your software tester resume in every section without any inconsistency or mistake. You should also avoid using any pronouns anywhere on your resume because pronouns give the language slightly informal tone and your resume needs to be written in strictly formal tone.
• You should use as many action verbs, action words, power words, relevant keywords as possible because they help you ensure that your information on the resume of your profile has the desired effect on the hiring managers or the reader of your software testers resume.

Now that you know what makes your resume professional and how to ensure your own resume is written in professional manner, let's talk about how to write your resume or where to begin when you want to write your resume.

Research

Research may seem tiresome but do not worry, we are not talking about lengthy and time consuming academic research. We are talking about research that you do on daily basis for various purposes and tasks. For example, when you are planning on going on a vacation, the first thing you do is not packing your bags or applying for leaves at work even! First thing you do is going on the internet and exploring all you can to ensure your vacation ends up being enjoyable and worth the money you are about to spend, you will be exploring the reviews of various places, you will be exploring the local destinations to explore, local places to eat, hotels and other facilities to stay at and live during your vacation, visa or language needs, weather so you can ensure you have enjoyable vacation and you can pack the necessary clothes etc. This is research only and that is exactly what you have to do here as well before you get down to writing your own professional resume.

You may have already known this one because you are here reading our article and that is part of research only. You may have written a resume before, you may know all about writing a resume already, however doing the research will help you with any confusions you may have and it will also help you ensure that you are up to date with the industry trends regarding writing a professional resume.

Now, you are already doing the research but you may want some guidance to know what exactly you should be researching and we will discuss just that here:

• Salary range: Researching the usual salary range offered to professionals with your experience, skills and exposure, who are at your level, will help you learn if you were underpaid at your last job or not. This will also help you negotiate a better salary package of compensation package for yourself when you are in the middle of hiring process and discussing your salary. Many times, professionals are unaware of their market value and end up taking salary packages that makes them underpaid employee whose peers are earning more money than them. To avoid this you should simply make sure that you research the salary range that is offered to the employees in your field who are at the same level as you. You can also learn your market value based on your skills, knowledge and experience and what you bring to the table. Knowing your market value helps you be aware in case an employer is offering your a bad package or good package, you can also negotiate the compensation package and benefits when you are aware of your market value.
• Job market: The job market is always fluctuating, economy is rarely a stable phenomena in most countries across the world and that means the job market is always going to be evolving and changing and that means you will need to ensure that the job market is suitable for you and that means you need to make sure that the job market is going to be in your favor for upcoming future years. Your job and field should have a positive and plenty scope for growth and good earning. In case, there is decreasing scope for your role or industry, you may want to consider switching your roles or ensuring that your employment contract is good enough to secure your employment for upcoming years.
• Trends: Being aware of the trends in the job market also helps you negotiate a better package and that means you will be able to have the exact idea of what you need to bring to the table and what you need to offer in order to be value properly. Trends of an industry often keep changing, one day you are required to have particular qualification and background, next day different qualification and background may be in demand. You need to be aware of the trends in your field and industry so you can leverage your experience, skills, knowledge and exposure in the maximum capacity. Job trends often change with technological advancements and your role may be valued at higher or lower level and if you are unaware of on going trends you may miss out on good opportunities due to lack of knowledge of what is the latest trend in the industry. For example, as a content writer a professional needs to know if using AI is valued in the market or frowned upon, so that they can present their skills and abilities accordingly on their resume as well as during the interview and create a positive and accurate impression that is beneficial to them instead of creating an impression that might be harmful and make them lose the good opportunities.
• Resume examples: Going through resume examples is very important because it means you will be looking at how the software testers resume looks like, you may have your own resume as well however latest resume examples will give you an insight into how the resumes are supposed to be written in latest times and which are the parts of your resume that need to be updated. looking at the resume examples also help you get up close and useful insight of how should your resume look like, which info and details should be mentioned on your resume, which details you can get rid of from your resume as it may be irrelevant or unnecessary in latest times. You will also learn many other aspects of writing a perfect resume when you take a look at and explore various resume examples.
• Templates: Resume templates help you ensure that your resume looks good and has the necessary and required visual appeal. Visual appeal may seem like secondary aspect however it is very important because if your resume is not visually appealing, you will lose opportunity to impress the hiring managers. Hiring managers have certain expectations of what the resume should look like and if your resume does not look like that it may be disappointing for the reader. Another issue with visually unappealing resumes is that the reader will lose interest in reading the resume carefully, they might still look at your resume but they will do so superficially. And for the visual appeal you need to use the resume template. Now when you are using the resume template, you need to be careful about certain aspects such as replacing all the sample info with the info and details of your own profile without missing any line or word. When you replace the info, it is possible that the margins and the white space on your resume will move and be compromised in which case you will need to fix the margins and white space to ensure that the visual appeal of your resume is not compromised. You should also make sure that the font size and font color as well as font type is not compromising the visual appeal of your resume because your resume should be easy on eyes, it should have symmetry and accuracy when it comes to how the resume looks at first glance. There are many templates that you will find on the internet, you need to make sure that you choose the resume that is visually appealing and ensures that your resume looks good to the hiring manager. Templates will be available in many themes and types, you need to make sure that you choose the template that is suitable for your role and industry. Some of the examples of template themes are minimalistic, traditional, contemporary and so on, you need to pick the theme that is suitable and right for your role and profession, you may not want to go with very creative themes for software tester role as it may be deemed unprofessional for your role. Creative or visually colorful themes may be suitable for roles that demand creativity and value the same and do not expect strictly professional resume.
• Job description: Researching the job description is crucial during job search because it allows you to learn exactly what is expected from you in terms of skills, experience, exposure and knowledge. When you are aware of this, you will be able to prepare yourself in advance in case you are lacking any skills or exposure or knowledge and make sure that it doesn't become your weakness on your resume or your interview. This research also allows you to be aware of anything extra that you can bring to the table and offer because you might have a skill or exposure that may not be required in qualifications to apply however, having the skill or exposure may be a plus point and may give you an advantage by making you stand out from the pool of your fellow applicants. All you have to do for this is something you will be doing naturally during your job search which is going through various job descriptions in job ads and job postings and carefully scanning them for anything that you either lack of something that is not there but you have and can offer as something extra.
• Skills: Every role requires certain set of skills and exposure, when you are applying for a job, you should be aware of the skills that are required in an ideal candidate. Sometimes, for the same role or similar role, hiring manager asks for different sets of skills and you need to be aware of those because sometimes the required skills maybe different than what you have or are familiar with. In case, you do not have a skill or two that are required, you will need to make sure that you learn those skills before applying to the job. In case, you have a skill or two that are not required, you can leverage them as something extra that you can offer in order to negotiate a better package for yourself. When you are choosing skills to mention on your software tester resume, make sure that you mention soft skills, hard skills, technical skills and other relevant and crucial skills for the role and the skills mentioned on your resume are a good blend of all kinds of skills and not just one. Skills should be cherry picked to mention in various sections because they will help you reflect your capacities, capability and even knowledge and exposure which is very important when you want to convince the hiring manager.
• Resume formats: There are many resume formats that you can choose from, if you go on internet and explore software tester resume examples, you will find plenty of resume formats. So how can you choose the right resume format for your own resume? The resume format helps you highlight the right parts of your profile while ensuring that the weaknesses of your profile are overshadowed by your plus points and strengths. Choosing the right resume format is crucial because it will decide the HR manager's response upon seeing your resume. We will discuss the types of resume and how you can choose from them for your own resume next.
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Resume formats

Resume formats are of wide variety as mentioned above. To ensure that you choose the right resume format for your resume of software tester, you will need to be aware of the top 3 most preferred resume format in the corporate world. Using the right resume format is crucial because the hiring managers will be looking for a certain outlet and your aim will be to impress the hiring manager by highlighting important and impressive aspects of your resume and that is why you should go with the most preferred resume formats that we have discussed in detail below.

📌Types of resume formats:

• Functional resume format: A functional resume format for a software tester is suitable when the candidate is a fresher in the field or a recent graduate who has recently completed the education and does not have any professional work experience or such. Functional resume format helps you write the resume in a way where the education section and skills section are highlighted and you do not need to worry about not having any professional experience or work history. This resume format has the chronology as follows- contact info section in resume header, profile or resume summary, education section, skills section, work experience section (if any), extra sections (if any). Functional resume format is great for you if you need to highlight your education and skills in absence of significant work experience that is relevant to your role. In this resume format, you are allowed to elaborate your experience section and skills section.
• Reverse chronological order resume format: Reverse chronological resume format is useful resume format for most professionals because it highlights the work experience section. Most professionals who might have a wide range of experience such as 2/3 years or 2/3 jobs. or significant 4/5 years or extensive experience of 7 to 10 years or more, prefer this resume format because it helps them highlight their work experience well which is crucial because their work experience will reflect their skills, knowledge, exposure and experience which is reflect how qualified and capable they are as a professional and ideal candidate for the role. The chronology of sections for this resume format is as follows- contact info section, resume or profile summary or statement section, work experience section, education section, skills section, extra sections. In this resume format, the education section and skills section will be brief and not elaborate.
• Combination resume format: Combination resume format is as the name suggests, the combination of above two resume formats. Combination resume format is also called hybrid resume format. This resume format allows you to elaborate both the skills and experience section which is why it is suitable for those professionals who are looking for a role change or path change or even career change entirely as this resume format helps them highlight their transferrable skills and experiences that will make them suitable for the new role. The chronology of sections of his resume format is as follows: contact info section, profile summary section, experience section, skills section, extra sections.
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Software tester resume outline

Now, let's talk about how to write your resume for software tester. We will discuss each section and how to write it before we get to some of the valuable bonus tips.

Contact info section

In the resume header, the first section you will need to write is your contact info section. The details that you include in your contact info section must be accurate. If the details are not accurate the hiring manager will not be able to contact you or get in touch with you regarding the job opportunity, it might be about scheduling an interview, or any question they might have about your resume and info on your resume of software tester. In various software tester resume examples, you may have noticed how professionals include various details. Here's the list of details that you can include in your own contact info section of resume:

• Your full name with your first name and last name (with accurate spelling)
• Your contact number with country code and area code
• Your email ID that is professional and formal with the formal name and few digits
• Your professional headshot (it is not mandatory but if you include it make sure the photo is taken by a professional photographer and you are wearing formal attire in the photograph)
• Your home address (this is also not mandatory however if you wish to mention it, keep it brief. In case you are applying for a job in another state or country, you may want to include it briefly)
• Your LinkedIn profile link (you should only include this if you are active on the platform on the regular basis, your profile should be updated with latest updates and you should be present on the platform in your professional capacity.)

Once you are done with the contact info section in your resume header, you need to move on to resume summary section.

Resume summary section

The resume summary section of your software tester resume should be intriguing and compelling yet short and crisp as well as concise. Resume summary section is supposed to grab the reader's attention and sustain it throughout the resume so that the rest of the resume is paid attention to and read carefully. Resume summary should be written in bullet points and you should make sure that that the bullet points are no less or more than 3 to 5. The bullet points should cover the most impressive details of your resume. The bullet points should include details such as:

• Your role/ designation/ job title
• Your total years of experience and background
• Your top achievements and accomplishments
• Your relevant skills

Make sure that you do not undersell yourself and convey your capabilities and capacities accurately while also not boasting about your profile. You should also use maximum action verbs, action words, power words and relevant keywords to ensure that your resume summary has desired impact on the reader. For the same reason, you should also quantify the details by using numbers.

Professional experience section/ work history section

The professional experience section on your resume should be inclusive of your knowledge, exposure, relevant skills and more. The experiences should be written in reverse chronological order which means you should mention your latest experience first and then walk back to your first experience.

Each experience should mention the full name of designation, full name of employer and the employment period for which you were with that employer. If you had gotten a promotion at the same company, you can mention that with new role or job title under the same employer-heading.

The experience section should mention your job duties that you handled as part of your role and job description, you should also include the tasks or duties that you handled but weren't your responsibilities. In the experience description, you should reflect your soft skills such as team work, communication and other soft skills. You should also incorporate your hard/technical skills and role related skills.

You should mention any and every relevant accomplishments and any rewards or awards or recognition you may have received. The experience section should showcase your knowledge, exposure, skills and abilities.

Education section

The education section of your resume is for your educational background such as your diploma, degrees and more.

The education section's details should include full name of the diploma or degree, the educational institute from where you completed or acquired your education and the year of the education. You should avoid mentioning the year in case you are a fresher because it may lead to bias to in the minds of readers and hiring managers.

In the education section you can mention your high school diploma, other diplomas, degrees and also any online/offline certificate courses or programs that you may have completed.

Skills section

The skills section is important for you on your resume because it helps you highlight the skills that are important in a best possible manner because you will be writing your skills in bullet points manner. The skills that you choose to mention will be no more or less than 5-7 and that means you need to choose the skills very carefully. The skills that you choose to mention on your resume should be balanced blend of soft skills, hard skills, technical skills and role related skills. We have prepared a list of relevant skills for your software tester resume, you can also pick up more relevant skills from software tester resume examples, job descriptions in job ads and job postings and more. Make sure you choose the skills that are inclusive of soft skills, hard skills, technical skills and role relevant skills.

📌List of relevant skills for your software tester resume's skills section:

• regression testing process
• software testing
• regression testing
• automated testing process
• technical skills
• QA tester
• quality assurance
• system integration testing
• functional testing
• test plans
• working with testing team
• software testing process
• software development life cycle
• test scripts
• applicant tracking systems
• test cases
• GUI testing
• QA software tester skills
• defect tracking
• user acceptance testing
• system development lifecycle experience
• test data
• working with development team
• bug tracking system
• test scenarios
• test engineer skills
• experience software tester
• manual testing
• QA testing
• software programs
• testing strategies
• test execution
• smoke testing
• performance testing
• implementing test plans
• software bug tracking
• test analyst skills
• software engineer skills
• write test plans
• soft skills
• analyzed business requirements
• work in project based environments
• QA team
• programming languages
• computer science
• business analysts skills
• requirement analysis
• improved efficiency
• testing
• information technology
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Extra sections

Extra sections can help you stand out in a pool of your fellow job applicants. Most job applicants are likely to have the similar educational and experience background as that is the minimum requirement or qualifications that the hiring managers are demanding. In order to stand out, you will need to make sure that you offer something extra and impressive.

Extra sections may be related to your language proficiencies, your personal interests that are relevant such as security testing tools or such, your hobbies and so on.

Bonus Tip

Now, let's talk about

Keywords

Your resume will go through various applicant tracking systems and will be scanned and filtered by them. The recruiters use ATS to scan and filter the resumes they receive because doing the same manually can be very time consuming. Hence, your resume will be scanned by a software which will be running on set parameters. These parameters are none other than the 'presence of relevant keywords on your resume'. And that means you need to make sure that your resume has all the relevant keywords and those keywords must be used in meaningful and sensible manner.

Do not ever, chunk the keywords randomly anywhere or in one place because that may help you beat the ATS and but the reader will figure out what you have done and your resume will be rejected along with your job application.

📌List of relevant keywords for software tester resumes:

• information technology
• testing
• testing team
• functional requirements
• requirement analysis
• relevant experience
• test results
• computer science
• how many tests
• project based environments
• soft skills
• test analyst
• software testers
• QA testing
• manual testing
• testing strategies
• software programs
• test engineer
• test scenarios
• experience software tester
• development team
• integration testing
• working with development team
• software tester positions
• defect tracking
• QA tester jobs
• QA software tester
• test cases
• GUI testing
• test scripts
• software development life cycle
• functional testing
• quality assurance
• automated testing
• software testing
• regression testing team
• software tester
• regression testing strategies
• regression testing
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Conclusion

In conclusion, we would advice you to ensure that you follow the guidelines discussed in this article and perhaps use this article as your checklist. You can also check out our huge collection of resume examples, resume templates and resume writing guides. You can also use our resume builder feature which provides you with AI driven prompts similar to ChatGPT which will help you write your resume within minutes. The difference between ChatGPT and our resume builder feature is that our feature is specifically created for writing resume and will be useful for your resume writing efficiently. And that's all you need to know about writing a resume for software tester. We are sure that with the help of this article, you will write a job winning software tester resume. Good luck with the job search!