Entry-level QA tester resume example

By the Rezumed team · Updated November 5, 2026

A QA tester finds what is broken before customers do, and writes it up so a developer can fix it on the first try. An entry-level QA tester resume should show test plans you wrote, bug reports you filed, and both manual and automated tests you ran.

What testers do

The Bureau of Labor Statistics covers testers in the same profile as software developers. It says "Software quality assurance analysts and testers design and execute software tests to identify problems and learn how the software works." Their listed duties are to "Create test plans, scenarios, and procedures for new software", identify project risks and recommend steps to minimize them, "Implement software testing, using either manual or automated programs and exploratory testing, and evaluate results", "Document and report defects or problems with software", and give developers and stakeholders feedback on usability and functionality.

BLS says developers, quality assurance analysts and testers "are involved in the entire process of creating a software program", and that they typically need a bachelor's degree in computer and information technology or a related field, such as engineering or mathematics. It lists being detail oriented among the important qualities, including looking for potential areas of user error. So a QA resume has to show the test plan, the bug report and the test run, not only the code.

Sample resume

Experience comes before Projects because the internship is real QA work on a shipped app. Each job shows the full cycle: plan, run, report and retest. The projects add automation and an API, which the jobs only touch.

What to put in each section

Experience: what you tested, how, and what you found

A strong QA bullet names the feature, the kind of test and the result: cases written, bugs filed, fixes retested. Say whether a test was manual or automated, because postings often ask for both. Counts help when you know them, as long as they count your own work.

The bug report row is the one interviewers check. Many will ask you to describe a bug you found, so pick one you can walk through step by step.

Projects: show a test suite, not an app

On a QA resume, a project is about how you tested something, not what you built. Name the system under test, the tools and the kinds of cases you covered, such as bad inputs or edge cases. Link the repository so a reviewer can read your tests.

Education

Degree, school and graduation month. List a software testing course first if you took one, then software engineering and databases.

Skills to list

QA postings name tools and test types, such as "Selenium", "Cypress", "Jira" or "regression testing". Use their exact words for the ones you have used. The University of Maryland career center also suggests mirroring the job description's keywords. Keep manual and automated skills on separate lines so both are easy to spot.

Tools

• Bug tracking and test management: Jira, TestRail, Zephyr or Azure DevOps
• UI automation: Selenium, Cypress or Playwright
• API testing: Postman, pytest or REST Assured
• CI: GitHub Actions or Jenkins
• Languages: Python, Java or JavaScript, plus SQL for checking data

Abilities

• Writing test plans and clear test cases
• Writing bug reports a developer can reproduce
• Exploratory testing and finding edge cases
• Regression testing before each release
• Giving feedback on usability, not only on errors

Common mistakes

• "Tested software" with no detail. Name the feature, the kind of test and what you found. "Ran tests" could mean anything.
• Only automation, or only manual. BLS lists both manual and automated testing among the duties. Show at least one bullet of each.
• Bug counts with no quality. A big number of bugs means little if they were duplicates, so avoid padding the count. Mention what made your reports useful: steps, expected results, screenshots.
• Writing it like a developer resume. Features you built belong on the page, but lead with how you tested them. Developers build it; your bullets should show how you broke it.

FAQ

Do I need to know how to code?

For manual testing roles, often not much. For automation, yes: most automated tests are written in a language such as Python, Java or JavaScript. Read the posting and list the language it names if you have used it.

QA tester or software engineer: which example fits?

If your best work is building features, start from the software engineer new grad example. If it is test plans, bug reports and test suites, use this one.

Should I list a testing certification?

If you hold one, list it with the month you earned it. It supports your experience but does not replace it. See How to write a new grad resume for where it fits.

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More resume examples

• Software engineer new grad resume exampleInternship, TA work and two projects, plus how to write project bullets that name your part.
• Entry-level web developer resume exampleFreelance client sites, a campus web job and a live portfolio, with bullets about what shipped, how fast it loads and who can use it.
• Entry-level business analyst resume exampleRequirements, process mapping and stakeholder interviews, drawn from an internship, a help desk job and class work.

See all resume examples.

Sources

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Software Developers, Quality Assurance Analysts, and Testers
• University of Maryland Career Center: Resume how-to guide