INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, QA Analyst positions are at a 22% growth rate, which is much faster than average. With that said, there are currently 1,847,900 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 409,500 to 2,257,400 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the QA Analyst jobs was $110,140 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $65,210, and the highest 10% more than $170,100.
Our conclusion? The QA Analyst job market is wide open for candidates.
Top QA analyst sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
A QA analyst resume experience section to be proud of
Writing a strong experience section for your QA analyst resume:
- List your previous jobs in chronological or reverse-chronological format;
- Use no more than 4-6 bullets per position;
- Mention only relevant work experience;
- Describe the tasks you were responsible for and how you managed to exceed expectations;
- Show you’re able to take charge by choosing action verbs over buzzwords.
Looking for real-life examples of what a strong experience section looks like? Check out our suggestions below!
PRO TIP
The person reading your QA Analyst resume will be busy, make sure you never waste their time with fluff.
Action verbs for your QA analyst resume
Recommended reads:
Taking Control of Your QA Analyst Resume’s Skills Section
A skills section that shows what you’re capable of includes:
- Keywords from the job advert to help you pass ATS;
- Both hard and soft skills, incl. technical skills and people skills;
- Skills that are relevant to the position you’re applying for;
- No more than 15 skills – to keep your resume readable.
Top skills for your QA analyst resume
Python
Selenium
Cucumber
Eclipse
Soup Ui
Jenkins
Maven
QTP
Junit
TestNg
Communication
Organisation
Analytical thinking
Creativity and innovation
Accountability
Flexibility
Eager to learn
Perseverance
Problem solving
Resourcefulness
PRO TIP
Add a Talent Section to your resume, where you can pick your top 3 soft skills and describe how you used them to complete a project or balance departmental communication.
QA analyst resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your QA analyst resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Include a link to your portfolio in your QA Analyst resume header. Most companies will require that you include one in your resume, and even if they don’t, it’s an excellent opportunity to directly show them your proudest projects.
A QA analyst resume summary that spotlights your achievements
Checklist: a strong QA analyst resume summary.
- Use adjectives that highlight the character traits you’re most proud of;
- Mention 1-2 of your biggest achievements;
- Add keywords from the job advert to increase your chances of passing ATS;
- Keep the recruiter’s attention by going for short sentences.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
When writing a resume summary or objective, avoid first-person narrative.
Recommended Reads:
Creating an impressive education section for your QA analyst resume
The Education Section: Checklist
- List your degrees in reverse-chronological order;
- Include your degree subject, place of study, name of institution, and year of graduation;
- Add a line or two about your relevant certifications;
- Mention some classes and projects that have helped you gain additional skills.
Top certifications for your QA analyst resume
Software Testing Interview Masterclass: Ace the QA interview
The Ultimate Software Testing Interview Course. Get a job as a software tester, QA, Manual QA, Quality Analyst, Engineer
The Complete 2022 Software Testing Bootcamp
Everything you need to learn about software testing.
Software Testing Masterclass (2022) - From Novice to Expert
Learn software testing and become QA Engineer/Agile Tester. Mobile/Backend/Web/QA testing. JIRA, TestRail & much more!
Specialize in QA Manual Testing with Live Project+AGILE+JIRA
Become a Master in Manual Testing QA with Live Testing Projects, AGILE, JIRA, 100+Interview Questions & Lifetime support
Master Software Testing+Jira+Agile on Live App-Be a TeamLead
2022 BEST job oriented Software Manual Testing course on real time Project+Interview ques+Resume Prep+ Lifetime Support
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a QA Analyst. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
A professional format for your QA Analyst resume
There are some aspects worth taking into consideration when choosing the format of your QA Analyst resume. These include the position and company you’re applying for, your total years of experience, whether you’ve been through some employment gaps, and so on.
Generally speaking, there are three basic resume formats for you to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
The reverse-chronological resume format is just that: all your jobs listed in a reverse-chronological way, starting from the most recent and moving backward. It’s great for highly experienced professionals with over 10 years in the industry behind their backs. The reason for this: it’s almost entirely focused on experience and achievements.
The functional skills-based resume format, on the other hand, is just the opposite. It’s based on your skills, personality, and expertise. It highlights what you’re capable of even when you don’t have sufficient work experience. This makes it great for students, recent graduates, or people with larger career gaps.
If neither of these sounds like you, go for the combination resume format. It’s a combination of the best characteristics of other formats, which makes it great for showcasing different aspects of your career and education. It also gives you plenty of options to choose from – in terms of colors, structure, and sections.
Check out our additional tips on perfecting your QA Analyst resume’s style and layout:
- Choose traditional 1-inch resume margins;
- Go for a serif or sans serif resume font that’s easy to read yet looks professional (e.g. Arial, Verdana, or Calibri);
- Keep your QA Analyst resume short: one-page template are preferable, but if you have over 10 years of experience, you can also go for a two-page format;
- Save your resume as PDF and choose a suitable name, e.g. NameSurnameResume;
Tired of looking for ways to make your resume stand out? Read this article!
Recommended reads"
PRO TIP
Test your draft QA Analyst resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Additional sections for your QA analyst resume
After drafting the required sections of your QA Analyst resume, it’s now time to move to something a bit more fun. There are a number of sections you can add to your resume depending on the company, the position, and how you’re feeling in general:
Adding the right kind of creativity to your QA analyst resume
It is through creativity that we express ourselves. And trust us, it’s important to show at least a bit of your personality if you want to leave a strong first impression.
But what are the ways to add creativity to your QA Analyst resume? Well, you can either go for a colorful and engaging template, or you could add some out-of-the-box sections, such as ‘life philosophy’ or ‘what my typical day looks like’.
It’s up to you! Just make sure that the level of creativity matches the position, the company, and the industry you’re applying for.
What makes a great QA analyst resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
