Employers expect candidates for test automation jobs to bring a number of key skills to the table, covering both role-specific abilities as well as soft skills that are desirable in almost any professional context.

Knowing what these skills are is the only way for prospective new hires to get their foot in the door, so let’s explore all of the main capabilities you will need to bring to the table to enhance your employability.

Automation Skills Employers Look For

Knowledge of automated testing tools

It goes without saying that anyone looking for a role in this sector should have an intimate understanding of a modern automation testing tool like TestProject.

The more you appreciate the inner workings of the latest platforms which are designed to augment and enhance the abilities of human testers, the better equipped you will be to fulfill your professional duties efficiently.

It also helps to recognize that different tools are fit for different projects, so showcase this on your resume and at interview if possible.

Manual testing

Even in an era when modern tools can streamline, accelerate and automate many aspects of putting software through its paces, you cannot afford to neglect manual testing skills.

Being up to speed with the fundamentals of what testing involves is a way of both showing that you know this specialism inside out, and also that you appreciate how to strike the right balance between test automation and manual intervention.

The fact of the matter is that most projects still involve a degree of manual testing, so this discipline is a long way from dying out.

The extent of the manual skills you need will depend on the role you are applying for. The higher up the ladder you will be, the more rigorous your understanding of and experience with test methodologies must be also.

If you get to interview on the strength of your manual testing abilities, expect to be asked to discuss them and provide examples of where different methodologies should be applied.

Teamwork and cross-discipline collaboration

Test automation cannot take place in a vacuum, and the entire development ecosystem has been dramatically improved thanks to the rise of DevOps in the past couple of decades.

Collaborating with colleagues from various backgrounds and with various responsibilities that differ from your own is part and parcel of what test automation professionals get up to every day.

It’s all about embracing the broader context of the impact you make, and what this means both for other teams and for the organization as a whole.

Showing that you are engaged with the business and the brand at every level, rather than solely being focused on doing your job in isolation, will prove to prospective employers that you are a team player.

This should also be evidence of your flexibility. If you are au fait with collaborative processes, and more importantly can speak to the benefits of them, then you will also demonstrate that you are willing to adapt and change if this is necessary.

Coding capabilities

While lots of automated testing solutions are low-code or no-code in nature, that doesn’t mean you can afford to be a complete novice when it comes to programming languages.

Obviously the language you specialize in should be suited to the role in question, or else you might not be a good fit in the first place.

Even if you have a working knowledge of several languages, without necessarily being an expert, this is better than being overly focused on just one to the exclusion of all others.

From C++ and Python to JavaScript and HTML, a plethora of programming languages are popular and widely deployed right now.

Speaking more generally, if you have coding capabilities up your sleeve, then these skills will be transferable to other areas of test automation, such as writing tests and tweaking existing processes according to best practices and programming logic.

Some smaller employers might even require testers to write code and fix bugs themselves, so building out your skills in this area is always a good idea.

Time management

Test automation might be a means of speeding up the QA process in software development, but that does not mean roles in this area are less time-sensitive or pressured than they were in the past.

In fact with many development projects having tighter turnarounds, and also needing perpetual updates to be built, tested, revised and released within smaller windows, being good at time management is a must.

Once again it comes as part of seeing your role within a team and an organization, and realizing how what you do impacts on others around you. If you miss a deadline, this has a knock-on effect, so you have to be on top of this. Appreciating your impact and using the right tools is key.

There’s a chance that you are reluctant to mention something as generic-sounding as good time management on your resume. This is a common mistake, since employers are looking for well-rounded individuals, not specialist savants who exist in their own little bubble.

Communication

We have already touched on some of the ways in which effective communication is important in modern businesses, especially where software development and testing are concerned.

Your communication skills must be carefully acquired and honed, and it’s vital to realize that this isn’t just about being able to get your point across successfully, but also about knowing how to listen to others.

Listening isn’t just being quiet while another person is contributing until there is space for you to state your case; you have to practice active listening, and be attentive in a way that benefits collaboration and team cohesiveness, rather than leading to fragmentation and frustration.

Knowing how to use modern communication tools also comes into play here, although at this point it is very likely that you are up to speed with all the latest solutions on a technical level.

The next step is to get to grips with expected etiquette, and once again show that you are a team player rather than a disruptive element or a lone wolf.

Wrapping up

As you can see, there are skills employers look for in test automation candidates that sit at every point on the spectrum from specialized to broad-ranging and transferrable.

Soft skills are arguably more important to give your attention to, especially if you already have the training and experience needed to secure a role. To stand out, show employers that you are ready to slot into their company and click with their culture from day one.