Should a QA CV focus on manual or automated testing?

Most postings now expect automation. Lead with it if you have it, and show manual testing through strategy and exploratory work.

Which QA tools should I list?

The ones you used at work and the ones the posting names. Show the main framework inside a job entry, not only in a list.

How do I measure QA impact on a CV?

Use real figures such as suite run time, release frequency, escaped bugs or time saved on regression.

Engineering

QA Engineer CV: what gets you shortlisted

QA roles have moved towards automation and quality ownership across the team. Screeners want to see test suites you built, how they fit into delivery and what quality improved. A CV that only describes manual test cases now looks narrow for most postings.

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What employers look for in a QA Engineer CV

Screeners check these first. Each one should be visible in your job entries, not only in a skills list.

Test automation in a named framework, such as Playwright, Cypress, Selenium or API testing tools.
Tests integrated into CI so they run on every change.
A clear test strategy: what to automate, what to test manually and why.
Finding and reporting bugs clearly, and helping prevent them earlier.
Working inside a delivery team rather than as a separate gate at the end.

Skills QA Engineer postings often ask for

Listing a skill is not the same as showing it. Resymetry counts a skill as matched only where your CV shows you used it.

Playwright
Cypress
Selenium
API testing
Postman
JavaScript or Python
CI/CD
Test planning
Regression testing
Performance testing
Jira

4 common QA Engineer CV mistakes and how to fix them

Counting test cases written.
Fix: Say what the tests protected and what changed, such as fewer escaped bugs or faster releases.
Automation mentioned without a framework or language.
Fix: Name both, and say how the suite runs.
No link to delivery.
Fix: Show how your work affected release speed or confidence.
Only manual testing described for an automation role.
Fix: Add any automation you have done, even small, and describe it concretely.

Weak and strong CV bullets

Illustrative examples, not real candidates. Use your own work and only numbers you can back up.

Weak: Wrote automated tests.
Stronger: Built a Playwright suite of 180 end-to-end tests that runs on every pull request in about 8 minutes.
Weak: Performed regression testing.
Stronger: Replaced a two-day manual regression pass with automated API and UI tests, letting the team release weekly instead of monthly.
Weak: Reported bugs.
Stronger: Introduced a bug template with reproduction steps and logs, which reduced back-and-forth on tickets and sped up fixes.

Know your chances for QA Engineer roles

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