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Ministry of Testing x Searchability
Gabbi Trotter: Software Testing Career Advice
Exclusive hiring and job searching advice from the UK’s go-to software testing recruiter
Gabbi has placed 300+ software testers over 9 years, and is also the Co-Organiser of meetups including Ministry of Testing & QABC Club
Software Tester CV Tips
According to LinkedIn 72% of hiring managers say that they are more likely to hire a candidate who has a well-written summary of their skills and experience. Here’s how you can stand out in the job hunt as a software tester:
Include the key information
- Always include Name, Postcode, Contact details – you don’t want to be discounted because we don’t know if you can get to the office, or cant get a hold of you!
- Short, focused opening Statement, who are you, what have you done in your career and what are you looking to do in your next role!
- Skills: include all technical skills/tools you have, and any you are currently in the process of learning (e.g. are you learning Cypress in your own time) Recruiters, ATS, Hiring Managers look for key word matches so, when possible, tailor your CV to each role you apply for! On this note please don’t list technical tools you haven’t used personally on your CV as this will cause issue down the line at interview
- Work history in chronological order, include Title, short role description and 1 key achievement in each role you have held. Its not just what you did, its why you did it and how that contributed
- Extras: be sure to mention your hobbies, and anything you do outside of work for the Test Community, e.g. Meetup Attendee, Organiser or Speaker!
Optimise the format
When it comes to displaying your CV for best responses – there are a few things I always suggest you do to ensure the above information really stands out. Click here to read more and see an example in my blog!
Use our FREE CV Builder
You can also generate your CV in a few easy steps with Searchability’s FREE CV Builder – click here to get started.
Building your Personal Brand
I’m a huge advocate for investing into your personal brand, whether it’s to jump start your software testing career, increasing visibility of your employer brand for software testing candidates, or simply to amplify your achievements in testing!
Why personal brand matters
There are SO many reasons to invest into your personal brand – but in the world of recruitment and job hunting I like to stress the following facts:
- Content shared by employees receives 8 times more engagement than content shared by brand channels
- 79% of job seekers used social media in their job search in the last year!
My biggest tip
My quick tip on personal branding is to remember you are your brand, no matter what your current job is, what project you happen to be working on at any one time or whatever the priority happens to be today… always keep in mind the impact you leave on others and remember all we have is our own reputation and that’s our brand , so be awesome to each other!
Keeping a positive attitude and helping others will only help healthily grow your brand in the long run.
Discover more
If you are ready to get started then you can find out how on our candidate resource page – Building your Personal Brand – here!
Software Testing Market Insights
Every hire starts with a data-driven approach, and I’m here to share key software testing market insights with you, whether you are a candidate or a client!
Download the 2024 Insights Report
You can access the free UK Software Testing Market Report right here!