What job hunting tips can you share?

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Great discussion and much advice shared during Episode 89 of This Week in Testing. :headphone:

Thank you Ben Dowen (@fullsnacktester), Eamon Droko (@eamond15), Emily O’Connor (@eoconn), Olly Faihill (@olly_f ) and Oleksandr Romanov (@al8xr)

We thought it would be handy to start a job-hunting tips thread. Indeed, it’s a big topic, yet let’s see where this thread goes.

What job hunting tips can you share?

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This is how I approach Job Hunting on LinkedIn. Hope it’s helpful! I’m wondering if writing an article about dealing with the feelings when job hunting would be useful as well. Emotionally, I am not the best job hunter. Happy to put something together if this sounds like it would be relevant.

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A few tips from my side

  • When you prepare for an interview, ask yourself, “What is your uniqueness?” Write down your strengths.
  • Prepare a CV that actually tells the story, tailored to a particular job
  • Prepare a set cases from your experiences using STAR methodology
  • Support each other in searching for a job. Share your tips and insights in MoT forum of Slack chat. Join “This Week in Testing” calls and ask questions here
  • Network matters. Make you sure that you have a decent network of testers and they know what you are capable of.
  • Grow network outside of “testing bubble” as well. Participate in hackathons or bootcamps and get new connections among software engineers, devops, product managers, etc.
  • Practice coding challenges to be prepared for such a section at job interviews. Gather with few fellow testers and solve coding problems together.
  • Check out your Linkedin SSI - how your profile is scored and how it is discoverable by the network. Make sure your LN profile is filled with up-to-date info. But also - be active in posting information and commenting the posts of others
  • Remember that interviews are a totally different skill. It can be improved through practice and careful reflection.
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A lot in the discussion resonated with me. My last 3 jobs have been through my network where I’ve been lucky enough that my CV wasn’t necessarily that important to open the door. I still went through tough interviews but the conversations weren’t skills based, they knew that, it was more about the challenges they needed tackling. Your network can be a game changer and even change the tone and communication style in the interviews.

On the down side, it has meant I’ve become out of touch with applying for jobs without using my network. So @jmosley5 and @al8xr tips are things I will act on :folded_hands:

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Really enjoyed talking about this in the latest TWiT episode.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to build your brand and your profile!

Be visible, contribute and share your learnings with people. You need a way to distinguish yourself from other candidates.

Through doing this, you may even get noticed by recruiters or people in the community that are hiring. It’s simply not enough to just apply through websites now as these jobs get hundreds, if not thousands of applications.

Think about ways you can stand out from the crowd.

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A few things that have served me well:

  • If a recruiter gets in touch with a role you’re not interested in then politely decline and send a connection request. You never know, something might come up later that you really like the look of.
  • Not all roles are on the same handful of sites. Try searching for something more specific - maybe “software QA jobs in retail”, “startup jobs in tech” and try out a few sites that aren’t LinkedIn or Indeed :sweat_smile:
  • Make a list of local companies that are likely to have a QA function and get into the habit of checking their websites regularly to see if anything comes up.
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Adding a few tips from my recent talk “QA Secret Sauce: What Companies Don’t Know They Need”:

  • Make Your Thinking Visible
    Post your thoughts, bugs you explored, or lessons learned — let hiring managers see how you think, not just what you know.
  • Build Real-World Visibility
    Go to meetups, conferences, and events. Have your LinkedIn QR code ready, follow up with a short message, and start conversations. It’s not just about who you know — it’s about who remembers you when it matters.
  • Act Like You’re Already on the Team
    Use their product, spot a bug or UX flaw, and mention it in your application. It shows initiative and real curiosity.
  • Ask “Why are you hiring QA now?”
    This one question reveals hidden pain points — and lets you steer interviews toward real impact.
  • Negotiate from Confidence, Not Fear
    You’ve been negotiating since “hello.” If the offer doesn’t match your value, propose a setup that does.
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  • Keep a consistent “voice” in your CV, LinkedIn profile, cover letters etc.
  • Use ChatGPT to “spar” so that it helps shape that voice, help with interview prep, but also rewording of previous roles so that you tell a story
  • Use humans as well. Career coaches do help give you an idea of how to come across in interviews as well as explore your fears and hopes so you are better prepared.
  • Think about your next role as either earn or learn, if former look at contracting roles in larger organisations, if latter maybe look at smaller companies with interesting product.
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I have found UI tools very helpful, I struggle a bit with putting what I do into interview speak, so I have copied my CV into Gemini and asked for it to provide me with answers to common interview questions based upon my experience, I keep this in the Google Docs and build upon it as my experience grows.

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A couple of months ago, I was invited to speak on a panel at a Sydney testing meetup. Interestingly, even before the actual event, recruiters started reaching out with some amazing job opportunities — just because they saw my name on the panel list!

At the meetup, I not only connected with other recruiters but also met fellow testers who were hiring or looking to grow their teams. It was a great reminder that job hunting isn’t always about sending resumes — sometimes, just showing up and contributing puts you on the radar.

If you get a chance to attend or speak at community events, go for it — the visibility and connections are worth it!

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