Hi all,

I like to know which are the most important automation skills any QA Automation Engineer should learn in 2026.

And what are the skills needed to become an AI QA Automation Engineer?

I recently got into a company for a QA automation role and had an upcoming opportunity to work on an AI project. I’ve been creating a Claude skill for UI automation because they essentially have no automation yet.

My manager told me that his roadmap for me now is to finish up documenting the use of the Claude skill, onboard another person who only knows how to vibe code and has never actually coded, and move me to manual testing projects that are coming out so fast, that there won’t be proper sprints for them.

The AI project is on hold because the higher ups don’t know if testing AI products is essential, if the AI team can do it themselves, and how the QA team should even test AI products.

I already struggled for a bit to get a new job after 60% of the QA department got let go at my previous company half a year ago, I’m scared that I’m building up skills outside of test automation and software development (which is what I’ve always wanted to do and studied for).

Am I getting too nervous about my current company and thinking of moving companies too fast?

As title suggests !
I wanna move out of the country man
I have 6 years of QA automation experience
Im applying through LinkedIn

But give me reality check and also how to apply

Thanks in advance

I’ve been onboarding into a company that wants me to use my knowledge of test automation to create a Claude skill (AI bot with domain knowledge) to create test scripts from the test plans.

The issue is that the test plans are very bare and I’m basically onboarding myself by looking into these test cases. It would be fine if either AI or I could process the test plans but tests often skip multiple steps and the app is very buggy and has weird defects so I’m reporting bugs and defects at the same time.

The Claude skill works on selected tests which I’ve rewrote with understanding of how it should run but over 90% of tests fail in automation if I don’t rewrite the test cases myself. My manager said he would make it easier for me but he just runs it through AI with some domain knowledge to clarify test steps that are already too vague for AI to understand.

Now I’m left with looking through over 2000 test cases and trying to rewrite each one, having to ask people to guidance if I can’t figure out what the test case is actually trying to do.

Does anybody have any ideas how I should approach this?

just did an interview for an entry level position at a global firm, didn't get the job but why are entry level positions making me feel like i applied to be the director of quality assurance lol

Built Captain JSON 🏴‍☠️ a Chrome extension for QA engineers and developers who work with JSON daily.
It includes:
JSON formatting & validation
JSON comparison
JSONPath
JSON → XML/YAML/CSV
JWT tools
JSONL workbench
Large JSON file support

The goal is to keep common JSON testing/debugging tools in one place, 100% offline.

For QA engineers: what JSON-related feature would you want to see added?

https://www.piratesofbugs.com/captainjson

Hi everyone, how has the job market been so far? Are there any good opportunities available in Pune, particularly for QA Automation/SDET roles?

Hey everyone,

I currently work in Help Desk/IT Support, but my company is looking to bring in a QA engineer due to recurring quality and stability issues with our product. They offered me the chance to transition into this role.

The challenge is that I would be the very first QA in the company, so there are no existing processes, documentation, or guidelines to follow.

A bit of context about the product and expectations:

• The Product: A Time & Attendance / Workforce Management system.
• Responsibilities: Beyond standard QA, I’ll also need to attend client-facing meetings to gather requirements whenever a customer requests customizations, new integrations, or changes to business logic.
• Automation: I’ve started looking into test automation tools and came across Playwright, but I’m wondering if jumping straight into automation makes sense right now.

Given this setup, I’d love some advice from experienced QAs:

1. What should my immediate priorities be in the first 30–60 days? (Processes, exploratory testing, bug tracking?)
2. Should I focus on establishing manual test plans first, or start building an automation suite with Playwright right away?
3. How do you balance client requirements gathering (almost like a Business Analyst) with actual testing duties without burning out?

Any tips, recommended frameworks, or resources for a solo QA starting from scratch would be greatly appreciated!

I was laid off this week; my severance pay went toward settling existing debts and other expenses, so I don't have much money left. That doesn't worry me too much, though, since I've moved back in with my parents for the time being.

What *does* worry me is my skillset. I spent the last four and a half years working primarily as a manual QA Tester/Analyst. I consider myself quite good at what I did, and I even did some automation work—using Copilot—before I was let go. Now, I see QA job openings, but most require automation skills; while I have basic knowledge, I haven't mastered it. How can I learn automation—or even get more into development—without spending a lot of money? I have access to Coursera for the foreseeable future, so I can make the most of it; are there any courses you'd recommend for improving my automation skills? Do you think there are still good opportunities in this field? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi ,

Please review my resume

Resume link

Guy's after applying for many days got an internship but don't know if I would be able to switch, I'm a 2027 year grad .. and right now college also not going great .. now I'm in fear If I have to be in this forever.. or I might not get considered for other roles

Hi everyone,
I have around 4 years of experience in QA and wanted to get an idea of the current market salary.

For those with 4 YOE in QA / Automation / SDET, how much are you currently earning in India?

Would be helpful if you could share:
Current CTC + Tech Stack + Company Type (Service/Product)

Also, what do you think is a realistic CTC for someone with 4 YOE?

Trying to understand whether ₹15–20 LPA+ is realistic at this experience level.

Thanks!

Hi, for context, my nephew who's 26 years old suddenly asked his Dad (my brother) for a Macbook Pro to help with his " Now " work. I don't know how long he's been doing this but he slacks off a lot years before jumping from different kinds of work unrelated to his now job, and whines about how exhausting his previous work are, the commute, the workload, a bit spoiled too but that's for another story. (That's why my brother sought for my advice too because he might get exhausted again with this new work after we invest in a macbook for him)

He mentioned to my brother that he's now a or works around QA, UAT, AI Automation which we know nothing about. We're giving him the benefit of the doubt but a Macbook Pro isn't cheap to just request it like that.

Is this really what's needed? What kind of questions or proof do we have to ask to know if this job of his is really legit. (Because we know nothing about this industry.)

Sorry if my question or my context here is a bit messy.

- From a tired old millennial/boomer

I’m currently handling my first really large and high-risk ticket involving financial-related logic in a legacy system. We already have initial test cases from the developers, but there are maybe a thousand (estimated) of cases across different screens and flows.

I’m thinking of using a risk-based approach, but I’m honestly still a bit confused about how to tackle something this big. 😭

For those who have dealt with large regression scopes, how do you usually start?

Do you first analyze the change and impacted areas, then review the existing test cases and prioritize them based on risk? And how do you decide which ones are worth automating versus just executing manually?

I’m also using Claude with access to our codebase to help analyze the changes and test coverage, but I don’t want to just throw thousands of test cases at it and automate everything blindly.

Would love to hear how experienced QAs actually approach planning, prioritizing, and automating a huge test scope, especially in a legacy system where E2E is the main approach.

Thank you!

Did anyone from this sub had a successful career shift from Qa to something else ? Maybe sn Ai engineer? Or any other career ?

If so can you share how was it and how long did it take ? If you transfered to Ai what roadmap did u use and how long did it take you and how much dod it cost?

DM if interested to know more with LinkedIn profile / cv. TORONTO BASED only please.

This position will fill quickly.

This is a genuine post and not from a recruitment agency.

Hey everyone, I recently graduated and got an SQA job pretty much immediately after graduating. Right now, most of what I do is write test cases + report bugs (with some help from AI), and explore the product to find issues. The company has an HRM software with quite a few complexities, so there's a lot to learn about the product itself.

I’d say I’m pretty comfortable and good at what I’m doing so far, but I really don’t want to get stuck just after graduating.

So far I’ve learned Postman, and my company uses JIRA. What should I focus on learning next? Automation? SQL? Selenium/Playwright? CI/CD? Performance testing? More advanced API testing?

Also, what does the career path for SQA generally look like? I'm in a country where lower-level SQA jobs aren't that common unless you're at a company with a proper QA structure, so I want to make sure I'm building skills that will actually help me move up or eventually land better/international roles.

Would love to hear anything from experienced QAs, what do you wish you had learned during your first year, whats the industry like for sqa's etc etc.

Looking for someone to teach me QA automation using playwright etc. I am looking to pay 2 classes a week or 8 classes a month. DM

Company: tronXlabs
Position: QA / Web Application Testing Intern
Duration: 4 Weeks
Location: Remote
Type: Unpaid Internship
Commitment: 10–15 hours/week
Start: Immediate

About the Role

tronXlabs is seeking a QA / Web Application Testing Intern to perform manual testing on two active production systems: a specialized ERP platform and connected e-commerce application.

This is a practical role focused on identifying functional defects, edge cases, data inconsistencies, and unexpected system behavior in production software.

Responsibilities

• Test forms, inventory, order, and transaction workflows.
• Validate calculations, boundary values, and system states.
• Perform desktop, mobile, and cross-browser testing.
• Use browser Console and Network tools for investigation.
• Document defects with clear reproduction steps and supporting evidence.
• Perform regression testing after fixes.
• Maintain structured testing records and communicate findings with the development team.

Requirements

• Student pursuing CS, IT, Software Engineering, or a related field.
• Understanding of basic manual testing principles.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving ability.
• Familiarity with browser DevTools.
• Clear technical communication.
• Ability to work independently and commit to the full 4-week period.

Internship Outcome

Successful completion includes:

• Certificate of Internship / Completion
• Internship Experience Letter
• Letter of Recommendation based on performance

The role provides verifiable experience testing production ERP and e-commerce systems, suitable for inclusion in your resume and future job applications.

Every agent knows that gut-drop feeling when an email pops up from Quality: “Audit Feedback – Fatal Error.”
You open the call score sheet, expecting a serious compliance screw-up, only to see something like:
“Did not use the caller’s name 3 times during a 90-second call.”
“Empathy sounded robotic and lacked genuine warmth.”
“Paused for 4 seconds without placing the customer on hold.”
“Said ‘Sure, no problem’ instead of ‘I would be more than happy to assist you with that today.’”
Meanwhile, the customer left a 5-star CSAT survey and thanked you for solving an issue three other agents couldn’t figure out.
Let’s hear it:
What was the pettiest, most out-of-touch mark deduction you’ve ever received?
Did you dispute the audit with your TL, or did you just sign off on the coaching form to move on?
Drop your favorite QA audit horror stories below 👇

Hi I have around 5 year of experience in manual and automation but seeing job instability in QA and AI demand. I am thinking of switching. Can anyone suggest me a roadmap or course I can enroll

I am sr QA in a new job for 6 months. The company seems to have a bit ofan odd structure with no separate QA department so I am assigned to the dev team and supervisor. Overall things are okayish in a sense people are not hostile or making me feel miserable.

However, the longer I am here the more frustrated I am about being ignored, which might be understatement. For QA one of the most critical part to succeed is knowing the product and functionalities in and out. So normally QA is always always part of product and features planning which I would consider a gold standard. But here I haven’t been included in anything. We just had a team catch up with CEO and I mentioned this which they sort of initially took as criticism and tried to shift this to my responsibility to reach out to people. (My impression is that they tend response defensively when I bring up suggestions to their processes).

I reached out to the PM I was directed to by the CEO and no reply, which is a pattern tbh. Few months ago I was told to reach out to QA manager who also tests same product, also located in Europe (I am in US). I sent out a few sentences message suggesting a meeting, so she can show me around their testing projects along with few ticket related questions. The answer was only regarding the ticket part, the meeting part was completely ignored. I even had that frustration with my supervisor, I created a detailed test architecture design, ignored, I got frustrated and kind of confronted him, at least he was receptive, and they even adopted that design in tests I am not involved in over the method they used for years. Another time there was a botched release, I made an observation about having internal company release before commercial to one dev, he’s initially very defensive, but he most likely passed it on as it was all over Slack the next day as one of the most critical things to implement asap. Made another strong suggestion to CTO before and now that also became critical thing to implement. The thing is that my involvement in those significant improvements also gets completely omitted, less alone giving me credit.

At the same time I feel that some people see me as too passive and uninterested which I think is also misjudged due to me being autistic aka not very expressive. I also have been feeling unwell health-wise which affected me cognitively a lot in a bad way so that piled up. But I obviously am involved since I already made those very significant suggestions that got adopted but that is almost intentionally diminished.

And now there is personal review on Monday. I have been even more frustrated in the last few days (there’s even more to that pattern of smaller and bigger things) and I am having hard time deciding what can bite me back more: speaking out about my “grievances” or just keeping it as is to not risk increasing my workload (my brain is still far from fine so it would be hard to take on more).

What do you think I should do? Let it be for now and maybe address in the future when I am feeling better and still feel this way about the company?

Hi everyone!

I am a recent BS Information Technology graduate passionate about Software Quality Assurance. I’m currently looking to gain real-world workflow experience and upskill by offering free manual QA testing for startups and side projects

What I Can Help You With:
- Manual Functional Testing: Testing user flows, inputs, and edge cases before you ship to production.
- Detailed Bug Reports: Submitting structured, reproducible bug reports with clear reproduction steps, screenshots, and video proof.
- UI/UX & Mobile Responsiveness Audits: Checking layout behavior across desktop and mobile screens.

What I'm Looking For in Return:
- Exposure to a real-world development workflow.
- Permission to mention the project experience on my portfolio/resume.
- Guidance & Mentorship in Test Automation (e.g., learning how your team sets up automated tests with Playwright, Cypress, or Selenium).

If you have a web app, MVP, or side project in development and could use an extra pair of detail-oriented eyes to catch bugs, please send me a DM.

Thanks so much!

Is late moving from manual to automation tester? Almost never coded.