A QA CV and Portfolio Without Experience

CV basics for a QA application

Length. For a junior role, one page is ideal and two is the maximum. Recruiters often skim a CV in well under a minute on first read.

Format. One column, standard headings, a readable font, no skill bars or star ratings (they say nothing and some ATS software reads them badly). Save as PDF unless the ad asks for Word. Name the file sensibly: alex-kim-qa-cv.pdf.

Country differences. Conventions vary. In the US, “résumé” is the usual word and photos, age and marital status are normally left out. In parts of Europe, a photo and a longer CV are more common. Check what’s normal where you apply, and when in doubt, leave personal details out.

The summary

Two or three lines at the top. Who you are, what you can do now, what you want. No “hard-working team player”.

The skills section

Group skills and be honest about level. The word basic is your friend: it’s true, it still matches searches and it protects you in interviews.

Testing: manual testing (web and mobile), test cases, test plans, bug reports,
  exploratory testing, regression testing, boundary value analysis
Tools: Jira, Chrome DevTools, Postman (basic), Android emulator and iOS simulator
Other: basic SQL (SELECT, WHERE, JOIN), Agile/Scrum ceremonies,
  English (C1), Spanish (native)

The projects section

This is where career changers win or lose. Each project gets a name, a one-line context and two or three bullets with what you produced.

FoodDash 2.0 release test (practice project, Bugwise Capstone), 2026
- Wrote a one-page risk-based test plan and test cases for checkout
- Explored the app in time-boxed sessions; filed bug reports with
  steps, expected/actual and severity
- Wrote a test summary with a go/no-go recommendation
Portfolio: github.com/alexkim/qa-portfolio

Use your own real numbers if you want to add them (“12 bug reports”), never invented ones.

Transferable skills by background

You’ve probably done more tester-like work than you think. The trick is to describe it in testing terms without pretending it was a testing job.

• Customer support: reproducing problems, writing clear tickets, empathy for users. On a CV: “Reproduced customer-reported app issues and wrote step-by-step tickets for developers”
• Teaching: explaining simply, reviewing material for errors, planning. On a CV: “Reviewed tests and worksheets for 120 students a year, catching unclear or wrong questions”
• Retail and hospitality: attention to detail, calm under pressure, real users. On a CV: “Found and reported recurring pricing errors in the till system”
• Admin and finance: accuracy, checking numbers, following procedures. On a CV: “Reconciled monthly invoices and flagged mismatches before payment”
• Translation and languages: spotting text and format problems, other cultures. On a CV: “Checked translated product texts for meaning, length and number formats”
• Gaming and tech hobbies: curiosity, trying edge cases, community bug reports. On a CV: “Reported bugs to an indie game’s public tracker with steps and video”

Skills that matter for testers, whatever your background: attention to detail, clear writing, curiosity, structured thinking, user empathy and calm communication when telling someone their work has a problem. Show each with an example instead of naming it.

Honest projects to list

The Bugwise Capstone

The Capstone gives you a realistic release to plan, test and report on: a brief, a buggy app, test cases, bug reports and a release recommendation. It covers almost everything a junior QA interview asks about, and it’s yours to talk about. Rewrite its deliverables in your own words for your portfolio.

Open-source projects

Many open-source apps and websites accept bug reports through a public issue tracker, often on GitHub.

A link to a well-written, accepted issue is excellent portfolio material, because anyone can see it was real.

Practice apps and sites

Some websites and demo shops exist specifically so testers can practice on them, for example demo stores, demo banking sites and practice APIs. Search for “practice website for software testing” and you’ll find several. Check each site’s terms, and remember the ethics from Take-Home Assignments: no load tests or attacks unless the site explicitly invites it.

Public betas and crowdtesting

• Public betas: many iOS apps run open betas through TestFlightTestFlightApple's service for distributing beta builds of iOS apps to testers before App Store release.Open in glossary →, and Android apps through Google Play testing programs. Feedback you send there is real testing on real products. See TestFlight and Firebase App Distribution.
• Crowdtesting platforms pay testers per accepted bug or per test cycle. If you did paid work through one, you may list it honestly as freelance work: name the platform, the dates and what you did. Don’t turn three test cycles into a job title.

Building a portfolio

A portfolio lets a hiring manager see your work before they meet you. Keep it small, tidy and real.

Where: a public GitHub repository (good if you’re curious about automation later) or a Notion or Google Docs page (fine and faster). Put the link at the top of your CV and on LinkedIn.

What to include, one strong example of each:

• A one-page test plan, based on the Capstone or a public app. Learn it in Writing a Test Plan.
• 5 to 10 test cases, based on one feature, such as login or checkout. Learn it in How to Write Test Cases.
• 2 to 3 bug reports, based on real, reproducible bugs. Learn it in How to Write a Bug Report.
• Exploratory session notes, based on a 45-minute charter. Learn it in Exploratory Testing.
• Optional: an API check, based on a public practice API in Postman. Learn it in API Testing with Postman.

A simple layout for a GitHub repository:

qa-portfolio/
  README.md            Who I am, what's here, how to reach me
  fooddash-capstone/
    test-plan.md
    test-cases.md
    bug-reports.md
    summary-report.md
  open-source-bugs.md  Links to issues I filed, with status
  exploratory/
    shopping-site-checkout-session.md

LinkedIn: headline and About

Recruiters search LinkedIn with the same keywords as an ATS. Your headline is the most important line, because it shows up in every search result.

About section template. Three short paragraphs, first person:

I'm a junior manual tester moving into QA after <N> years in <field>.
In <field> I <one concrete thing that is tester-like>, which is how I
found out I enjoy <finding the cause / getting the details right>.

Over the last <months> I've learned <testing activities>. In my practice
project I <planned / tested / reported on> a <type of app>: <deliverables>.
I'm comfortable with <honest tools list>, and currently learning <next thing>.

I'm looking for a first QA role in <type of team or product>.
My portfolio: <link>. Happy to connect with testers and hiring managers.

Add your projects to the Featured section, list the skills you actually have, and turn on “Open to work” if you’re comfortable with it (you can choose whether only recruiters see it).

Keywords recruiters search for

Recruiters, and the ATS behind them, search for specific words. Use the exact terms from the job ad when they’re true for you.

Area	Common keywords
Core	manual testing, test cases, test plans, bug reports, test execution
Techniques	exploratory testing, regression testing, smoke testing, boundary value analysis
Process	Agile, Scrum, sprint, user stories, acceptance criteria
Tools	Jira, TestRail or similar, Confluence, Chrome DevTools, Postman
Platforms	mobile testing, iOS, Android, web testing, cross-browser, responsive
Technical extras	API testing, REST, JSON, SQL, basic HTML/CSS, Git

Most of these have a lesson on Bugwise, for example Working with Jira, API Testing with Postman and SQL for Testers. For every keyword you list, be ready to say where you learned and practiced it.

How not to lie or overstate

It’s tempting to “round up” when you have no experience. Don’t. It almost always comes back during the interview, and being caught once costs more than any single keyword gains.

• Label practice as practice. “Practice project”, “personal project”, “open-source contribution”.
• No job titles you didn’t hold. Unpaid beta feedback is valuable, but it’s not “QA Engineer (freelance)”.
• Level your skills. “Basic SQL” is honest and still matches the search for SQL.
• Only real numbers. If you write “12 bug reports”, you should be able to show them.
• Only certifications you passed. “ISTQB CTFL (in progress, exam booked for May)” is fine if it’s true.
• The two-minute rule: if you couldn’t talk about a skill for two minutes, it doesn’t go on the CV.

Before and after: CV bullets

Before	After
Worked in customer support.	Reproduced customer-reported app issues and wrote step-by-step tickets for developers in Jira.
Completed a testing course.	Practice project (Bugwise Capstone): wrote a risk-based test plan, test cases, bug reports and a go/no-go summary.
Good attention to detail.	Found and reported recurring pricing errors in the store’s till system.
Skills: testing, computers.	Manual testing (web and mobile), test cases, bug reports in Jira, basic API testing in Postman.
Teacher.	Wrote and reviewed tests for 120 students a year, catching unclear or wrong questions before use.

The pattern: action + tool or method + result, and nothing you couldn’t defend in an interview.