How To Hire a Graduate QA Engineer

Complete with job descriptions, skill profiles, and interview templates. Use this Graduate QA Engineer hiring guide to help you make the right decisions, fast.

GRADUATE QA ENGINEER RECRUITMENT GUIDE

What does a Graduate QA Engineer do?

Graduate QA Engineers are in the formative stages of their career in software testing, in this role they will pick apart pieces of software and create tests in order to ensure software is performing optimally and prevent defects in code. As this is a graduate role, a large amount of shadowing of senior colleagues will take place in order to understand and learn how the industry performs this role.

Day to day tasks of a Graduate QA Engineer

Use automation testing tools
Analyze software designs
Shadow senior resources in creating test plans
Execute test plans to verify software functionality
Liaise with developers around how software is supposed to function
Document defects for fixing by developers

Recruitment guide role overview illustration

GRADUATE QA ENGINEER DEFINITION

Graduate QA engineers investigate pieces of software and analyze their requirements and ensure it is meeting functional and non-functional requirements through manual and automated tests. They will also undergo a period of training and upskilling so they’re able to know how to use industry standard tooling to complete their job to a high level.

HIRING PROCESS

Graduate QA Engineer Hiring Process

1
STEP 1
2
STEP 2
3
STEP 3
4
STEP 4
5
STEP 5

STEP 1

Build the Ideal Candidate Profile

To find the best person for the role, you need to understand what the role involves. You can complete this with the hiring manager to define the role, its contribution, and the skills needed.

STEP 2

Write A Job Description Based On Skills

Once you understand the requirements for the role, you’ll need to understand the skills for success. You can then write an effective job description to promote your role.

STEP 3

Selecting The Ideal Candidate

See which applicants have the right skills for the role. Send all your applicants a Vervoe skills assessment from the expert library, or customize one for your organization.

STEP 4

Interview Top Performers

Your skills assessment results will identify top performers. Focus your time on interviewing those that have met or exceeded your requirements. Assessment results will also help guide which skill areas to focus on in the interview.

STEP 5

Making An Offer

Once you assess your candidates against these skills, you’re ready to offer the top performer(s). You should base your offer on the value that the candidate would bring to your team and your business as a whole. It is also important to ensure your compensation and benefits packages are competitive in the industry and help you attract and retain the top talent.

BUILD THE IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

Skills needed for a Graduate QA Engineer

In order to be a successful Graduate QA Engineer candidates need the following skillset: critical thinking and problem solving skills, fundamental understanding of quality insurance, good collaboration skills and a very good attention to detail.

Learning Agility
Motivation
Quality Assurance

WRITE A JOB DESCRIPTION BASED ON SKILLS

How to write a Graduate QA Engineer job description

Once you’ve determined the skills required for the role, you can write the job description to advertise for your position. Here’s what to include in your Graduate QA Engineer job description:

Job Title: What position are you hiring for?
Summary: What makes your company unique? What would it be like to work for you?
Responsibilities: An overview of the role’s day-to-day activities, and how the position contributes to the organization
Requirements: Skills a candidate must have to perform the job successfully
Benefits: Details of compensation, benefits, and any perks on offer

Use our sample Graduate QA Engineer job description

SELECTING THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

Sample skill tests for a Graduate QA Engineer

Create a free account today to access the full assessment and more from our library

Try Vervoe Now

Question 1

Motivation

Question Type: Video

Please, record a short (up to 3 min) video and tell us about your previous experience:- Your responsibilities;- Your goals;- Your decision to look for a new Company.In case you are new at IT (and QA), tell us about the reasons why you've decided to change the sphere of your interests and if you have any special QA training passed.

Question 2

Quality Assurance

Question Type: Text

Please, create 3 short Test Cases to cover different types of Testing of an object on the photo

Question 3

Learning Agility

Question Type: Video

Explain how you continue your development outside of professional employment.

INTERVIEW TOP PERFORMERS

How to interview a Graduate QA Engineer

Once your Vervoe skills assessment has surfaced the most qualified people for your open role, you can focus on interviewing these candidates. The interview should focus on any skills that require development that were highlighted from the skills assessment.

Now you know that candidates can do the job, the interview becomes more of a relationship building exercise where you can get to know the candidate on a more personal level, understand their motivations, and how they would fit in with the team.

MAKING AN OFFER

How much does it cost to hire a Graduate QA Engineer?

In the United States the salary of a Graduate Quality Assurance Engineer is reported to be $52,325 by Indeed.com, whereas Glassdoor USA reports it as $56,857. The lowest paid Graduate Quality Assurance Engineers are paid $43,000, whereas the highest earners get up to $117,000 with the median of these salaries coming in at $68,250 according to Talent.com.

United States

In the United States the median salary for a Graduate Quality Assurance Engineer is $56,857 USD. This salary will be heavily dependent on the skill of the employee and the type of work they will be working on.

Source: Source: Glassdoor USA - Graduate Quality Assurance Engineer Salaries

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom a Graduate Quality Assurance Engineer can expect to have a salary around £27,017 GBP. There will be a few factors which affect this number, which include seniority, location of the organisation and the industry the organisation operates within.

Source: Source: Glassdoor UK - Graduate Quality Assurance Engineer Salaries

Australia

As a Graduate Quality Assurance Engineer the salary within Australia comes out to be $53,894 AUD a year. The factors which make this salary come down to a couple of main factors, location of the organisation and skill of the developer.

Source: Source: PayScale.com