ATS Keywords for
QA Engineers

QA hiring has split in two, and your CV gets screened against whichever half the posting belongs to. Manual-leaning requisitions search for test plans, regression suites and defect tracking; automation-leaning ones search for Selenium, Cypress, and a programming language. A CV written entirely in the vocabulary of one will score badly against the other. The list below covers both sides, so you can see which terms your CV is missing for the roles you are actually targeting.

14 ATS keywords for QA Engineer CVs

What each term signals to the system reading your CV.

  • Test automation

    The dividing line in modern QA screening, and the term most likely to be a hard filter.

  • Selenium / Cypress / Playwright

    Framework names are matched individually and are not treated as equivalents.

  • Test cases / test plans

    The manual-QA vocabulary still required in regulated and enterprise postings.

  • Regression testing

    Names the recurring work that most QA roles are actually staffed for.

  • API testing (Postman, REST Assured)

    A distinct competency from UI testing and screened separately.

  • Bug tracking (Jira)

    Tool-level familiarity that appears as an explicit line in a majority of QA postings.

  • CI/CD integration

    Signals your tests run in the pipeline rather than on your laptop.

  • Performance testing (JMeter, k6)

    A specialised requirement that instantly differentiates when the posting asks for it.

  • SQL

    Data verification is part of the job, and the term is frequently listed as a requirement.

  • Agile / Scrum

    QA sits inside the delivery ceremony, so the process keyword is screened for directly.

  • Python / Java / JavaScript

    Automation roles require a language, and the posting will name which.

  • Mobile testing (Appium)

    A separate discipline with its own tooling, not covered by web automation terms.

  • Test strategy

    Seniority signal — distinguishes lead QA applications from executor-level ones.

  • Defect lifecycle / severity triage

    The formal process vocabulary used in enterprise QA requisitions.

How to use this list

  • Decide which half of the market you are applying to, then make sure that half's vocabulary dominates your top third.
  • Give your automation coverage a number: suites written, execution time cut, or percentage of regression automated.
  • Name the language your automation is written in — automation roles are filtered on it as much as on the framework.
  • Keep manual-testing terms even on an automation CV; many postings still require both and screen for both.

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know before you upload.

Is manual QA experience still worth listing?

Yes. A large share of postings — particularly in finance, healthcare and enterprise software — still require structured manual testing, and those requisitions screen for test plans and defect triage explicitly. Keep both vocabularies present and let the emphasis follow the posting.

Should a QA CV include a programming language?

If you are targeting automation roles, it is close to mandatory — the posting will name Python, Java or JavaScript, and the filter checks for it. If you are purely manual, replace that space with tooling and process depth instead.

How do I show impact as a QA engineer?

Tie testing to escaped defects and release speed: defects caught before production, regression cycle reduced from days to hours, release frequency enabled. Those numbers survive the recruiter screen far better than a list of tools.

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