How to Hire QA Engineers: Manual vs Automation Testing Talent

The QA engineering landscape has transformed dramatically. While many tech roles face uncertainty in 2025, QA positions are growing 17-27% since 2023, making quality assurance one of the most resilient career paths in technology. Yet here's the challenge: not all QA roles are created equal.

For B2B founders and GTM leaders, knowing how to hire QA engineers effectively can accelerate your go-to-market strategy by ensuring scalable, high-quality software releases. The key lies in understanding the seismic shift from manual testing to automation-first approaches. This guide will help you navigate QA recruiting, structure effective QA interviews, and build a testing team that drives business results.

The Great QA Transformation: Why Automation Rules

The quality assurance field is experiencing its biggest transformation in decades. AI-driven code generation has created an unexpected boom in bug detection needs, but it's also reshaping what companies need from their QA teams.

📊 Manual testing roles have declined 43% since 2023, while automation positions surge

This shift reflects a fundamental change in how modern software development works. As development cycles accelerate and deployment frequency increases, manual testing becomes a bottleneck rather than a safety net. Companies need QA engineers who can build automated testing frameworks that scale with their growth.

The rise of Software Development Engineers in Test (SDETs) exemplifies this transformation. These hybrid professionals combine deep testing knowledge with strong programming skills, making them invaluable for companies building complex B2B platforms.

Why This Matters for Your Business

If you're building a B2B product, your QA strategy directly impacts your ability to ship features quickly and maintain customer trust. Poor quality releases don't just create technical debt - they damage relationships with enterprise clients who expect reliability.

Automation-focused QA engineers help you maintain velocity while improving quality, a combination that's essential for competitive go-to-market execution.

Understanding Modern QA Roles: Manual vs Automation

Before you hire QA engineer talent, it's crucial to understand the distinct value propositions of manual and automation testing roles.

Manual QA Engineers: The Human Element

Manual testers excel at exploratory testing, user experience validation, and catching edge cases that automated tests might miss. They're particularly valuable for:

• User journey testing: Ensuring your B2B platform flows logically for real users
• Accessibility compliance: Meeting enterprise requirements for inclusive design
• Visual regression: Spotting UI inconsistencies across different environments
• Ad-hoc testing: Investigating unusual scenarios that automation can't anticipate

However, manual testing has limitations in modern development environments. It's time-intensive, doesn't scale with rapid deployment cycles, and can become a bottleneck for continuous integration workflows.

Automation QA Engineers (SDETs): The Scalability Solution

Automation engineers and SDETs represent the future of quality assurance. 77% of QA job postings now require coding and data structures & algorithms skills, reflecting this shift towards technical proficiency.

These professionals bring:

• Framework development: Building reusable testing infrastructure
• CI/CD integration: Ensuring tests run automatically with every code change
• Performance testing: Validating system behaviour under load
• API testing: Verifying backend functionality and integrations
• Cross-browser automation: Ensuring consistency across different environments

💡 Key Insight: Companies hiring automation-first QA engineers report 3x faster release cycles and 60% fewer production bugs

Essential Skills for Each QA Role Type

When conducting QA interviews, focus on skills that align with your technical needs and growth trajectory.

Manual QA Engineer Skills

Core competencies:

• Test case design and execution
• Bug reporting and tracking (JIRA, Azure DevOps)
• Cross-browser and device testing
• SQL for database validation
• Understanding of software development lifecycle

Soft skills:

• Attention to detail
• Communication skills for bug reports
• Domain knowledge in your industry
• Analytical thinking

Automation QA Engineer/SDET Skills

Technical requirements:

• Programming languages (Python, Java, JavaScript, C#)
• Test automation frameworks (Selenium, Playwright, Cypress)
• API testing tools (Postman, REST Assured)
• Version control (Git)
• CI/CD platforms (Jenkins, GitHub Actions)
• Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)

Advanced skills:

• Docker and containerisation
• Performance testing (JMeter, LoadRunner)
• Mobile automation (Appium)
• Database testing and SQL optimisation

⚡ Pro Tip: Look for candidates who can explain complex technical concepts simply - they'll be better at collaborating with your product and development teams

Structuring Effective QA Interviews

Your QA interview process should evaluate both technical competence and cultural fit. Here's a proven framework:

Phase 1: Technical Screening (30 minutes)

For Manual QA:

• Present a web application and ask them to identify potential test scenarios
• Discuss their approach to reproducing intermittent bugs
• Review sample test cases they've written

For Automation QA/SDET:

• Code review exercise with existing automation scripts
• Whiteboard a test automation architecture
• Discuss their experience with different testing frameworks

Phase 2: Practical Assessment (60-90 minutes)

Manual QA practical:

• Live testing session on your product or a demo application
• Bug report writing exercise
• Test plan creation for a specific feature

Automation QA practical:

• Write automation scripts for given scenarios
• Debug failing tests
• Design test data management strategy

Phase 3: Behavioural Interview (45 minutes)

Focus on scenarios relevant to your business:

• How they handle tight deadlines
• Communication with developers about critical bugs
• Experience working in agile environments
• Approach to learning new technologies

Building Your QA Team Structure

The optimal QA team structure depends on your company size, product complexity, and release cadence.

Startup Stage (1-10 engineers)

Recommended approach: Hire one SDET who can handle both automation and manual testing

Key responsibilities:

• Build foundational automation framework
• Perform critical path manual testing
• Establish quality processes

Growth Stage (10-50 engineers)

Recommended approach: 2-3 QA engineers with mixed skills

Team composition:

• 1 Senior SDET (team lead)
• 1 Automation QA Engineer
• 1 Manual QA Engineer (optional)

Scale Stage (50+ engineers)

Recommended approach: Specialised QA teams by product area

Advanced structure:

• QA Engineering Manager
• Multiple SDETs embedded with development teams
• Dedicated performance testing engineer
• Manual QA for user experience validation

📊 Companies with embedded QA engineers report 25% faster feature delivery compared to centralised QA teams

QA Recruiting Strategies That Work

Finding quality QA talent requires a targeted approach, especially in today's competitive market.

Where to Find QA Talent

Traditional channels:

• LinkedIn (use Boolean searches for specific skills)
• Stack Overflow Jobs
• GitHub (search for automation framework contributions)
• QA-specific job boards (Ministry of Testing, QA Jobs)

Alternative sources:

• Coding bootcamps with QA programs
• University computer science programs
• Internal promotions from customer support
• Developers interested in transitioning to QA

Crafting Compelling QA Job Descriptions

Your job description should clearly differentiate between manual and automation roles while highlighting growth opportunities.

Essential elements:

• Specific technical requirements (avoid generic "2+ years experience")
• Your testing stack and tools
• Growth and learning opportunities
• Impact on business outcomes
• Remote work flexibility

Example opening for SDET role: "We're looking for a Software Development Engineer in Test who thrives on building robust automation frameworks that enable our engineering team to ship features 3x faster while maintaining 99.9% uptime for our enterprise clients."

Compensation and Market Trends

Understanding QA salary expectations helps you budget appropriately and attract top talent.

Salary Ranges by Role Type

Manual QA Engineer:

• Junior (0-2 years): £25,000 - £35,000
• Mid-level (2-5 years): £35,000 - £50,000
• Senior (5+ years): £50,000 - £65,000

Automation QA Engineer/SDET:

• Junior (0-2 years): £35,000 - £50,000
• Mid-level (2-5 years): £50,000 - £75,000
• Senior (5+ years): £75,000 - £100,000+

The salary premium for automation skills reflects market demand and the technical complexity of these roles.

Beyond Salary: Total Compensation

Top QA candidates often prioritise:

• Learning and development budget
• Conference attendance opportunities
• Flexible working arrangements
• Equity participation
• Career progression paths

Recommended Tools

Building an effective QA team requires the right tools for candidate sourcing and team management. These platforms help streamline your QA recruiting process.

Onboarding Your New QA Engineers

Successful QA onboarding sets the foundation for long-term success and retention.

First Week: Environment Setup

• Access to testing environments and tools
• Introduction to your product architecture
• Overview of existing test suites and frameworks
• Meeting key stakeholders (product, development, DevOps)

First Month: Knowledge Transfer

• Shadow existing QA team members
• Review critical user journeys and business logic
• Understand release processes and quality gates
• Begin contributing to test case reviews

First Quarter: Independent Contribution

• Own specific testing areas or features
• Contribute to automation framework improvements
• Participate in retrospectives and process improvements
• Begin mentoring junior team members (for senior hires)

⚡ Pro Tip: Create a QA-specific onboarding checklist that includes both technical setup and domain knowledge transfer

Key Takeaways

• QA engineering roles are growing 17-27% while manual testing positions decline 43%, making automation skills essential for future-proof hiring
• 77% of QA job postings now require coding skills, reflecting the shift towards SDET and automation-focused roles
• Structure your QA interviews with technical screening, practical assessments, and behavioural evaluation to find candidates who fit your team culture
• Build your QA team structure based on company size: solo SDET for startups, mixed teams for growth stage, and specialised teams for enterprise scale
• Focus QA recruiting on specific technical skills rather than generic experience requirements, and highlight growth opportunities in your job descriptions
• Automation QA engineers command 30-50% salary premiums over manual testers, reflecting their technical complexity and business impact
• Successful QA onboarding requires structured knowledge transfer covering both technical systems and business domain expertise

Conclusion

The QA engineering landscape has fundamentally shifted towards automation and technical expertise. Companies that adapt their hiring strategies to prioritise SDET skills and automation capabilities will build more resilient, scalable testing organisations.

Successful QA recruiting requires understanding the distinction between manual and automation roles, structuring interviews that evaluate both technical and soft skills, and creating compelling opportunities for professional growth. As the market continues to favour automation expertise, investing in skilled QA engineers becomes a competitive advantage for your go-to-market execution.

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