How I Improved My Technical Skills as a QA Engineer

When I joined Therap, I already had a strong foundation in Java programming. At BRAC University, where I studied, all core programming courses were based on Java. After completing those courses, I continued improving my skills by working as a Teaching Assistant, where I helped others learn programming. I was also actively involved in competitive programming, which sharpened my coding logic and problem-solving skills.

So, while I was learning Therap’s product domain and workflows, I intentionally started brushing up my programming skills with the goal of contributing to test automation.

Getting Introduced to Test Automation

Soon after I joined a team, I got the opportunity to be part of Therap’s central test automation initiative. This was my first proper exposure to tools such as:

• Selenium WebDriver for browser automation
• TestNG for running test cases
• AssertJ for writing assertions
• Extent Reports for reporting and visualization
• Gradle as the build tool
• Bitbucket for version control and code review workflows

I raised pull requests, got feedback, and learned how a real development workflow functions. Even though the initiative didn’t continue for long, it gave me the confidence and foundational knowledge I needed to eventually design my own Java-based automation framework.

Learning Practical Technical Skills While Testing

Alongside automation, I worked on improving the technical side of manual testing too. For example:

• I learned to run JavaScript directly in the browser console to automate repetitive UI actions like checking multiple checkboxes.
• I used Developer Tools to tamper dropdown values and element states to test for unauthorized access or hidden data.
• I deepened my understanding of HTTP, sessions, cookies, caching, and the client-server model. This helped me understand what was happening behind the scenes whenever I tested a feature.

This approach helped me test more intelligently, rather than just clicking around the UI.

Adding Database Testing to My Workflow

I also started performing database testing. I analyzed:

• Which tables a module interacts with
• How data is inserted, updated, or deleted
• Which hidden fields are stored only in the database

This allowed me to catch issues that would have been missed through UI testing alone. As I brushed up my SQL skills, I could even spot problems just from query results — without opening the UI.

Understanding the database structure also helped me provide valuable feedback when DDL changes were proposed.

Learning Server-Side Behaviors and Logs

In some projects, I worked with file uploads and server-side processing. I also checked application logs to verify:

• Whether required events were logged
• Sensitive data was not logged
• Error traces appeared correctly when failures occurred

Because of this, I learned Linux commands—which helped me navigate servers confidently during testing.

Moving Into REST API Testing and Automation

Later, I had the opportunity to test REST APIs using Postman. I learned how to:

• Analyze request and response payloads
• Understand HTTP status codes and validation rules
• Work confidently with REST architecture and API standards

Then I used REST Assured to automate API test cases, eventually building my own automation structure to streamline API testing.

Working Full-Time on Automation with Playwright

At Therap Connect, I worked with a microservices-based architecture and was fully dedicated to test automation. This is when I was introduced to Playwright.

Since my role was focused entirely on automation, I had the chance to go deep and significantly improve my hands-on automation expertise.

Gaining Experience in Performance Testing

I also worked on performance testing of Therap’s static resources server. I used Locust, and although interpreting performance metrics was challenging at first, I learned a lot from the developers involved in the project.

I’m still improving in performance testing, but now I have the foundation and motivation to continue learning.

What I’m Learning Today

Currently, I am working on a team that is improving Therap’s architecture, especially the authentication module. This role has introduced me to concepts like:

• Passwordless authentication
• Rate limiting algorithms
• Security and architectural best practices