Before we begin, if you aren’t sure what a SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) does, check out Zoe’s post or Manish's ViewmyWorld profile. I spoke with a few hiring managers to get a general sense and here are the main takeaways I received on what they're looking for:

• Candidate’s interest matches with the problem space
• Strong coding ability (could be demonstrated on resume through detailed technical write-up of past projects, work experiences, etc.)
• Educational background
• Test automation experience if possible
• Focus on quality and attention to detail
• Passion for big challenges
• Relevant experience in the specific field (ex. For an infrastructure team, experience with datacenter, fault tolerance, etc.)

John Babich, Test Lead for Live Search Relevance, wrote up some additional information which I thought was very beneficial:

 “At Microsoft we generally consider SDETs to be full-blown Software Engineers that also happen to have a strong focus on software quality, attention to detail and care deeply about making the best product possible. I usually start out skimming through resumes quickly looking for ones that “pop” and the quality of the writing and layout matter a lot when we are looking for people with an attention to detail.

The core of my resume search is based around overall software engineering ability, not testing ability. An SDET needs to be able to create advanced software systems to verify and measure quality of our products, and many times these tasks are as challenging as any product development is.

Once I have found a resume that looks like they have software engineering skills to match our needs, figuring out if it is someone who would be a good fit for an SDET role or not is the tricky part for us. Some indicators I have seen are folks who have built continuous integration systems, debugged and triaged customer issues, or improved testability of software through refactoring.

We have folks from all sorts of backgrounds in our test teams, from fresh PhD graduates to previous Lead Software Engineers. The work we do is challenging enough to interest anyone with a passion for software and improving customer experiences.”

I hope that gives you some insight into the hiring managers’ heads. If you haven’t yet applied to the SDET role and are interested, check out our many available SDET positions on our career site.

- Lisa