The Portfolio Project Breakdown: Testing Like It’s My Actual Job
Creating a strong portfolio project is essential when transitioning to QA testing. That moment when you’re staring at a job application asking for “demonstrated QA experience” and you think: “But how do I show that without already having a QA job?”
I’ve been there. It’s the classic catch-22 of career transition. That’s exactly why I created this OrangeHRM testing project – to bridge that gap between learning and doing, and to give myself (and now you!) a realistic example of QA work in action.
Let me walk you through how I tackled this project, what I discovered, and how you can create something similar for your own portfolio.
The Project Breakdown: Testing Like It’s My Actual Job
Rather than just doing random tests, I approached this exactly as I would a real QA assignment: planning, documenting, executing tests, and reporting issues – the full cycle. The goal was to test the Employee Flow in the OrangeHRM demo application, focusing on functionality that HR admins would actually use.
Why OrangeHRM?
I chose OrangeHRM because:
- It’s publicly accessible (no need for special access)
- It has real-world HR workflows
- It’s complex enough to find interesting bugs
- It’s simple enough to create a focused test project
Career Changeup Tip: Look for open demo applications in industries you have experience in. My background in healthcare administration gave me insights into HR processes that helped me design more realistic tests.
My Testing Scope: Focusing Where It Matters
When you’re building a portfolio project, it’s tempting to test EVERYTHING. But that’s not how real QA works – we have to be strategic about where to focus our testing efforts.
I narrowed my scope to these core user actions:
- Logging in as Admin
- Adding new employees (with both valid and invalid data)
- Searching for employees
- Testing edge cases (like using emoji characters)
- Cross-browser validation
This focused approach let me go deeper rather than wider – a strategy that’s served me well in my testing career so far.
The Test Cases I Designed
| ID | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| OE-1 | Login with Valid Credentials | Verify admin can successfully login |
| OE-2 | Add New Employee with Valid Info | Create a new employee with all required fields |
| OE-3 | Submit Add Employee Form with Blank Field | Check system validation for required fields |
| OE-4 | Add Self as Emergency Contact | Test business logic for emergency contact selection |
| OE-5 | Add Emoji in Employee Name Field | Test system handling of special characters |
| OE-6 | Search for Newly Added Employee | Verify search functionality works with new records |
| OE-7 | Login with Valid Credentials (Firefox) | Cross-browser validation of login flow |
Tech Toolkit of the Week: Qase
For this project, I used Qase as my test management tool. The free tier was perfect for a portfolio project, allowing me to:
- Create and organize test cases
- Track execution results
- Link defects to test cases
- Export professional reports
The UI is clean and intuitive, making it ideal if you’re still building your testing toolkit without breaking the bank.
The Documentation Marathon: Creating Real-World Artifacts
Documentation in QA isn’t just busywork – it’s how we communicate value, track progress, and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. I created every artifact I’d expect to see in a professional testing environment:
1. Test Plan
My test plan outlined:
- Project objectives and scope
- Timeline and testing approach
- Entry and exit criteria
- Tools and environments
- Risk assessment
My Learning Moment: Writing a test plan forced me to think through the “why” behind each test, not just the “what.” This higher-level thinking is what separates strategic testers from those who just follow scripts.
2. Detailed Test Cases
Each test case included:
- Preconditions
- Step-by-step instructions
- Expected results for each step
- Test data specifications
- Severity and priority ratings
Here’s a snippet from my “Add Employee with Valid Data” test case:
Preconditions:
- Admin user is logged in
- System is on PIM module
Steps:
1. Click "Add Employee" in the left menu
2. Enter "John" in First Name field
Expected: Field accepts input
3. Enter "Q" in Middle Name field
Expected: Field accepts single character
...
Side Hustle Strategy: I’ve found that writing detailed test cases has improved my general documentation skills, which translates to better emails, project summaries, and other communication at my day job.
3. Defect Reports
The defects I found were documented in detail:
Defect 01: User Can Add Themselves as Emergency Contact
- Type: Business Logic
- Severity: Medium
- Status: Open
- Steps to Reproduce: Detailed step-by-step guide
- Expected vs. Actual Results: System should prevent self-selection
- Screenshots: Visual evidence of the issue
- Additional Info: Business impact assessment
Defect 02: Emoji Characters Render as Question Marks
- Type: Character Encoding
- Severity: Low
- Steps to Reproduce: How I entered emoji in name field
- Expected vs. Actual Results: Emoji (
💅🏽) renders as?? - Screenshots: Before and after saving
- Browser/OS: Chrome 135 on Windows 11
My Learning Moment: Finding the right severity for each bug was challenging. I kept asking myself, “In a real company, how much would this matter?” For example, the emoji rendering issue is annoying but doesn’t break core functionality, so I marked it as Low severity.
4. Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)
This document mapped each requirement to corresponding test cases and any defects found – creating a clear connection between what needed to be tested and what was actually tested.
The Bugs: What I Actually Found
The most interesting part of any testing project is what you discover. Here are the key issues I uncovered:
Business Logic Flaw: Self as Emergency Contact
When adding emergency contacts, the system allowed users to select themselves – which defeats the purpose of an emergency contact. This is a classic example of a business logic bug that automated tests might miss but reveals itself during thoughtful manual testing.
Character Encoding Issue: Emoji Support
When I entered the nail polish emoji (💅🏽) in the employee name field, it saved as question marks – showing incomplete Unicode support. This is the kind of edge case that reveals potential internationalization issues.
Career Changeup Tip: Including unusual test cases like these in your portfolio shows potential employers that you think beyond the happy path and consider real-world usage scenarios.
What This Project Taught Me
Creating a complete QA project like this taught me several valuable lessons:
- The importance of scope discipline – I could have tested dozens more features but wouldn’t have finished the project. Learning to draw boundaries is crucial in real QA work.
- The value of structured documentation – Having well-organized test cases made execution much more efficient and helped me create a coherent final report.
- The reality of defect prioritization – Not every bug is a showstopper. Learning to assess business impact is as important as finding the bugs themselves.
How You Can Create Your Own Portfolio Project
If you’re transitioning to QA, here’s how you can create a similar project:
- Choose a publicly available application – Look for demo sites, open-source projects, or free-tier SaaS products
- Define a clear, limited scope – Pick 1-2 key features rather than trying to test everything
- Use free testing tools – Qase, TestRail, GitHub, Jira all have free options
- Create a complete set of artifacts – Test plan, cases, execution logs, defect reports
- Publish it all on GitHub – Make it easily accessible to potential employers
Ask a Tester: Community Q&A
Q: Do employers actually look at these portfolio projects?
A: Absolutely! In my recent interviews, two hiring managers specifically mentioned my OrangeHRM project and asked detailed questions about my testing approach. It gave them a concrete example of my work when I didn’t have formal QA experience yet.
The Complete Package: All Deliverables
All project artifacts are available in my GitHub repository, organized in a clean, professional structure:
Test_Plan.md– Overall strategy and approachtest_cases-qase.pdf/.xlsx– Detailed test scenariosexecution-log-qase.pdf/.xlsx– Results of my test runsdefect-01-self-as-contact.md– Detailed bug reportdefect-02-emoji-rendering.md– Second bug reportRTM.xlsx– Requirements traceability matrixREADME.md– Project overview and guidescreenshots/– Visual evidence of testing and bugs
View the full OrangeHRM QA project on GitHub →
What’s Next on My Testing Journey
This project was just the beginning. I’m currently working on:
- A Selenium automated testing project for the same application
- API testing using Postman
- Performance testing with JMeter
Each project builds on the previous one, creating a comprehensive portfolio that shows my growing QA skillset.
What testing projects are you working on for your portfolio? Have questions about setting up your own test project? Drop them in the comments!
#TestLikeAGirl #QAPortfolio #ManualTesting #CareerTransition #QAJourney
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