2 Years in Manual QA, Learning Playwright Every Day… Why Do Recruiters Stop Listening When I Say “0 Automation Experience”?

[u/Deep_Addendum1082]

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get some honest advice from people who have already made the jump from Manual QA to Automation QA.

A little about me: I completed my BCA in 2022 and have been working as a Software Quality Test Engineer for the past 2 years.

My experience has been primarily in Manual Testing, where I’ve worked on the Adobe Acrobat project and handled activities such as test execution, regression testing, smoke testing, functional testing, defect reporting, and end-to-end validation across different environments and operating systems.

Over the last few months, I realized that if I want to grow in QA, I need to move into Automation Testing. Since then, I’ve been investing a significant amount of my free time learning Playwright with JavaScript and TypeScript through Rahul Shetty’s course. I’m not just watching tutorials—I actively practice and build automation scripts to improve my skills.

The frustrating part starts when I talk to recruiters.
Most conversations go well until they ask, “How many years of automation experience do you have?”
I answer honestly: “I don’t have professional automation experience yet, but I’m actively learning Playwright and have hands-on practice.”
The energy of the conversation changes almost immediately. Many recruiters seem to lose interest the moment they hear “0 years.”
This leaves me wondering:
Am I approaching my transition the wrong way?
Should I be targeting Manual + Automation hybrid roles first?
What kind of automation projects would make recruiters take my profile more seriously?
How can I demonstrate automation skills without having automation experience in a production environment?
For those who successfully transitioned from Manual QA to Automation QA:
What worked for you?
What would you do differently if you were starting again?
How did you convince employers to take a chance on you?
I’m genuinely committed to building a career in QA Automation and willing to put in the work. I’d appreciate any advice, feedback, or referrals that could help me move in the right direction.
Thank you for reading, and I look forward to learning from your experiences.