Building a Portfolio as an SDET: What to Include

“If you vanished from LinkedIn today, would your work speak for you?”

That was the question a mentor asked me early in my career. At the time, I thought my daily test scripts, bug reports, and framework tweaks were enough. But when I looked back, I realized I had no public record of my skills, achievements, or the value I brought to projects. For many SDETs, this is the silent career blocker—our best work lives behind firewalls.

Why a Portfolio Matters for SDETs

A portfolio isn’t just for designers or developers. As an SDET, your portfolio is your professional proof of work—a living, digital record that shows how you think, what you build, and the impact you deliver.

Think of it as your personal “quality dashboard” for your career. Recruiters, hiring managers, and even peers get an immediate sense of your capabilities—beyond what a résumé or LinkedIn headline can convey.

The “Why” in Today’s Tech Landscape

• Competitive Edge: The SDET role has evolved. Employers now expect coding fluency, DevOps familiarity, and automation architecture skills—your portfolio showcases these in action.
• Credibility: Anyone can list “Proficient in Cypress” on their CV. A portfolio proves it with real artifacts.
• Career Mobility: Whether moving into test architecture, DevOps, or full-stack development, your portfolio makes you a more versatile candidate.

What to Include in Your SDET Portfolio

1. Automation Frameworks You’ve Built or Enhanced

If you’ve designed a Selenium, Cypress, or Playwright framework, show it off. Include a brief write-up: the problem it solved, tools used, and measurable impact (e.g., “Reduced regression time by 60%”).

Example: A colleague once showcased a self-healing test framework integrated with AI-based locators. The project write-up landed him three interview calls within a week.

2. Case Studies on Test Strategy

Demonstrate your thought process for designing test plans, especially in complex CI/CD pipelines. Focus on how you balance speed, coverage, and reliability.

Example: On one project, I documented how introducing API-level testing before UI automation cut our test suite runtime from 3 hours to 40 minutes—without sacrificing quality.

3. Performance, Security, or Accessibility Testing Contributions

Even if it wasn’t your primary task, showing that you can stretch beyond functional testing signals versatility.

4. Open-Source Contributions

If you’ve contributed to libraries, testing tools, or community templates, link to them. This shows technical credibility and community involvement.

5. Articles, Talks, and Tutorials

Write short guides on solving niche problems (“Mocking API responses in Cypress”) or record a demo of your framework setup. These not only populate your portfolio but also help others—cementing your position as a thought leader.

Best Practices for Building Your SDET Portfolio

• Curate, Don’t Dump Only include work you’d proudly present in an interview. Think “highlight reel,” not “entire code history.”
• Tell the Story Behind the Work Explain the challenge, your approach, and the results. A GitHub repo with no context is just… a repo.
• Make It Accessible Host it on GitHub Pages, Notion, or a personal website. Include plain-language summaries so even non-technical viewers can follow.
• Include Metrics Wherever Possible Numbers speak loudly: “Reduced release cycle from 2 weeks to 5 days,” “Cut flaky tests by 80%.”
• Keep It Fresh Set a quarterly reminder to update your portfolio with recent wins or learnings.

Bringing It All Together

Building a portfolio as an SDET isn’t about flashy designs—it’s about documenting your problem-solving skills, technical depth, and ability to drive quality at scale. It’s the bridge between the work you’ve done and the opportunities you want next.

So here’s my challenge for you: If someone Googled you today, would they find evidence of the professional you’ve become—or just your LinkedIn profile picture?

What’s the first thing you’d include in your SDET portfolio? Share it below—I’d love to see how others in the community are telling their story.