Why Newbie QAs Should Hold Off on Test Automation and Master Manual Testing First

Watching eager new QAs dive into automation in their first week always gives me a sense of déjà vu. I’ve seen it over and over - different faces, same story. It’s like watching someone try to run before they’ve learned to walk.

"I can automate all of this,” they declared confidently, fingers flying across the keyboard. Three weeks later, they were buried in flaky tests, false positives, and the realization that they didn’t truly understand what they were testing in the first place.

The Automation Trap

The allure of automation is undeniable. It sounds impressive in interviews, looks great on resumes, and carries that satisfying technical weight that many of us crave when we enter the QA field. I fell into this trap myself early in my career - determined to prove my technical worth by automating everything in sight.

What I didn't realize then - and what many newcomers to QA don't realize now - is that effective test automation isn't about the code itself. It's about knowing what to test, how to test it, and why it matters.

Learning to See

A senior QA once told me something that changed my entire approach: "You need to learn to see the application the way users see it, and the way it could break, before you try to tell a computer how to test it."

Manual testing trains your eye. When you methodically work through an application, you develop an intuition for weak points and edge cases. You learn to think like both a user and a breaker, understanding how features connect and where they might fail.

A recent study from Kweku’s SQA Series team uncovered something telling: QAs who kicked off with a solid manual testing background were crafting far more effective automated tests than those who dove straight into automation.

It wasn’t about coding chops. The real gap showed up in what they tested and how they set up their assertions. The manual-first crowd didn’t just confirm buttons worked - they made sure entire business processes played out correctly.

That kind of insight doesn’t come from tutorials or automation crash courses. It’s forged through hands-on time with apps, learning their quirks, and developing a knack for sniffing out where bugs lurk.

Building Your Foundation

If you're new to QA and feeling the pressure to automate immediately, take a breath. Consider this permission to slow down and build your foundation first.

Spend time learning the product you're testing. Understand not just how it works, but why it works that way. What problems does it solve for users?

Practice writing detailed bug reports. This skill - clearly articulating what went wrong and why it matters - will serve you throughout your career.

Shadow experienced testers. Watch how they approach an application, what questions they ask, and where they focus their attention.

Document your test cases manually before automating them. This forces you to think through each step and validation point.

Over the years, I’ve mentored five QA engineers. One pattern I’ve noticed: those who build a strong foundation in manual testing first end up becoming better automation engineers. Their tests are more stable, their coverage is more relevant, and they catch the bugs that actually matter.

One of my mentees pushed back at first. “I didn’t get into QA to click buttons all day,” he said. But six months later, after adopting a more balanced approach, he told me, “Now I actually understand what my automated tests are doing and I’m finding issues I would’ve completely missed before.”

Finding Balance

This isn't an argument against automation - far from it. Automation is essential in modern software development. There’s nothing like the thrill of seeing a flawless test run in a CI/CD pipeline. But Automation is a tool, not a replacement for understanding quality.

Think of it like learning an instrument. You need to understand music theory before you can compose something beautiful. Manual testing is your theory; automation is your composition.

In an industry often obsessed with speed, sometimes the fastest way forward is to slow down first. Build your foundation. Learn to see. Then automate with purpose and confidence.

Your future self and your team will thank you for it.

Happy Testing!!