Cross-Track · All Levels

Bridge Exercises — manual meets automation

Real QA work doesn’t fit neatly into one track. These exercises require both manual and automation skills together — the same combination you’ll use on an actual job.

Each bridge exercise has two parts: a manual testing phase (find the bug, write the test plan, give the feedback) and an automation phase (write the test, design the strategy, define the criteria). Do both.

Start with Exercise 1 → Back to Specialised

What these cover

Manual + Automation NZ Scenarios Bug Reporting Test Strategy Code Review

Who this is for

Anyone who has completed at least Grad level manual and has started the automation track. Good for interview prep — these are the multi-skill scenarios NZ employers actually give as take-home tasks.

The 3 exercises

From finding bugs to shipping with confidence

Exercise 1

Junior → SDET Bridge

Find a bug manually in an e-commerce checkout flow, then write the Playwright regression test. The full shift-left automation cycle in one exercise.

~20 min manual + ~30 min automation · NZ checkout scenario

Exercise 2

Mid-Level → Senior Bridge

Identify coverage gaps in an existing test suite, then write a risk-based testing strategy for a NZ health platform release.

~20 min analysis + ~30 min strategy · Health platform scenario

Exercise 3

Senior → Test Lead Bridge

Review a junior’s test plan and give structured feedback, then define the entry and exit criteria for a payments feature release.

~20 min review + ~30 min criteria · Payments scenario

Why bridge exercises

The skill gap that trip testers up in interviews

Most bootcamp and training programmes teach manual and automation separately. You learn to write test cases. Then you learn to write Playwright scripts. But when you sit a NZ take-home task, the scenario is rarely one or the other — it’s both. “Here’s a user story. Find the bugs. Then write an automated test for the regression.”

That handoff — from manual bug discovery to automated regression protection — is where many testers get stuck. They can do each skill separately but not in sequence, and they can’t explain their reasoning under pressure.

These exercises are specifically designed around that gap. Each one gives you a scenario, asks you to do both halves, and forces you to connect them. Do them under timed conditions if you want realistic interview preparation.

Other specialised tracks

Specialised