Why are more and more fresh graduates making software testing their first stop in job hunting?

Fresh graduates of the class of 2026 choose software testing as their first stop in job hunting mainly because testing positions are distributed not only in the internet industry but also in manufacturing, traditional enterprises, and central state-owned enterprises, giving them a broader range of applications than pure back-end roles. Salaries within testing positions diverge markedly: AI test development campus recruitment base salaries can reach 350,000–450,000 yuan, while 46.2% of traditional functional testing positions have monthly salaries concentrated in the 8–15K range. A 2025 Katalon survey shows that 82% of testing practitioners believe AI is crucial to the future of testing, yet the same 82% still use manual testing in their daily work.