QA Engineer Job Application Tracker

A Python/Selenium job-discovery and Excel tracking tool for software QA, testing, and automation roles in the United States and Canada. It gathers job listings, filters unrelated titles, maintains job history, and organizes opportunities for manual review and application.

Version 6: This tool does not submit job applications automatically. Job-board pages and posting dates may be incomplete, and a search result is not proof of location or work authorization eligibility.

Features

• Multiple job boards: LinkedIn, Indeed, Dice, ZipRecruiter, and SimplyHired. Glassdoor is currently disabled. Some job boards may require manual verification or experience intermittent scraping failures.
• V6 software QA classification: Evaluates job titles and available description evidence to identify software QA, manual testing, automation testing, and related roles while excluding many unrelated manufacturing, construction, and industrial quality positions.
• Verification safeguards: Uses available job evidence to flag uncertain listings for manual review. Classification is heuristic; always verify the original job posting before applying.
• History and duplicate handling: Retains previously discovered jobs, records last-seen dates, and deduplicates shortlist views.
• Date-aware review: Separates postings with recognizable recent dates from jobs discovered recently whose original posting dates may be unknown.
• Remote/hybrid review: Separates likely U.S. remote listings, uncertain remote eligibility, and U.S. hybrid listings. Always confirm eligibility in the original posting.
• Optional email notifications: Attempts to notify you about newly discovered actionable listings. Email delivery depends on valid SMTP settings and network access.
• Scheduling while running: Executes once at startup and again daily at 9:00 AM local computer time, provided the Python process remains open.

Requirements

• Python 3.10+ recommended
• Google Chrome
• Internet connection
• Python packages listed in requirements.txt

Create or update requirements.txt with:

beautifulsoup4
pandas
openpyxl
python-dotenv
schedule
selenium
webdriver-manager

Install dependencies:

python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

ChromeDriver is managed using webdriver-manager. Some job boards may present verification challenges that require interaction in the browser.

Configuration

Create a .env file alongside job_tracker.py:

EMAIL_ADDRESS=your_email@gmail.com
EMAIL_PASSWORD=your_gmail_app_password
RECIPIENT_EMAIL=recipient@gmail.com

Use a Gmail App Password where supported, not your main account password. Never commit .env or personal job-tracking data to GitHub. Email notifications are optional; the workbook can still be updated if email is not configured.

The main settings are near the top of job_tracker.py:

• JOB_BOARDS: lists of search URLs for U.S. and Canadian QA Engineer / QA Analyst searches.
• DISABLED_JOB_BOARDS: sources intentionally skipped (currently Glassdoor).
• MAX_JOB_AGE_DAYS = 3: today plus the previous three calendar days.
• KEEP_UNDATED_JOBS_FOR_REVIEW: preserves records with missing dates for manual review.
• SPREADSHEET_PATH: job_opportunities.xlsx in the same directory as the script.

Run

The production entry point is job_tracker.py. Run it from the project directory using the command below.

python job_tracker.py

The script runs immediately, then stays active and checks for the next 9:00 AM scheduled run. Press Ctrl+C to stop it. If you close the terminal or shut down the computer, it will not run automatically the next day. For unattended runs, configure Windows Task Scheduler separately and avoid running multiple copies simultaneously.

Back up job_opportunities.xlsx before testing a new script version. The workbook is rewritten when refreshed; it is not a database or an external backup.

Excel worksheets

Worksheet	Purpose
New - Last 3 Days	Relevant listings with recognizable recent posting dates and no flagged verification issues.
Newly Discovered	Relevant listings first found within the lookback window and containing a plausible job URL; the posting date may be older or unknown.
US Remote - Review	Remote candidates from U.S. search results; U.S. eligibility still requires confirmation.
Remote Eligibility Check	Remote listings whose country/eligibility is uncertain or not classified as U.S. search results.
US Hybrid	U.S. hybrid candidates for review.
Needs Verification	Recently discovered listings with missing or questionable details.
All Jobs - History	Historical records, including dates, status, and previously seen jobs.
United States / Canada	Country-oriented views based on parsed listing location.

Date definitions: Posting_Date describes when the listing appears to have been posted; Date_Found is when this tracker first encountered it; Last_Seen is the latest observation. An unknown posting date is not treated as a verified new posting. Relative dates such as “Today” are interpreted when scraped.

Important: A syntactically valid URL is not proof that the job page is active or matches the recorded role. Open the original listing and verify posting date, employer, work arrangement, and application eligibility before applying.

Troubleshooting

LinkedIn / Dice Selenium timeouts: The tracker may log a timeout and then continue using available rendered page content. Check the final counts rather than treating every timeout as a complete scrape failure.

Indeed verification: Indeed may request a browser challenge. Complete it manually if prompted. Some Indeed results may have N/A posting dates.

Zero results from a board: The site may have changed its layout, timed out, or blocked automation. Glassdoor is currently disabled. Other job boards may return incomplete results or require manual verification.

Irrelevant results: Search results may include non-software quality roles. The title filter reduces noise but is not a substitute for reviewing descriptions.

Email notifications: Email delivery was successfully verified during the October 25, 2026 production run. If future delivery fails, check connectivity, SMTP access, Gmail App Password configuration, and security software. Never include credentials in logs or issue reports.

Duplicate-looking records: The historical sheet may retain distinct source records, while shortlist sheets are deduplicated. Review potential false matches before changing history.

Repository files

Repository files

Production application

File	Purpose
job_tracker.py	Main application: job-board scraping, processing, deduplication, Excel updates, email notifications, and daily scheduling.
qa_classifier_candidate_v6.py	V6 software QA job classifier.
qa_card_extractor_candidate_v2.py	Extracts evidence from job listing cards.
qa_description_extractor.py	Extracts job-description evidence for classification.
dice_browser_enrichment_candidate_v4.py	Handles browser-based enrichment of Dice listings.
dice_description_extractor_candidate_v3.py	Extracts job descriptions from Dice listings.

Configuration and documentation

File	Purpose
requirements.txt	Python dependencies.
.env.example	Email configuration template without real credentials.
.gitignore	Excludes credentials, browser profiles, generated workbooks, and local backups.
README.md	Installation, usage, and troubleshooting documentation.

Important: The candidate filenames are retained because they are referenced by the tested V6 production code. Renaming them requires updating imports and running regression tests.

The generated job_opportunities.xlsx workbook and your configured .env file remain local and must not be committed to GitHub.

Responsible use

This project is intended for personal job discovery. Respect job-board terms, rate limits, and access restrictions. Do not bypass verification or anti-bot protections. Apply manually after reviewing each job and its requirements.