In this section, we’ve listed the generic level QA interview questions.
1. Describe yourself as QA Engineer?
Answer:
I started out my career as a QA engineer in the year ____. Since then I have been working on a variety of platforms and operating systems including Windows 7, Win 2K8, Win 2012 and different flavours of Linux such as Ubuntu, RHEL, Suse etc. During my stint as a test engineer, I have conducted validation of different kind of applications such as Java, Visual basics, C, C++, .NET etc. I’ve hands-on experience in testing client-server applications, web-based applications and many other programming languages.
Being a QA engineer, I do have experience in preparing test plans, writing test Cases. I use to attend several meetings with project managers, business analysts and some times with clients.
While thinking of different kinds of testing I have explored I should mention is Smoke Testing, Integration Testing, Regression Testing, Black box or UAT Testing, I have given all of them a shot. Writing a defect is also one of the important areas where I put special stress on. I would always assess, reassess, and test them thoroughly before passing it on.
2. How do you define QA, QC and Software Testing?
Answer:
Quality Assurance (QA) QA refers to the planned and systematic way of monitoring the quality of process which is followed to produce a quality product. QA tracks the outcomes and adjusts the process to meet the expectation.
Quality Control (QC) Concern with the quality of the product. QC finds the defects and suggests improvements. The process set by QA is implemented by QC. The QC is the responsibility of the tester.
Software Testing is the process of ensuring that product which is developed by the developer meets the user requirement. The motive to perform testing is to find the bugs and make sure that they get fixed.
3. How do you define a good test case?
Answer:
A good test case ensures that all positive scenarios and negative scenarios are covered. Good test cases do only one thing at a time. They don’t overlap and are less complicated. They must be ‘atomic’.
Characteristics of a good test case:
Title A clear and one liner title to show the intent the test case.
Purpose A brief explanation of the reason the test case was developed.
Description A representation in words of the nature and characteristics of the test case.
Test objects An unambiguous feature or module is being test.
Preconditions Conditions that must be met before this test is executed.
4. How do you perceive a test plan? What does it usually consist of?
Answer:
A test plan is a test life cycle document which analyses the resource, scope, approach and schedule of several testing activities. It will help you to find items that need to be tested, its features that need further testing, the risks that come with some and the solutions as well.
It consists of history, contents, introduction, scope, overview and approach. The risks and assumptions are not left out either,
5. Assume you have a test plan with over 1000 test cases. How do you make sure what should be automated and what should still be done manually?
Answer:
In this scenario, we will focus on test case priority and the feasibility of automation for the test case in question.
There can be many other things that can be considered:
- Which scenarios are tedious and take a lot of time doing manually?
- Which scenarios have been missed in the past?
- Where did we see device differences due to fragmentation?
- Which parts of our application are prone to regression?
- Which test cases are complicated and would take a lot of time to establish an automated test case for?
- Which parts of the app will likely change over the next few weeks? (If certain parts of the app are about to be changed, we recommend not to start with automated testing for these cases.)
- Which test cases are best done manually as part of “explorative” testing and testing the user experience?
6. How do you determine which devices and OS versions we should test on?
Answer:
Good candidates will point to app analytics as the best measure, looking for the most used devices for their particular app. Another good answer would be to check the app reviews where people might have complained about specific issues happening on their devices.
7. Define a Test Case and a Use Case? What do they consist of?
Answer:
A test case is again a document which gives you a step by step detailed idea on how you can test an application. It usually comprises of results (pass or fail), remarks, steps, outputs and description.
A use case on the other is a document of another kind. It helps you understand the actions of the user and the response of the system found in a particular functionality. It comprises of the cover page, revision, contents, exceptions, and pre and post conditions.
8. What is Testware?
Answer:
Testware is the subset of software, which helps in performing the testing of application. It is a term given to the combination of software application and utilities which is required for testing a software package.
9. What is a test strategy?
Answer:
A test strategy helps you understand the process of testing in every software development cycle. It has been made in such a way that all project managers and developers will be informed about some of the most important issues of testing.
Test strategy includes introduction, resource, scope and schedule for test activities, test tools, test priorities, test planning and the types of test that has to be performed.
10. What are the contents in test plans and test cases?
Answer:
- Testing objectives.
- Testing scope.
- Testing the frame.
- The environment.
- Reason for testing.
- The criteria for entrance and exit.
- Deliverables.
- Risk factors.
ADVANCE QA INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
In this section, we are covering the advance level QA interview questions.
11. What is the strategy for Automation Test Plan?
Answer:
- Strategy for Automation Test Plan.
- Preparation of Automation Test Plan.
- Recording the scenario.
- Error handler incorporation.
- Script enhancement by inserting check points and looping constructs.
- Debugging the script and fixing the issues.
- Rerunning the script.
- Reporting the result.
12. What are test driver and test stub and why it is required?
Answer:
- A stub is called from the software component to be tested, it is used in top down approach.
- The driver calls a component to be tested, it is used in bottom up approach.
It is required when we need to test the interface between modules X and Y and we have developed only module X. So we cannot just test module X but if there is any dummy module we can use that dummy module to test module X.
Now module B cannot receive or send data from module A directly, so in this case we have to transmit data from one module to another module by some external features. This external feature is referred as Driver.
13. List out the roles of software Quality Assurance engineer?
Answer:
A software quality assurance engineer has to perform following tasks:
- Writing source code.
- Software design.
- Control of source code.
- Reviewing code.
- Change management.
- Configuration management.
- Integration of software.
- Program testing.
- Release management process.
14. To what extent should developers do their own testing or do you believe testing is the responsibility of the QA team?
Answer:
The answer to this question is really depending on the business environment you are working in. in today’s emerging test scenario it is also the developer’s responsibility to perform at least some of his own code testing. Though it is not expected that he will have the capacity or that his focus should be to run through large test plans or test on a large stack of devices. However, without the responsibility to review and test his code, a sense of ownership will not develop.
We believe that results will improve more if all parties have access to test cases and are able to run and access them regularly to verify if the latest changes brought any regression.
15. What’s your experience using Continuous Integration as part of the development process?
Answer:
If this is applicable to your company, it is a great thing to hear that a candidate has worked with Jenkins or Bamboo CI. If he has set up these systems and can give recommendations to you on what worked and did not work in his previous jobs, the candidate has earned himself not only bonus points, but a merit badge or two.
16. How do you define the bug life cycle?
Answer:
Bug life cycle basically comprises of numerous statuses of an error during its life cycle. A few examples are open, deferred, solved, reopened, fixed, solved and closed. You may also speak about this process and the way in which you monitor and determine the status with the help of several points.
17. Do you know about bug leakage and bug release?
Answer:
Bug release is when software or an application is handed over to the testing team knowing that the defect is present in a release. During this the priority and severity of bug is low, as bug can be removed before the final handover.
Bug leakage is something, when the bug is discovered by the end users or customer, and missed by the testing team to detect, while testing the software.
18. Tell us about the best bug of your test career?
Answer:
Well since there are so many quality bugs I’ve discovered in my testing career that I can’t really remember the best one I found. What always surprises me is that you find so many different kinds of bugs so quick. It showed me that having multiple competences on the team is a great assets while testing. The latest bug hunt I did was conducted on a product application which was already on the market for some time. Still we found 21 bugs in 7 minutes! And yes even a crash! That is what amazes me.
19. What is your view on acceptance testing, when it is done and who does it?
Answer:
Acceptance Testing is a software testing checkpoint where a system is tested for acceptability. The purpose of this test is to evaluate the system’s compliance with the business requirements and assess whether it is acceptable for delivery. Formal testing with respect to user needs, requirements, and business processes conducted to determine whether or not a system satisfies the acceptance criteria and to enable the user, customers or other authorized entity to determine whether or not to accept the system.
When is it performed?
Acceptance Testing is carried out after System Testing and before making the system available for actual use.
Who performs it?
Internal Acceptance Testing (Aka Alpha Testing) is done by members of the organization that has produced the software but who are not directly involved in the project (Development or Testing). Commonly, it is the members of Product Management, Pre-Sales and/or Tech Support.
External Acceptance Testing is performed by the product consumers who are not employees of the organization that developed the software. They can be some technical people from the client-side or the actual end users.
20. What is your experience in dealing with your team members, how do you plan it?
Answer:
When you work for an organization be it medium or large, it is almost likely that you won’t be the only one in the team. And there are times when you find it very difficult and frustrating while dealing with the team members. There could be arguments, differences and misunderstandings and some will also try to ignore the others. But my purpose always is to look beyond all of this. I perceive it like we are a team and we should work together to reach a common goal. I’ve learnt to be friendly with my team mates and some times invite them over for coffee. As a human, it is very important to share feelings and have important discussions and that is exactly what I intend to do. This is something that not only me but everyone else in a working environment should apply.