Do you want to give yourself an edge in an upcoming job interview? Then it’s a good idea to prepare for some tricky questions that might come your way. What follows are some interview questions that are likely to be asked:
1. Walk me through the process you would follow to create and implement a test plan for a complex software system.
I thought it would be more helpful to illustrate it visually, so I came up with an infographic:
2. Define exploratory testing and explain in what situations you would utilise this approach.
Exploratory testing is a different approach to the traditional testing process. Instead of having a predefined plan, a tester explores the application to identify issues and potential defects throughout the test.
There are several instances where exploratory testing would be helpful:
- There are new testers in the project
- You need to minimise test script writing
- New features should be tested
- The user experience should be tested
3. How do you test a complex API involving multiple endpoints and integrations?
- Understand its requirements and specifications
- Plan performance, security, and scalability tests you would normally use when testing an API
- Create test cases that cover endpoints and integrations, including positive and negative scenarios
- Design tests to validate API functionality
- Use advanced QA testing tools to automate the API testing process
4. How would you measure the effectiveness of your testing efforts?
- The defect detection rate is an important metric as it measures the number of defects identified during testing in comparison to those discovered during production. A higher detection rate signifies a more thorough and comprehensive testing process.
- Test coverage refers to the proportion of code or functionality that has been tested. A higher test coverage rate reduces the risk of encountering costly unexpected bugs during production.
- Test case efficiency focuses on the ratio of successful tests to the total runs. High efficiency means you have well-designed and well-executed test cases.
- Customer satisfaction is crucial when measuring your effectiveness; testing processes are no exception. Higher customer satisfaction shows that the software’s performance is good. That certainly means good QA.
You can find 8 more metrics for QA process measuring via the link.
5. Describe your approach to testing a mobile application that must function on various platforms and devices.
- Choose a framework that supports testing on multiple devices and platforms
- Set up the testing environment
- Create a test plan
- Develop and execute test scripts
- Analyse the results
6. How would you identify and mitigate possible vulnerabilities in security testing?
1)Conduct a thorough security assessment of the application
2) Use automated and manual techniques to identify possible vulnerabilities
3) Prioritise potentially the most impactful vulnerabilities
4) Develop a plan to tackle each one of these vulnerabilities
5) Test the results of the mitigation measures, see if they addressed the vulnerabilities well
6) Run security tests regularly to be aware of the possible security issues you might have in the future
7. How do you decide if a bug is severe enough to block the release?
The release should include the following factors:
- The impact of the bug on the functionality
- The bug’s occurrence frequency
- The bug’s effect on the end user’s experience
- Reproducibility of the bug
- Data loss or security vulnerabilities caused by the bug
- Brand impact of the bug
- If the bug appears too often and affects the critical aspects mentioned above, you can consider delaying the release.
8. Have you ever faced a situation where QA was not given enough time to test a product properly? If so, how did you handle it?
When planning a testing schedule, it’s essential to consider all risks associated with inadequate test coverage. If a risk is realised during testing, you can negotiate with stakeholders for more time or resources to complete the testing process and to explain the dangers of limited testing.
9. How do you ensure efficient testing in a large-scale enterprise environment?
Using an enterprise testing tool can help in this case. It allows for:
- Centralised management of testing processes
- Automated test execution
- Comprehensive reporting abilities
- A better streamlining of testing efforts
- Consistent and high-quality results
10. How do you make sure that the test cases you write are thorough?
I am sure I am following these crucial steps:
- Review the requirements and specifications of the software
- Identify various scenarios (both positive and negative) and create test cases for each requirement
- Prioritise the test cases based on their importance
- Review the cases and their prioritisation with the QA lead/PO to ensure that the test coverage is complete
Find out more, for example, what kind of strategy should be implemented to develop and execute a test plan for a complex software system in the blog post.
If you want to follow my testing learning journey, follow the “
Software Testing Talks” groups I created on Reddit and Linkedin. I share the most interesting QA discussions I find on the web and insights I get during testing work and studies there.
I am also happy to hear your feedback, suggestions, or ideas about what you would like me to write more about. Don’t hesitate to text me if you want to say hi or discuss something.
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