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The interview reaction cycle can be a bit confusing. You’re excited; you’re nervous -- both at the same time!
Interviews are high-stress environments, and they can wreak havoc on your mental state. One way to help you curb your anxiety and prepare yourself for your interview is to familiarize yourself with the questions you will most likely face.
There are some common interview questions that you will face no matter what industry or position you are applying for. But, there are also industry and position-specific questions to answer.
You’ll face open-ended behavioral questions that determine if you possess the personality and soft skills the role and the company require.
You’ll answer questions that determine if you possess the hard skills they need. And you’ll answer questions that will determine if you have the knowledge and experience to do the job.
Familiarizing yourself with the commonly asked questions will help you to prepare your answers. If you know how you will respond, you’ll feel more comfortable in the interview and respond more thoroughly when it matters.
The quality of a product determines the success of a company. So, they will not hire lightly. Their Quality Assurance Lead will need to check all the boxes, and the questions they choose will help them determine who to hire.
As a Quality Assurance Lead, your interview will include a lot of open-ended questions. Your future employer wants to understand your process and gauge your response to the prompt. They want to know that you have the procedural knowledge, analytical skills, personality, and work ethic they need for the role.
When encountering open-ended questions that ask you to recall a specific time you demonstrated a skill or completed a particular task, you want to use the STAR method. This method lays out a skeleton for your response: Situation, Task, Action, Result.
You will want to pre-select a few example situations to choose from here. Try to focus your attention on more recent situations. Choose the one that best fits the job you are applying for. Is it something that could easily occur in this new position? Did you resolve it in a way that this employer would find useful and ideal?
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What is the difference between severity and priority?
Severity refers to the difficulty of the problem or bug; how hard is it to fix? Priority refers to the urgency of the issue; how important is this to fix? These are not mutually exclusive. A high-priority fix may be low severity. And, a high severity issue may be low priority. Understanding the difference will help when prioritizing project tasks.
What is the difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control?
While these two processes are related, they are not interchangeable. Quality Assurance occurs in the “before.” It is the process of designing and implementing quality controls. QA focuses on defect prevention. Quality Control occurs in the “after.” QC is the test procedure used to determine the quality and whether or not the product meets quality standards. It focuses on defect detection.
What are some different kinds of testing? The types of testing used will be determined by the industry you are applying to. In our example, let’s assume we are a Software QA Lead.
Well, there is the most obvious: manual testing and automated testing. Then, there are the functional testing types: unit testing, smoke testing, system testing, Beta/acceptance testing. Non-functional testing with usability, load, stress, compliance. There is Alpha testing, accessibility testing, browser compatibility testing, black box, and white box testing. Each different testing type plays its role in Quality Assurance, but the type of testing used depends on what is being tested and at what stage.
When should Quality Assurance start?
QA should begin when the project begins. Problems and errors can be caught in the very early stages. Delaying Quality Assurance and Quality Control testing will only result in unexpected costs, missed deadlines, and potentially disastrous delays.
What is a test plan?
A test plan is a document communicating the approach and methods being utilized during QA testing. It helps to set goals, define expectations, and list requirements for the testing process.
What does a test plan include?
The test plan will define the scope of the testing and include information on all aspects of the project. Pass/fail and suspension and exit criteria will be defined; resources will be planned, the tasks planned for execution will be determined as well as the roles and responsibilities of each team member. The document should include a detailed project schedule, a list of deliverables in addition to the risks, contingencies, assumptions, and dependencies.
What is a test strategy? (This question is specific to the software industry)
Similar to a test plan, a test strategy is a document communicating a specific approach to testing the software. It is intended to guide the entire team so that nothing is overlooked or missed in testing. It breaks down the test types mentioned in the test plan.
How do you prioritize when you are managing multiple projects simultaneously?
As a QA Lead, there will never be a time when I’m not managing multiple simultaneous projects. The only way to successfully manage and complete these projects is to have a proven method of project tracking. Organization and planning are key here, so I utilize software to keep all projects and players organized and informed. This allows the team, management, and key stakeholders to track progress, easily see the remaining tasks, and clearly understand deadlines.
It is also important to assess severity and priority in terms of the project and company objectives for each outstanding item. My preferred software allows me to mark tasks as high, medium, or low priority, making it easy to see which items should take precedence in each team member’s schedule.
How would you develop and enforce quality controls?
First and foremost, quality standards would need to be set for the project. Once those have been established and agreed upon, I would need to determine the severity and priority of each quality standard. How will it affect functionality, customer experience, and profits? Then, the roles and responsibilities would need to be outlined.
Once it’s implemented, results would need to be continually examined, and adjustments will need to be made until we are pleased with the produced results. Communicating with the QA team by providing updates and constructive feedback helps them to know their contributions matter which produces better quality work.
What do you consider the most difficult aspect of the Quality Assurance process?
There are always tight deadlines on QA projects, and I use planning and tracking methods to make sure that myself and my team are staying on task and schedule. But, sometimes, the project has some unrealistic timelines attached to it. It can often be challenging to marry expectations with reality, especially for top decision-makers who aren’t part of the day-to-day aspects of the project.
If the timelines set at the beginning of the project don’t match my estimates for the expected tasks, I try to raise that red flag immediately. It is better to set more realistic expectations than to burn out my team attempting to meet unrealistic ones. I find that it is also essential to reassess project risk continuously throughout the project life cycle. This ensures that we are on schedule and budget at regular intervals instead of surprising us at the end.
What is the difference between Verification and Validation? Your response to this question will vary depending on the industry you serve. Below we have provided examples for the software industry and a generic product-based industry.
Software Example Answer:
In software, Verification is Static Testing; it involves the verification of documents, design, code, and program. Validation is Dynamic Testing; it involves testing the actual product, executing the code and uses methods like black box, white box, and gray box testing.
Product Example Answer:
Verification will occur before Validation. Verification is the evaluation of the process; is the system being built properly? Will the operations consistently produce a product that meets predetermined quality standards? Validation is the process of evaluating the products; is the proper system being built? Products are tested and inspected during and after production to determine if all standards are met, and the product is ready for use.
What are the Verification techniques? This, too, will vary depending on the industry. We have again provided an example for the software industry and a generic product-based industry.
Software Example Answer:
There are three consistent Verification techniques in software Quality Assurance: Review, Inspection, Walkthrough.
Product Example Answer:
The four Verification techniques are Inspection, Demonstration, Test, and Analysis.
What are exit criteria, and how would you decide what they are?
We can’t continue Quality Assurance testing indefinitely. At some point, we must determine that a project is complete. Exit criteria are the predefined requirements that must be met before a specific task or process can be considered complete. We determine exit criteria based on the quality standards and tasks set prior to beginning the project.
Have all test cases been executed? Are an acceptable number of tests passing? Are there any issues with high severity or high priority remaining? The criteria and corresponding metrics we choose should demonstrate that a quality product or service is consistently being produced.
Why do you believe that quality is important in business?
The quality of the product or service being produced directly determines the success of a company. The quality of one single product or service can determine the success of all others. If one is subpar, the brand will suffer. If the produced product is not meeting customer expectations, the company loses business. Not only will those customers not bring repeat business, but they will also prevent new customers from considering the company and its products or services.
How do you determine quality?
Quality is a relative term. If a product or service is quality, then it is ready for public consumption. The terms by which we determine quality will vary from product to product and service to service, but there should be one absolute: it meets the customer’s needs. A product or service is quality if it is reliable, functional, easy to use, and meets the needs of the target audience.
What is the difference between the Test Plan and the Test Strategy?
Can you explain the Software Testing Life Cycle?
What do you consider a good test case?
What is the difference between Functional and Non-functional testing?
How would you ensure that your testing is complete?
You have doubts about the project you're working on, how would you approach the situation?
Tell me about your most difficult project.
Tell me about a time you missed an error/bug.
What is a Quality Audit?
Define the key challenges you face in Quality Assurance testing.
Describe the dimensions of risk in QA.