Interview Questions for QA Tester

(Software Tester)
January 25th, 2007
Author: Prakash Nepal
January 25, 2007
(I came to know that many institutions and orani!ations are usin this materials
without citin the source" It is #$ to use this material, %ut please mention the
source where you ot &rom" It is a copyrihted material'
(hese )uestions and answers are totally %ased on the inter*iew I attended durin my
+ years o& workin e,perience as a -A (ester" In some sections, I ha*e started
includin the inter*iew )uestions that were asked %y companies to some o& the
candidates who *isited this we%site and wanted to share" I ha*e mentioned their
names who the )uestions were asked to" (hese )uestions and scenarios are %ased
on practical e,perience" (hese were asked durin my se*eral inter*iews" (here&ore, a
person who is lookin &or a -A .o% (-uality Assurance .o%' can reatly %ene&it &rom
this" I& you are the &irst time .o% seeker as a -A person, then it can help you e*en
%etter" As a consultant (or contractor', I mo*ed to di&&erent companies in *arious
locations in the /nited 0tates" 1onsultin .o% or contractin .o% is such a .o% where
an indi*idual takes (or has to take' a .o% anywhere in the /nited 0tates and
normally, it is &or a short period o& time, &or e,ample, 2 months to se*eral years"
0ome companies allow a contractor to work only &or 35 months (It is their policy'
and the consultant has to lea*e the company no matter what" 0ome companies allow
the contractors as lon as they want" (here&ore, it really depends on the company
policy how lon you will %e workin"
4inally, i& you are attendin an inter*iew, you ha*e to know these )uestions and
answers %y heart, must %e *ery &luent in answerin these )uestions" Practice in &ront
o& the mirror, loud and clear (talk to yoursel&'" 5ost o& the time, when we read the
)uestions, we &eel ood and &eel com&orta%le, %ut the reality is, at the time o& the
inter*iew, e*en thouh we &eel we ha*e the knowlede, can6t e,press it well" It may
sound a little rouh, %ut this is my e,perience" 7hen we come out the door, we
reret" I& you cannot remem%er these %y heart, trust me, it may not work"
(here&ore, let6s not reret"
89:9 A:9 (89 -/90(I#N0:

1. Can you tell me about yourself?

Answer: In my -A career, I ha*e %een workin on *arious system plat&orms and
operatin systems like 7indows ;5, 7indows 2000, 7indows <P and /NI<" I ha*e
tested applications de*eloped in Ja*a, 1==, >isual ?asic and so on" I ha*e tested
7e%@%ased applications as well as client ser*er applications"
As a -A person, I ha*e written (est Plans, (est 1ases, attended walkthrouh
meetins with the ?usiness Analysts, Pro.ect 5anaers, ?usiness 5anaers and -A
Aeads" I ha*e attended re)uirement re*iew meetins and pro*ided &eed%ack to the
?usiness Analysts" I ha*e worked in di&&erent data%ases like #racle and B?2, wrote
0-A )ueries to retrie*e data &rom the data%ase" As &ar as di&&erent types o& testin is
concerned, I ha*e per&ormed 0moke (estin, 4unctional (estin, ?ackend (estin,
?lack ?o, (estin, Interation (estin, :eression (estin and /A( (/ser Acceptance
(estin' (estin" I ha*e participated in Aoad (estin and 0tress (estin"
I ha*e written de&ects as they are &ound usin 1lear-uest and (estBirector" #nce the
de&ects were &i,ed, retested them and i& the passed, closed them" I& the de&ects were
not &i,ed, then reopened them" I ha*e also attended the de&ect assessment meetins
as necessary"
In the meantime, a continuous interaction with de*elopers was necessary"
(his is pretty much what I ha*e %een doin as a -A person"

2. What i you o in your last !ro"e#t?

Answer: In my last pro.ect, the application was a we%@%ased application de*eloped in
Ja*a plat&orm" As a -A Person, I wrote (est Plans &rom the re)uirement documents
and /se 1ases" I per&ormed 0moke (estin, 4unctional (estin, ?ackend (estin,
?lack ?o, (estin, Interation (estin, :eression (estin and /A( (/ser Acceptance
(estin'" I ha*e participated in Aoad (estin and 0tress (estin" I attended se*eral
walkthrouh meetins &or re)uirement re*iews and pro*ided &eed%ack to the
?usiness Analysts" 5ostly, I was in the %ackend testin, which re)uired writin 0-A
)ueries directly to the data%ase"
?esides these, I wrote de&ects usin 1lear-uest" #nce the de&ects were &i,ed,
retested them and i& the passed, closed them" I& the de&ects were not &i,ed, then
reopened them"

$. %ave you written Test &lan? What is a Test &lan? What oes it in#lue?
Answer: Ces"

What is a Test &lan?

Answer: A (est Plan is a document that descri%es the scope, approach, resources,
and schedule o& intended testin acti*ities" It identi&ies test items, the &eatures to %e
tested, the testin tasks and who will do each task (roles and responsi%ilities' and
any risks and its solutions"
1lick here to see how the (est Plan looks like"
What oes it in#lue?

Answer: A (est Plan includes 8eadin, :e*ision 8istory, (a%le o& 1ontents,
Introduction, 0cope, Approach, #*er*iew, di&&erent types o& testin that will %e
carried out, what so&tware and hardware will %e re)uired, issues, risks, assumptions
and sin o&& section"

'. %ave you written Test Cases? Answer: Ces"
What is a Test Case? What oes it in#lueD

Answer: A (est 1ase is a document that descri%es step@%y@step process how to test
the application" A (est 1ase includes (est 1ase IB, 0teps Bescription, 9,pected
#utput, Actual #utput, PassE4ail, and :emarks" (:emem%er, this is N#( a part o& (est
Plan" It is a separate document written usin 9,cel" In some companies, they use
:ational (est5anaer or (estBirector" ?ut &or companies, who do not ha*e these
tools, use 9,cel sheet" In t he e,ample %elow, it is in the 9,cel sheet'




(i you use any tools to write Test Cases?

Answer: Ces" I ha*e used (estBirector (now called -uality1enter' and :ational
(est5anaer to write (est 1ases" 8owe*er, in most o& the companies, I used 9,cel
sheet"
1lick here to see a sample (est 1ase"

%ow many Test Cases i you write in your last !ro"e#t?
Answer: I wrote a%out 3300 (est 1ases in my last pro.ect" ((he reasona%le num%er
o& (est 1ases *aries &rom 500 to thousands" (he num%er 3300 test cases can %e
completed in +@month pro.ect duration'"

What o#ument i you refer to write the Test Cases?

Answer: :e)uirement document" (N#(9: It can also %e /se 1ases, or Besin
Bocument" It depends company to company" In some company, they use /se 1ases"
In some companies, they use :e)uirement Bocuments and in companies, they use
Besin Bocument" 8owe*er, in practical scenario, most o& the companies ha*e
re)uirement document at least'"

). (i you have a situation where you i not have any o#uments (no
re*uirement o#ument+ no ,se Cases+ or no (esi-n (o#ument) an you ha
to write the Test Cases? %ow i you write the Test Cases in this situation?

Answer: Ces" I ha*e %een to that kind o& scenarios se*eral times" (here were
companies where they had no documents at all" In that case, I had to discuss the
application scenario and &unctionalities with the ?usiness Analysts or de*eloper" #n
the %asis o& that discussion, I prepared a document in consultation with ?usiness
Analysts and Be*elopers and then started writin Plans and (est 1ases"

.. What you wor/e with ,se Cases before?

Answer: Ces" I ha*e written (est 1ases usin /se 1ases"

Can you tell me what a ,se Case is?

Answer: A use case is a document that descri%es the user action and system
response &or a particular &unctionality" 1lick here to see how a /se 1ase looks like"

0. What is S(1C (Software (evelo!ment 1ife Cy#le)?

Answer: 0BA1 (0o&tware Be*elopment Ai&e 1ycle' is the process o& de*elopin
so&tware throuh %usiness needs, analysis, desin, implementation and
maintenance" 0o&tware has to o throuh *arious phases %e&ore it is %orn which are
as &ollows:
(i'2eneratin- a Con#e!t F A concept comes &rom the users o& the so&tware" 4or
e,ample, a Pi!!a 8ut may need so&tware to sell pi!!a" An Indian store may need
so&tware to sell its newly arri*ed mo*ies or rocery" (he owner o& the company &eels
that he needs so&tware that would help him in trackin his e,penses and income as
well as enhance the sellin process" (his is how the concept is enerated" (he owner
will speci&ically tell the so&tware company what kind o& so&tware he would need" In
other words, he will speci&y his re)uirements"
(ii' 3e*uirements analysis F A&ter the owner (user' knows his re)uirements, then
it is i*en to a so&tware team (company' who will analy!e the re)uirement and
prepare re)uirement document that will e,plain e*ery &unctionality that are needed
%y the owner" (he re)uirement document will %e the main document &or de*elopers,
testers and data%ase administrators" In other words, this is the main document that
will %e re&erred %y e*eryone" A&ter the re)uirement documents, other detailed
documents many %e needed" 4or e,ample, the architectural desin which is a
%lueprint &or the desin with the necessary speci&ications &or the hardware, so&tware,
people and data resources"
(iii' (evelo!ment4 A&ter the detailed re)uirement documents (some companies
ha*e desin documents instead o& re)uirement documents', the de*elopers start
writin their code (proram' &or their modules" #n the other hand, the testers in the
-A (-uality Assurance' Bepartment start writin (est Plans (one moduleG3 test
plan', test cases and et ready &or testin"
(i*' Testin-: #nce the code (prorams' are ready, they are compiled toether and
to make a %uild" (his %uild is now tested %y the so&tware testers (-A (esters'
(*' Production: A&ter testin, the application (so&tware' oes into production
(meanin, it will %e handed o*er to the owner'"
(*i' 5n4 And one day, the owner will ha*e say %ye to the so&tware either %ecause
the %usiness rows and this so&tware does not meet the demand or &or some reason,
the he does not need the so&tware" (hat6s the end o& it"

6. What is 7usiness 3e*uirement (o#ument (73()?

Answer: It is a document that descri%es the details o& the application &unctionalities
which is re)uired %y the user" (his document is written %y the ?usiness Analysts"

8. What is 7usiness (esi-n (o#ument?

Answer: It is the document that descri%es the application &unctionalities o& the user
in detail" (his document has the &urther details o& the ?usiness :e)uirement
Bocument" (his is a *ery crucial step in 0o&tware Be*elopment Ai&e 1ycle (0BA1'"
0ometimes the ?usiness :e)uirement Bocument and ?usiness Besin Bocument can
%e lumped toether to make only one ?usiness :e)uirement Bocument"

19. What is a :oule?

Answer: A H5odule6 is a so&tware component that has a speci&ic task" It can %e a
Hlink6, which can o inside to its component detail" ((his is N#( a *ery common
)uestion &or the inter*iew" (his is .ust &or your knowlede, i& you don6t know what a
module is"'

11. What is wal/;throu-h meetin-?

Answer: #nce the ?usiness Analysts complete the re)uirement document, they call a
meetin to e,plain how the &unctionalities work, what the process is in the desined
application and other details" (he ?usiness Analysts e,plain the hih le*el
&unctionalities o& the application (so&tware' that is oin to the %uilt" (he participant
mem%ers in the meetin may pro*ide &eed %ack and *arious point o& *iews are
e,pressed" (his is walk@throuh meetin"

12. What is a ,se Case an what oes it in#lue?

Answer: A /se 1ase is a document that descri%es the user action and system
response &or a particular &unctionality" It includes co*er pae, :e*ision 8istory, (a%le
o& 1ontents, 4low o& 9*ents (normal &low and alternati*e &low', 9,ceptions, 0pecial
:e)uirements, Pre@conditions and Post@conditions" 1lick here to see how a /se 1ase
looks like"

1$. What is 7uil?

Answer: 7hen each o& the di&&erent modules o& so&tware is prepared, the
1on&iuration 5anaement (eam (15(' puts them in a sinle &older and it is called
the H?uild6" " ((his is N#( a *ery common )uestion &or the inter*iew" (his is .ust &or
your knowlede, i& you don6t know what a %uild is"'
1lick here to see how the %uild is prepared"

1'. What oes the 7uil (e!loyment mean?

Answer: 7hen the ?uild so prepared %y the 15( (1on&iuration 5anaement (eam',
it is deployed (put' to di&&erent (est 9n*ironments, it is called the ?uild Beployment"

1). What is Test Strate-y?

Answer: A (est 0tratey is a document that descri%es the test e&&orts, test
con&iuration, testin tools to %e employed, test en*ironments, e,it criteria and entry
criteria &or testin, what di&&erent types o& testin will %e carried out (&or e,ample,
smoke test, reression, load test, &unctional test and so on' types o& testin to %e
carried out and system re)uirement" (he (est 5anaer or Aead writes it" (:emem%er,
the (ester does N#( write (est 0tratey" A (ester writes (est Plans and (est 1ases'
1lick here to see how a (est 0tratey looks like

1.. Are Test &lan an Test Strate-y same ty!e of o#uments?

Answer: No, they are di&&erent documents" A (est Plan is a document that collects
and orani!es test cases %y &unctional areas andEor types o& testin in a &orm that
can %e presented to the other teams andEor customer (see the de&inition on this
pae &or (est Plan' where as the (est 0tratey (see the de&inition in the a%o*e
)uestion' is the documented approach to testin" (he tester prepares test Plan
whereas the 5anaer or lead prepares the (est 0tratey" ?oth are important pieces
o& -uality Assurance processes since they help communicate the test approach scope
and ensure test co*erae while impro*in the e&&iciency o& the testin e&&ort"

10. What oes Test Strate-y in#lue?

Answer: It includes introduction, (est #%.ecti*es, (est Process, (est 5ethodoloy,
(est 0cope, :elease 1riteria &or (estin (e,it criteria', (est Aa% con&iuration,
resource and schedule &or test acti*ities, acceptance criteria, test en*ironment, test
tools, test priorities, test plannin, e,ecutin a test pass and types o& test to %e
per&ormed"

16. What are ifferent ty!es of software testin- an efine them?Answer4
(ifferent ty!es of testin- are4
3' /nit testin
2' 0hakeout testin
2' 0moke testin (Ad@hoc testin'
I' 4unctional testin
5' Interation testin
+' :eression testin
7' 0ystem testin
J' Aoad testin
;' 0tress testin
30' Per&ormance testin
33' /ser acceptance testin
32' ?lack %o, testin
32' 7hite %o, testin
3I' Alpha testin
35' ?eta testin
(Note: 9,cept the 0hakeout testin and /nit testin (which are respecti*ely done %y
the 15( (1on&iuration 5anaement (eam' and 1oderEBe*eloper', all other testin
are done %y the -A tester"'
What is ,nit testin-? It is a test to check the code whether it is properly workin
or not as per the re)uirement"
What is Sha/eout testin-?
(his test is %asically carried out to check the networkin &acility, data%ase
connecti*ity and the interation o& modules" (he 1on&iuration 5anaement team,
who prepare %uilds &or test en*ironments, normally does this test" (hey also test
whether the ma.or components o& the so&tware are not %roken" (his test is done
?94#:9 the %uild is deployed in the test en*ironment" A&ter the shake out testin,
the ne,t step is smoke testin (which is done %y the testers a&ter the %uild is
deployed in the test en*ironment'
What is smo/e testin-? (his test is done when the %uild is .ust prepared (&resh
%uild' and deployed in the test en*ironments" (his is %asically an ad hoc test to
check rouhly to make sure the ma.or &unctionalities are not %roken" It is the
preliminary a test carried out %y the -A tester" A&ter the smoke test, the testers
per&orm &unctional testin"
What is <un#tional testin-? It is a test to check whether each and e*ery &unction
o& that application is workin as per the re)uirement (remem%er this work Kas per
re)uirement documentL@you must say this in the inter*iew'" It is a ma.or test where
J0M o& the tests are done" In this test, the (est 1ases are e,ecuted (or run'"
What is Inte-ration testin-? It is a test to check whether all the modules are
com%ined toether or not and workin success&ully as speci&ied in the re)uirement
document" (Just &or your in&ormation: 9ach de*eloper works on di&&erent modules"
7hen they &inish their code, the con&iuration manaement team puts them toether
and prepares a %uild" 7e, as testers, need to make sure that these modules, which
are now com%ined, work as per re)uirement document'
What is 3e-ression testin-? 7hen a new &unctionality is added to the so&tware,
we need to make sure that the added new &unctionality does not %reak the other
parts o& the application" #r when de&ects (%us' are &i,ed, we need to make sure
that the %u &i, has not %roken the other parts o& the application" (o test this, we
per&orm a repetiti*e test, which is called reression test"
What is System testin-? 7hen testers complete testin ((he testers test the
application in the test en*ironments, meanin they test with the test data only, N#(
with the real data', the application (so&tware' has to %e tested in the real
en*ironment" 7hat it means is, since the testers test it in the test en*ironment with
the test data, we ha*e to make sure that the application works well in the real
en*ironment with the real data" In test en*ironment, some o& the thins cannot %e
simulated or tested" Al thouh the test en*ironment is *ery similar to the production
(real' en*ironment, we need to make sure that we et a smooth deli*ery in the real
system as well (As ser*ers are di&&erent and data%ase is di&&erent, thins may not
work as e,pected when the application is mo*ed &rom test en*ironment to production
en*ironment'
What is 1oa testin-? It is a test to check the user6s response time &or num%er o&
users usin any one scenario (sinle %usiness process' o& the same application at the
same time"
What is &erforman#e testin-? It is a test to check the user6s response time &or
num%er o& users usin multiple scenarios (multiple %usiness process' o& the same
application at the same time"
(Bid you notice the di&&erence %etween Aoad (estin and Per&ormance testinD 7hat
is itD 0ee the hihlihted %old letters'
What is Stress testin-? In this type o& testin the application is tested aainst
hea*y load such as comple, numerical *alues, lare num%er o& inputs, lare num%er
o& )ueries etc" which checks &or the stressEload the applications can withstand"
What is ,ser a##e!tan#e testin- (,AT)? In this type o& testin, the so&tware is
handed o*er to the user in order to &ind out i& the so&tware meets the user
e,pectations and works as it is e,pected to" In this testin, the tester may do the
testin or the clients may ha*e their own testers (4or e,ample, %anks may ha*e their
own teller employees who can test the application'"

What is 7la#/ bo= testin-? It is test where a tester per&orms testin without
lookin into the code" (#: it is a testin method where the application under test is
*iewed as a %lack %o, and the internal %eha*ior o& the proram is completely
inored" (estin occurs %ased upon the e,ternal speci&ications" Also known as
%eha*ioral testin, since only the e,ternal %eha*ior o& the proram is e*aluated and
analy!ed"'
What is White bo= testin-? It is a test where a tester looks into the code and
per&orms the testin"
What is Al!ha testin-? In this type o& testin, the users are in*ited at the
de*elopment center where they use the application and the de*elopers note e*ery
particular input or action carried out %y the user" Any type o& a%normal %eha*ior o&
the system is noted and recti&ied %y the de*elopers"
What is 7eta testin-? In this type o& testin, the so&tware is distri%uted as a %eta
*ersion to the users and users test the application at their sites" As the users e,plore
the so&tware, in case i& any e,ceptionEde&ect occurs that is reported to the
de*elopers"

18. What is the ifferen#e between 1oa Testin- an &erforman#e Testin-?

Answer: ?asically Aoad, 0tress and Per&ormance (estin are the same" 8owe*er,
1oa testin- is the test to check the users6 response time o& num%er o& users o& any
one s#enario o& the application whereas Per&ormance (estin is the test to check
the user response time &or multiple scenario o& the same application"

29. What was the !ro#ess of QA testin- in your #om!any where you wor/e
for the last time? (>r As far as the QA !ro#ess is involve+ what was the
testin- !ro#ess in your #om!any?)

Answer: (he -A testin process that was &ollowed in my last company where I
worked was as &ollows:
4irst o& all the ?usiness :e)uirement Bocument was prepared as per the client6s
re)uirement (with the muck@up'" (hen on the %asis o& the re)uirement document,
-A (eam wrote (est Plans, (est 1ases and (est 0trateies" (he de*elopers started
codin their modules (started prorammin'" #nce the de*elopers &inished codin,
the 1on&iuration 5anaement (eam compiled the code toether and prepared a
%uild" (his ?uild is now deployed to di&&erent testin en*ironments where di&&erent
types o& testin were per&ormed" #nce the de&ects were &ound, the testers would lo
the de&ect usin the tools a*aila%le (like (estBirecotor, 1lear-uest and so on" 4or the
companies who cannot a&&ord these e,pensi*e tools, they can use 9,cel sheet as
well'" #nce the de&ects are loed, then those de&ects would %e discussed in the
de&ect status meetin and would take &urther actions (meanin, closin, reopenin,
retestin o& de&ects etc'"

21. What is Chan-e Control?

Answer: It is a document that descri%es the additional &unctionalities that are added
a&ter the ?usiness :e)uirement Bocument is sined o&&" It can %e updated in the old
%usiness re)uirement document or it can %e a separate document" (4or e,ample, in
the ?usiness :e)uirement Bocument, on the loin pae, there are /ser Name and
Password &ields" (he owner o& the so&tware wants to add, KI& you do not ha*e /ser
Name and Password, please click here"L (his is a chane" ?ut this chane came a&ter
the document is sined o&& %y the Pro.ect 5anaers" Now this is a chane control and
comes as a separate document" (It is also called 1hane :e)uest, 5odi&ication
:e)uest'"

22. %ave you written Chan-e Control?

Answer: Ces" (here was a situation where in one pae o& an application in my
pre*ious pro.ect, when the user clicked K1ontactL link, it would pop up a di&&erent
window (new separate window'" ?ut it was N#( the way it was descri%ed in the
re)uirement document" In the re)uirement document, when the user clicks K1ontactL
link, then it should na*iate to another pae (Not a separate new window" (hen was
it a pro%lemD 4unctionality wise, it was N#( a pro%lem, howe*er, on all the other
paes, when the user clicked K1ontactL link, the system would na*iate to ne,t pae
(not a separate window'" 0o, it was N#( 1#N0I0(9N( with the other &unctionalities
on the other paes" (here&ore, it was a consistency issue" I reported this as a %u"
?ut the Pro.ect 5anaer asked me to write it as a 1hane 1ontrol (%ecause it
re)uires more %udet to &i, this issue' so that he can address this issue at a later
time" 0o I wrote this as a 1hane 1ontrol" (8owe*er, it is N#( a .o% o& a tester to
write chane control" It6s the %usiness analyst6s .o%'

2$. What is 7a#/en Testin-?

Answer: It is a test to check whether the data displayed in the N/I &ront@end
matches with the particular data in the %ackend"

2'. %ave you one any 7a#/en Testin- an?or if you i+ how i you o it
in your last !ro"e#t?

Answer: Ces" I ha*e done %ackend testin" 7hen I was workin in my last pro.ect,
this was my scenario o& %ackend testin:
I was workin on :eports" It was the scenario o& testin one application used in the
%ank, where a customer comes to a %ank6s &ront desk, the %ank teller is re)uested to
open a 1heckin Account" (he associate then asks &or the personal in&ormation a%out
the customer, which, are the primary data, such as: 4irst Name, Aast Name, Bate o&
?irth, Address and 0ocial 0ecurity Num%er" (he associate then puts these primary
data o& that particular customer into the computer, which then a&terwards %atch@
processed (normally happens in the middle o& the nih'" Now, a&ter the %atch
process, the in&ormation o& that customer oes into the central data%ase in the <5A
&ormat" (he data now &rom the data%ase oes to 9(A (9,tract@(rans&orm@Aoad'" (9(A
is a tool made %y two companies HA%Initio6 and HIn&ormatica6' 9(A now processes the
.o% to create a &ile (output &ile' to produce the report" (he &ile is now displayed in the
N/I 4ront 9nd report with the help o& ?usiness #%.ect (or 1rystal :eports" (hese are
tools that display data in N/I &ormat'" In the N/I 4ront 9nd report, let us say, i& &or
January, the deposit o& that person was displayed as O ;00"00" (hen my .o% was to
*alidate whether this O;00 is correct or not" I *alidated this data %y writin 0-A
)ueries directly to the data%ase" (he data pulled &rom my 0-A )uery should match to
the data in the N/I &ront end" In other words, my 0-A )uery should also display
O;00" I& it matches, it is well and ood" I& it doesn6t, then it6s a %u" (his is how I
ha*e done my ?ack 9nd (estin"

%ow #an you be sure that the *uery you wrote is #orre#t? >r how o you
/now that the ata you !ulle from the atabase is #orre#t?

Answer: I write 0-A )uery %ased on the re)uirement document" In the re)uirement
document, *arious conditions are i*en &or the )uery" ?ased on those conditions, I
write 0-A )uery" (here&ore, anythin di&&erent &rom the re)uirement document is
de&initely a de&ect"

2). <rom you resume+ I see that you have been wor/in- in one !la#e for a
very short !erio of time. This raises me *uestions why. Can you e=!lain
why?

Answer: As a consultant, I am hired &or a certain period o& time (&or pro.ect duration
only', normally &or + months to 3 year" #nce the pro.ect is o*er, I needed to mo*e to
another pro.ect" (hat6s why you see me in the resume .umpin &re)uently here and
there"

2.. What is one on the first ay of the wor/?

Answer: #n the &irst day, the 5anaer will come to recei*e at the lo%%y" 8eEshe will
welcome youP tell where you will %e sittin" (he ne,t thin will %e will show you loin
name and password and they want to make sure that the loin name and password
works so that you can use your computer" (hen the 5anaer will tell you where the
documents are located in the network dri*e (or shared dri*e, or 1lear1ase, or
0harepointQdi&&erent companies use di&&erent so&tware &or this purpose'" #nce you
&ind the documents, then you will ask them what you will %e workin on what are the
related documents that you should read" Cou start readin the documents, which
lasts normally one week or more"

20. What o you o on the "ob every ay? What is the first thin- you -o
when you -o to wor/ on a ay? (What is your routine "ob?)

Answer: No to work, ha*e a cup o& co&&ee (co&&ee is &ree in any work place', then
check emails" I will check in my calendar whether there is any meetin &or the day" I&
there is anythin urent work that needs to take care o&, then I will start with that
.o%" #therwise, I will start what is le&t &rom yesterday on a priority %asis"
((his )uestion was asked to one o& my &riends while he was attendin inter*iew in
one o& the companies" 7hen they asked him this )uestion, his answer was, he said,
KI start testinL" (his was his wron answer" (he answer *aries in which phase o&
testin the application is" I& the application is in *ery %einnin state@meanin that
the codin has .ust %eun, then the tester6s .o% will %e to analy!e and read the
re)uirement documents, write test plans and write test cases" Pro%a%ly attend
walkthrouh meetin and so on" 8owe*er, the daily routine .o% would %e, as
mentioned a%o*e, check emails, read documents, attend meetin and so on" It6s not
that as soon as you enter the o&&ice, you start testin'



What o you o if you have any *uestions to as/? Who o you as/?
At the %einnin, we all panic, what kind o& )uestions to askD 7hat i& they ask
)uestions that I don6t knowD Is it #$ to ask )uestionsD 7hat do I do i& I don6t know
how to do the .o% I am assined toD and so on"
As mentioned earlier, on the &irst day, your 5anaer will i*e you the system
(computer' ((hey normally call system, not computer', will tell you what the /ser IB
and Password is, where are the -A documents on the shared dri*e (or Network
dri*e' are and so on" (hey will de&initely ask you to read a lot o& documents at the
%einnin (And you must read read and read those documents A0 5/18 A0
P#00I?A9" At the %einnin, allocate a%out 2 hours e,tra at home &or readin these
documents" (his ha%it will put you on the top o& your .o%'" (hese documents are
normally desin speci&ication document (B0B'" Bi&&erent companies call it with
di&&erent names, &or e,ample, :e)uirement 0peci&ication Bocument (:0B' and so on"
A&ter readin the documents, you will %e asked to write (est Plans or (est 1ases
(Bon6t panic" (he (est Plans and (est 1ases templates will %e i*e %y your manaer
or test lead and they will tell you what to do and how to do %ecause di&&erent
companies ha*e di&&erent &ormats they &ollow" I& they don6t ha*e one, then you can
always prepare a sample &rom this we%site (see on the riht column' and i*e it to
them" Cou will %e hero'
Who o you as/?

Now let6s say you did not understand somethin while readin documents" 7ho are
you oin to askD Answer@?usiness Analysts who wrote this document" I& you ha*e
any other )uestions that you don6t know, you will %e askin that to you &riend &irst, i&
heEshe is not a%le to answer, then ask this )uestion to the Aead (or 5anaer'" Bo not
ask too many )uestions (some people et irritated'" (here&ore, it is important to
read read and read" (hat6s the only way to succeed"

I& you ha*e any )uestions in (estBirector, or -(P or any other automation tools, then
there is a 89AP menu as well as tutorial" Please o throuh these, read them %e&ore
you ask any )uestions to anyone else"
7hat kind o& )uestions should I ask in the meetinD
Nothin" 5y ad*ice is, keep your mouth shut" Just listen" (his is the %est way to
handle the .o% until you are con&ident enouh to speak and you know what you are
talkin a%out" I& they ask you some )uestions, then reply ently, wisely"

%ow to eal with your team members?

5ost pro%a%ly, you will not %e the only tester in the team" (here will %e more than
you" 0ometimes, dealin with you team mem%ers is &rustratin, specially when you
are new" (hey try to inore you" (hey want to show themsel*es smart" Bon6t worry"
Bon6t %lame them" (his part o& the human nature" (ry to cope with it" In*ite them
when you o &or co&&ee (in the co&&ee room in your o&&ice, don6t o outside', try to
share your &eelins and so on" It is all how you handle your &riends" It is part o& your
daily acti*ities, handle it ently" (his is part o& the situation I ha*e one throuh, my
&riends ha*e one throuh" I am .ust sharin this with you"

26. %ave you use automation tools?
(Normally, when some one asks this )uestion, we tend to think a%out automation
&unctional testin tools, like 7in:unner, Aoad:unner, -(P (-uick (est Pro', :ational
:o%ot, 9,perian and so on" ?ut the reality is, e*en a 5anual (ester also uses
automation tools like %u trackin tools like (estBirector, 1lear-uest, P>1 (racker
and so on" (here&ore, your answer should %e Ces'

Answer: Ces" I ha*e used (estBirector and 1lear-uest as de&ect trackin tools" (Cour
answer is %ased on whether you ha*e used automation tools specially &or &unctional
and load testin" I& you ha*e N#( used, %ut read a%out these tools, then you may %e
%etter o&& sayin, KI know a%out the tools" I was in*ol*ed in some o& the testin usin
these tools, %ut would need some %rush up in order to work independently"L I am
sayin this %ecause these tools are di&&icult to tackle in the inter*iew and ha*e to
know in depth" In order to pass the inter*iew on &unctional automation tools, it may
not %e easy unless you really know the stu&&" ?ut, since there is not much to learn in
1lear-uest and (estBirector, you only ha*e to know what di&&erent types o& &ields are
there in the de&ect loin window when writin a de&ect"'

28. When you lo- a efe#t usin- Test(ire#tor (or ClearQuest) what fiels o
you see?

Answer: 7hen we lo a de&ect, we see Be&ect IB (it shows later in (estBirector',
0ummary (where we write short description o& the de&ect', Bescription (lon
description o& the de&ect', Betected %y (Person who &ound the de&ect, (it6s you',
0e*erity (meanin@is the de&ect criticalD 8ihD 5ediumD #r AowD', Bate, Betected in
>ersion, Priority, Pro.ect, 0tatus, Assined to and so on"
1lick here to see the &ields in (estBirector (o to pae 2I@27'
1lick here to see the &ields in 1lear-uest (o to pae ;'

$9. Are you better wor/in- in a team or wor/in- alone?

Answer: I am a team player" I et alon with team mem%ers *ery well" As &ar as the
workin is concerned, I can %e e)ually producti*e in team or workin alone"
(1aution: Ne*er say, I like workin alone" (his could lead you to not ettin a .o% as
they are always lookin &or people who can et alon with other people"'
$1. (o you have any situations in the !ast where you have some ar-uments
with your team members?

Answer: No" I ne*er had that type o& situation where*er I ha*e worked"
(9*en i& you had one, it6s a ood idea to say KNoL" (his could %e a red &la, which
miht stop you &rom ettin the .o%'

$2. What o you li/e about a :ana-er? An what on@t you li/e?

Answer: (he %est thin I like a%out a 5anaer is that the 5anaer should %e a%le to
coordinate with the other teams so that we can et the updated documents, &or
e,ample, updated re)uirements documents riht away" A 5anaer who can
e&&iciently in distri%utes the work to the team, without %ein %iased and easily
accessi%le and protecti*e to his team &or the riht cause" As &ar as Kwhat I don6t likeL
is concerned, I don6t like a manaer who keeps comin to desk 30 times a day to
check my work e*en i& it is .ust a reular work" #nce the responsi%ility is i*en, the
team mem%er should %e trusted and let his work done"

$$. Where o you see yourself in another ) years?

Answer: I see mysel& a -A Aead in another 5 years"
(Cou can also say K-A 5anaerL, %ut since the -A 5anaer is takin your inter*iew
most o& the time, they some times &eel challened" (here&ore, it miht %e a ood
idea to limit you to -A Aead'

$'. Why are you in QA?

Answer: I am in QA be#ause I li/e this "ob.

$). Why o you li/e this "ob?

Answer: I like this .o%, %ecause it is process oriented" 5eanin that I et an
opportunity to work &rom analy!in the re)uirement documents to writin test plans,
test cases, testin the application, loin de&ects, retestin, preparin reports and
&inally testin in production as well" (here&ore, I am in*ol*ed &rom the *ery %einnin
to the end o& the so&tware de*elopment li&e cycle (0BA1' process" I like this"
Another reason is I like to &ind de&ects" I en.oy loin de&ects" (he more de&ects I
&ind, the happier I am"

$.. %ow o you etermine what to test in an a!!li#ation?

Answer: 4irst o& all we ha*e the test cases (or test scripts' that are written %ased on
the re)uirement document" (his pretty much co*ers what &unctionalities to test"
(here&ore, lookin at the test cases tells us what to test in the application"

$0. If you have no o#umentation about the !rou#t+ how o you test an
a!!li#ation? (es#ribe the !ro#ess.

Answer: 7ell, this is a situation where I ha*e come across se*eral times" 0ome o&
the companies in my pre*ious pro.ects did not ha*e any documents" In this case, I
went to the ?usiness Analyst and some times to de*elopers to &ind out how e,actly
the &unctionalities work, how to na*iate &rom one pae to another pae and so on"
A&ter ettin a clear *ision, I write test cases %ased on the con*ersation (which is a
step %y step procedure to test an application' and et ready &or testin"



What o you o on#e you fin a efe#t?

#nce you &ind a de&ect, this is what we need to do:
3" 3e#reate the (efe#t: #nce you &ind a de&ect, we must try to recreate (meanin
that we should %e a%le to reproduce it' at least 2 times so that we are sure that it is
a de&ect" 0ome times, once we &ind it lo it without recreatin, may put us in a &alse
situation (%ecause sometimes the application does not %eha*e in the same way'"
(here&ore, it is important to recreate the same de&ect se*eral times"
2" Atta#h the S#reen Shot (supportin document': #nce we con&irm that it is a
de&ect, and then it is a ood idea to attach supportin documents when we lo
(write' a de&ect" 4or e,ample, screen shot, re)uirement document etc" 4or instance,
let us say that instead o& K1ontinueL %utton on a pae, there is a typo K1ontiinueeL"
Now, we will make a screen shot o& this pae ((o make screen shot, press KPrint
0creenL %utton on the key%oard, and open a 7ord document, and 1lick 9dit on the
7ord document and KPastL it" Cou will see the screen now' Now, a tester needs to
write de&ects in easy and clear lanuae to make all the de*elopers to understand
easily"
2" 1o- the (efe#t4 Now, the ne,t step is, we need to lo it" Bependin on the
company what kind o& tools they are usin (&or e,ample, some companies use
(estBirector to lo de&ects, some companies use :ational 1lear-uest, some use P>1
(racker and so on'" I& the company is small and cannot a&&ord these e,pensi*e tools,
then they may simply use 9,cel sheet to lo de&ects" 7e lo the de&ect"

$6. What are the basi# elements you !ut in a efe#t?

Answer: ?asic elements we put in a de&ect are: 09>9:I(C, P:I#:I(C, 1:9A(9B ?C,
>9:0I#N N#, 89AB9:, B901:IP(I#N #4 (89 B9491( where we write how to
recreate a de&ect, in what module the de&ect is &ound, 0tatus, and so on"

$8. What is the bi--est bu- you have ever foun?

Answer: 7ell, there are many %i de&ects I ha*e &ound in *arious pro.ects" 4or
e,ample, in the last pro.ect, on a pae, there was a %utton called K5ore
In&ormationL" #nce the user clicked that %utton, the system would open a new
window (pop up'"
7e could close the new window in 2 ways:
@?y clickin < at the top riht corner o& the pae
@?y clickin K1loseL %utton on the pae
@?y pressin com%ination keys (Alt=4I' on the key %oard
Althouh the com%ination key (Alt=4I' was not mentioned in the test case, I .ust
wanted to try how the application reacts when Alt=4I is pressed" (hen I pressed
Alt=4I" (he result was a disaster@the application crashed (%roke'" (he application
disappeared &rom the computer monitor" 0ince it was the last day o& testin &or us, it
%rouht chaos in our 5anaers, Aeads and the whole teams" 4inally, the de*elopers
disa%led Alt=4I as a temporary solution and the application went into production"

'9. %ow o you ma/e sure that it is *uality software?

Answer: (here is a certain process how the )uality o& so&tware is uaranteed
(ensured'" I& is de&ined %y the He,it criteria6" (7hat it means is, a -A 5anaer writes
a document called (est 0tratey" (his (est 0tratey de&ines the He,it criteria6"' 9,it
1riteria i*es the measurement, &or e,ample, in order to con&irm the )uality, how
many critical de&ects, hih de&ects, medium de&ect and low de&ect are accepta%leD
(hese are all de&ined in the e,it criteria" (Normally in practice, &or a )uality so&tware,
there should no critical de&ects (0 critical', no hih de&ect (0 hih', no medium de&ect
(0 medium' and may %e 3 low de&ect'

'1. As a QA Tester+ #an you tell me the situation when you felt the most
!rou of it?

Answer: 7hen I &ind the de&ect that normally others don6t &ind, then I &eel *ery
proud" 4or e,ample, there were situations where I &ound %us that crashed the whole
system at the end o& testin phase" I tried the scenarios where the scenarios were
N#( mentioned in the test cases" 4or e,ample, we can close the windows %y clickin
< on the pae, with K1loseL %utton and so on" ?ut there is another way that you can
close the window, %y pressin Alt=4I on the key%oard" Not many testers test this
scenario" I ha*e done this in my last two pro.ects" ?oth the time, the application
crashed which %ecame a %i issue" I &elt proud"

'2. What mae you to #hoose testin- #areer?

Answer: I am a *ery detailed oriented person and I like process@oriented .o%" (he
way -A process works is .ust the kind o& work I like" 4or e,ample, analy!in
re)uirement documents, attendin walk@throuh meetins, writin test plans, writin
test cases, e,ecutin the test cases (or runnin the test cases' testin the
application, loin de&ects, retestin them and so on" I think I really like the
process and that6s why I chose this career"




'$. When shoul testin- start in a !ro"e#t? Why?

Answer: 7e should start testin as soon as the &ollowin thins are ready:
@(est Bata are ready
@?uild (all the de*elopers ha*e coded their code and mered them
toether'
@(est 9n*ironment (ser*ers, network etc' is set up and ready
@7hen the manaer asks us to o ahead and start testin"

''. 1et us say you have a web a!!li#ation to test. %ow o you -o about
testin- it? What is the !ro#ess?

Answer: 4irst o& all, I will look at the re)uirement documents (or desin document in
some companies'" (he re)uirement document will tell us what the &unctionalities in
the application (so&tware' are" #nce I analy!e the re)uirement documents (one
moduleGone re)uirement document'" A&ter that, I will write test plans &or each
module (one module Gone test plan'" (hen a&ter the test plan is complete, I will
write test cases (#ne module can ha*e hundreds, e*en thousands test cases'" #nce
the test cases are ready and the application is ready (or once the %uild is ready',
then I will start testin" ?e&ore I start testin, howe*er, I will make sure the test
en*ironments, test data and de&ect loin tools are in place" (his is how I will o
a%out testin an application"

'). What is a Abu-?B

Answer: A %u is a %u is an error, &law, mistake, &ailure, or &ault in a computer code
(proram' that pre*ents it &rom %eha*in as intended (e"", producin an incorrect
result'" (Cou can also add this: 7hen the e,pected results (accordinly to the
re)uirement documents' don6t match with the actual results (while testin', then it is
considered a %u'

'.. %ow woul you ensure that you have #overe 199C testin-?

Answer: (he testin co*erae is de&ined %y e,it criteria ((here is e,it criteria and
entry criteria in the (est 0tratey'" 4or e,ample, i& the e,it criteria says K(he
so&tware will %e accepta%le to the client only i& there are no critical de&ects, no hih
de&ects, no medium de&ects and only two low de&ectsL, then all the critical, hih,
medium should %e !ero" #nly 2 low de&ects are accepta%le" (hus, 300M co*erae is
measured %y the e,it criteria" Also, 300M test cases must %e e,ecuted in order to
co*er 300M o& testin"

'0. What !roblems i you fa#e in the !ast? %ow i you solve it?
(Cou will %e #$ i& you .ust i*e one o& the pro%lems %elow, not all o& them'

Answer: I had many pro%lems while testin applications in the past"
As &ar as I remem%er one o& them (then descri%e one o& them &rom %elow', this was
the scenario:
(i' It was a we%@%ased application" I was workin on a module called K(ransaction
0ummaryL" (here was K0u%mitL %utton on that pae" A&ter enterin data in the all
the &ields, &or e,ample, 4irst Name, Aast Name, 0ocial 0ecurity Num%er, Bate o& ?irth
and so on, I clicked the 0u%mit %utton" #nce I clicked 0u%mit %utton, an error pae
displayed, KPae cannot %e &oundRL" 0ince it was a critical de&ect, I immediately
in&ormed the (est Aead" (here was a chaos in the room" All the de*elopers, Bata%ase
Administrators and (esters athered in my cu%e (room'" No %ody could tell e,actly
what was wron with it" 4inally, one smart uy checked into the data%ase and &ound
out that one o& the &iles in the data%ase was closed" (he status o& all the &iles should
%e in the open status" #nce the status o& the closed &ile was put in the KopenL status,
the application worked &ine"
(ii' #ne o& the pro%lems was in the Aoin window (pae'" 7hen the user enters and
Aoin Name and Password, then Password should %e encrypted" #ne o& the (est
1ases was that I needed to open data%ase and see whether the password is
encrypted or not" I &ound out it was not encrypted" I reported it as a %u (de&ect'
and it was &i,ed in the ne,t release (%uild'"
(iii' Be&ects I ha*e &ound in a pro.ect was a de&ect to close a window (pop up'"
4or e,ample, in the last pro.ect, on a pae, there was a %utton called K5ore
In&ormationL" #nce the user clicked that %utton, the system would open a new
window (pop up'"7e could close the new window in 2 ways:
@?y clickin < at the top riht corner o& the pae
@?y clickin K1loseL %utton on the pae
@?y pressin com%ination keys (Alt=4I' on the key %oard
Althouh the com%ination key (Alt=4I' was not mentioned in the test case, I .ust
wanted to try how the application reacts when Alt=4I is pressed" (hen I pressed
Alt=4I" (he result was a disaster@the application crashed (%roke'" (he application
disappeared &rom the computer monitor" 0ince it was the last day o& testin &or us, it
%rouht chaos in our 5anaers, Aeads and the whole teams" 4inally, the de*elopers
disa%led Alt=4I as a temporary solution and the application went into production"
(i*' Another pro%lem was that a user would search &or %ranch location in&ormation o&
a %ank" (he user los in %y usin /ser Name and Password" A&ter the lo in, on the
K0earch AocationL pae, the user enters and !ip code o& the location he wants to &ind,
then clicks 4ind %utton" A&ter that the system (application' i*es a num%er o& %ranch
locations" (he user now clicks K:e)uest In&ormationL &or one o& the %ranches" As
soon as the user clicks K:e)uest In&ormationL %utton, the application %reaks
(displays KPae cannot %e &oundL error'" I loed this de&ect as a critical de&ect"
7hen the de*elopers and data%ase administrator looked into it, then they &ound out
that in one o& the ta%les, the data was not recorded" In all the ta%les (/serPro&ile
ta%le, 1lientIB ta%le and 0essionIB ta%le', the data should %e populated with the
in&ormation entered %y the user" 4or some reason, in one o& the ta%les, it was %lank
(null'" #nce they wrote a small code to populate data (enter data' to the ta%le, the
application started workin"
(*' In my pre*ious pro.ect, when the customer wants to upload a document, &or
e,ample, a copy o& a monthly statement (in 7ord &ormat', on the we%site, the
system should automatically chane the 7ord document into "pd& &ormat" #nce the
document was uploaded, I saw that the &ields in the "pd& document were
interchaned (misplaced'" 4or e,ample, the 4irst Name displayed in the Aast Name
section" Bate o& ?irth displayed in the 0ocial 0ecurity Num%er &ield and so on" 7e
&ound out that the pro%lem was a mappin pro%lem (remem%er this word'" #nce the
mappin was correct, I tested in the new %uild" It was &i,ed"
(*i' (he most common pro%lem that I ha*e &aced in my pre*ious pro.ects are the
Ja*a script errors, data connecti*ity, error, 8((P 500 error ((his error occurs when
ser*er is down', 8((P I00 error (when &ile is not &ound' and so on"
(*ii' K4atherL pop up displayed when PrintEPrint Pre*iew %utton clicked" ((his was
coded %y the de*eloper to mark this codin portion (&or hisEher own purpose as a
mark to indicate where heEshe made chanes, howe*er, &orot to remo*e it'" #nce
the de*eloper &i,ed it, it still displayed the same thin (%ecause it was in the ser*ers
memory and could not o'" Now, I had to reset memory o& the ser*er &rom my
machine" (here&ore, what I did is, I went to the we%site I was testin (&or e,ample,
http:EEmysite"app"orE5ySpro&ile' and added reset"asp, at the end o& the /:A (Now
the /:A %ecomes http:EEmysite"app"orE5ySpro&ileEreset"asp, and hit enter" It took
me to the ser*er memory and I selected section and su%mitted the )uery and it was
cleared" :etested aain and it is now #$"
(*iii' I was testin a we% application" #n one pae, I clicked 0a*e T 1ontinue
%utton twice (my mistake'" #nce this %utton is clicked twice, the system displayed
an error messae, K1ould not sa*e the answers, please contact technical supportL"
(7hen clicked only once, the %utton works &ine"'"
0olution: #nce the user clicks the %utton once, the %utton was disa%led later so that
the user cannot click twice"
(i,' I was testin a we%@%ased application" #nce all the &ields are entered on the
one o& the paes, we had Print Pre*iew %utton" I& the user clicks this %utton, we
were supposed see the same in&ormation in a new window in PB4 &ormat" 7hile
lookin at the data in PB4 &ile, there were some &ields missin, &or e,ample, Bate o&
?irth was missin in the PB4 &ile"

'6. Tell me about the worst boss you@ve ever ha. (8ere, you should %e care&ul
not to say any neati*e words a%out the past %oss" (his will i*e a re&lection that you
cannot work with di&&erent nature o& people" Cou should %e a%le to show them that
you can cope with any kin o& %oss" (here&ore, .ust take an idea %elow how the
answer should %e"'

Answer: I can hardly think o& any 5anaer that was really %ad" ?ut when I compare,
then I remem%er o& a (est Aead who was .ust made a lead &rom the de*elopers team"
0he used to &eel that she has %een *ery proud o& her position and used to %oss
around" 0ome times, she used to call home and check where I was and what I was
doin" #r ha*e I completed my .o% %e&ore lea*in and so on" I think, whate*er she
did, was in the %ene&it o& the company and mysel& in the lon run which would i*e
me more con&idence in &uture"

'8. What o you li/e about QA?

Answer: (he %est thin I like a%out -A is, I like the .o% which is more process
oriented" 4or e,ample, we ha*e to work riht &rom readin the re)uirement
documents, pro*idin &eed%ack to the ?usiness Analysts as necessary, writin test
plans, test cases, e,ecute the test cases, interaction with di&&erent de*elopers,
attend walk@throuh meetin and so on" I am a *ery detailed oriented person" 7hen
I test applications, I try to et into the depth o& &unctionality so that I don6t miss out
anythin" 4inally, I lo*e loin de&ects"

)9. What are all the basi# elements in a efe#t re!ort?

Answer: (he %asic elements in a de&ect report are: Be&ect IB, 8eader, Bescription,
Be&ect :eported %y, Bate, 0tatus, >ersion, Assined to, Appro*ed %y, 5odule where
the de&ect was &ound and so on"

)1. What is the ifferen#e between verifi#ation an valiation?

>eri&ication: >eri&ication is a process to ensure that the so&tware that is made,
matches the oriinal desin" In other words, it checks whether the so&tware is made
accordin to the criteria and speci&ication descri%ed in the re)uirement document" It
is to check whether you %uilt the product riht as per desin" It is a low le*el
checkin" (It is done in walk@throuh meetins enerally'" It checked whether it is
made accordinly to the desin""
>alidation: >alidation is a process to check whether the product desin &its the
client6s need" It checks whether you %uilt the riht thin" It checks whether it is
desined properly"

)2. %ow o you /now it is suffi#ient testin-?

Answer: 9*ery company has entry and e,it criteria" 7hen we test applications, we
re&er to e,it criteria" 7hen we are a%out to &inish testin, then the -A (eam (-A
5anaer' re&ers to the e,it criteria (e,it criteria tells the le*el o& de&ect that you can
%e com&orta%le with %e&ore it oes to production" 4or e,ample, there should %e U9:#
critical de&ect, U9:# hih le*el de&ect, U9:# medium de&ect, 3 Aow le*el de&ect, all
the test cases must %e 300M e,ecuted etc'" #nce the e,it criteria meet the
re)uirements, then the so&tware is considered to %e su&&iciently tested"
9*ery company has entry and e,it criteria" 7hen we test applications, we re&er to
e,it criteria" 7hen we are a%out to &inish testin, then the -A (eam (-A 5anaer'
re&ers to the e,it criteria (e,it criteria tells the le*el o& de&ect that you can %e
com&orta%le with %e&ore it oes to production" 4or e,ample, there should %e U9:#
critical de&ect, U9:# hih le*el de&ect, U9:# medium de&ect, 3 Aow le*el de&ect, all
the test cases must %e 300M e,ecuted etc'" #nce the e,it criteria meet the
re)uirements, then the so&tware is considered to %e su&&iciently tested"
)$. %ow to erive test s#enarios an use #ases? What are the #ontents an
format?

Answer: (est scenarios are deri*ed &rom re)uirement documents" 7e &ollow each and
e*ery &unctionality (called %usiness rules' mentioned in the re)uirement document"
#ne &unctionality can ha*e multiple %usiness rules" 4or e,ample, let us say in there is
one re)uirement called KAoinL" (his KAoinL may ha*e *arious scenarios" 4or
e,ample, one scenario is, enter the riht /ser IB and wron password" (he system
should display an error messae" Another scenario would %e to enter wron /ser IB
and riht Password" (he system should display an error messae" (he third scenario
could %e to enter the riht /ser Name and riht Password" (he system should allow
the user to et into the system" (his is how the test cases are deri*ed &rom the
re)uirement documents or &rom the /se 1ases"
(4or contents &or &ormats o& test scenario, please re&er to )uestion I in
)a)uestions"com'

)'. What are the ty!es of test #ases that you write?

Answer: 7e write test cases &or smoke testin, interation testin, &unctional testin,
reression testin, load testin, stress testin, system testin and so on"

)). %ow to write Inte-ration test #ases?

Answer: I ha*e ne*er written separate (est 1ases Interation (estin" 0ince
Interation (estin is a test to check whether the all the modules are interated
toether or not (meanin that when the de*elopers compile all their module and
make a %uild, all modules should %e workin when they are com%ined toether and
those modules when com%ined, should work as e,pected'" I& they are not interated
(com%ined' in a nice way, then the application %reaks" ?asically, when we do the
&unctional testin, the interation testin is automatically done" (his is my
e,perience"

).. %ow to write 3e-ression test #ases? What are the #riteria?

Answer: :eression test cases are also %ased on the re)uirement documents" (hey
are written more into detail and with e*ery release (%uild', the testers need to do
reression testin" (he criteria &or reression testin areP there should %e no ma.or
de&ects while we do our smoke test and &unctional testin"

)0. Is there a format for a test #ase? (o you follow any methoolo-y for
numberin- test #ases?

Answer: Ces" It depends upon the company how the company has &ollowed the
num%erin o& test cases" 8owe*er, normally, it is .ust a simple num%erin in most o&
the time (see )uestion I o& )a)uestions"com'" ?ut some companies may also relate
this num%erin to the re)uirement num%er" 4or e,ample, i& the re)uirement &or Aoin
is K:9-@A#N@003L, then we can num%er the test cases like :9-@A#N@003@003 and so
on"

)6. What is Test %arness?

Answer: (Be&inition &rom www"wikipedia"or' KIn so&tware testin, a test harness or
automated test &ramework is a collection o& so&tware and test data con&iured to test
a proram unit %y runnin it under *aryin conditions and monitor its %eha*ior and
outputs" It has two main parts: the test e,ecution enine and the test script
repository"L

)8. %ow to write ,ser A##e!tan#e Test !lan D test #ases?

Answer: (he way o& writin (est Plan and (est 1ases is the same in all the test
phases" 8owe*er, speci&ically &or /ser Acceptance (estin, the testers use data nearly
real data (meanin that the data is *ery much similar to the production data or real
data'" 4or the &ormat, please re&er to )uestion 2 and I in )a)uestions"com"

.9. What are the ifferent matri#es that you follow?
Answer: (here are *arious reports we normally prepare in -A:
V (est summary :eport F It is a report that has list o& the total test cases, list o&
e,ecuted test cases, remainin test case to %e e,ecuted, e,ecuted date, passE&ail
V Be&ect :eport F In this report we normally prepare a list o& de&ect in spreadsheet
e"" de&ect W 1-322I5 X i& you lo a de&ect in the application called :ational
1lear-uestY
V (racea%ility 5atri, Xalso called :(5 (:e)uirement (racea%ility 5atri,'Y :eport F the
document which shows the relationship %etween the &unctionalities or the %usiness
rules and the test cases" 0o, with the help o& (racea%ility 5atri, we make sure that
we includes all the &unctionalities in our test cases accordin to the re)uirement
document"

.1. 5=!lain 7u- 1ife Cy#le.

Answer: I would descri%e this as %elow:
A (ester &inds a de&ect and los it" (?ut %e&ore you lo it, you must try to recreate it
&or 2 or I times so that you are 300M sure that it is a %u'
(he de&ect is now appro*ed or disappro*ed %y the (est Aead"
(I& it is disappro*ed, then the test lead will come to you ask &or more details and you
ha*e e,plain to him why it is a %u'
A&ter the (est Aead appro*es the %u, it is now assined to a de*elopment (eam
Aead (or Be*elopment 5anaer'" 8eEshe now assins that %u to the concerned
de*eloper" (he de*eloper now looks into the %u and &i,es it" #nce the &i, is ready,
there will %e another %uild ready to test" (he tester now tests the de&ect" It the
de&ect is &i,ed, then the tester closes the de&ect, i& not then the test will reopen it
and same cycle starts"
Be&ect Ai&e 1ycle

.2. What will you o if evelo!er oes not a##e!t the bu-?

Answer: I& the de*eloper does not accept the de&ect, then he will re.ect it" #nce it is
re.ected, then it comes %ack to the tester" Now, the tester will ask &or clari&ication
with the de*eloper why the de&ect is re.ected" 0ince e*erythin is %ased on the
re)uirement documents, %oth tester and de*eloper will ha*e to look at the
re)uirement document, *alidate it and then reopen it i& necessary or close"

.$. What are the ifferent tests that #an be one for Client Server
A!!li#ation an Web;base A!!li#ation. 2ive etails.

Answer: 4or %oth client ser*er and we% %ased applications, the testin is the same
e,cept one thin: 7e test we% %ased applications in di&&erent %rowsers, &or e,ample,
Internet 9,plorer (will test in di&&erent *ersions like I9 5"0, I9 +"0, I9 7"0', 4ire&o,,
0a&ari (&or 5ac' and so on where as &or client ser*er, we don6t need to test in the
%rowsers"

.'. What is an ins!e#tion?

Answer: An inspection is a &ormal meetin, more &ormali!ed than a walkthrouh and
typically consists o& 2@30 people includin a moderator, reader (the author o&
whate*er is %ein re*iewed' and a recorder (to make notes in the document'" (he
su%.ect o& the inspection is typically a document, such as a re)uirements document
or a test plan" (he purpose o& an inspection is to &ind pro%lems and see what is
missin, not to &i, anythin" (he result o& the meetin should %e documented in a
written report" Attendees should prepare &or this type o& meetin %y readin throuh
the document, %e&ore the meetin startsP most pro%lems are &ound durin this
preparation" Preparation &or inspections is di&&icult, %ut is one o& the most cost@
e&&ecti*e methods o& ensurin )uality, since %u pre*ention is more cost e&&ecti*e
than %u detection"

.). 2ive me five #ommon !roblems that o##ur urin- software evelo!ment.

Answer: Poorly written re)uirements, unrealistic schedules, inade)uate testin,
addin new &eatures a&ter de*elopment is underway and poor communication"
:e)uirements are poorly written when re)uirements are unclear, incomplete, too
eneral, or not testa%leP there&ore there will %e pro%lems" (he schedule is unrealistic
i& too much work is crammed in too little time"
0o&tware testin is inade)uate i& none knows whether or not the so&tware is any
ood until customers complain or the system crashes" It6s e,tremely common that
new &eatures are added a&ter de*elopment is underway"
5iscommunication either means the de*elopers don6t know what is needed, or
customers ha*e unrealistic e,pectations and there&ore pro%lems are uaranteed

... What is the role of o#umentation in QA?

Answer: Bocumentation plays a critical role in -A" -A practices should %e
documented, so that they are repeata%le" 0peci&ications, desins, %usiness rules,
inspection reports, con&iurations, code chanes, test plans, test cases, %u reports,
user manuals should all %e documented" Ideally, there should %e a system &or easily
&indin and o%tainin o& documents and determinin what document will ha*e a
particular piece o& in&ormation" /se documentation chane manaement, i& possi%le"

.0. What if the software is so bu--y it #an@t be teste at all?

Answer: In this situation the %est %et is to ha*e test enineers o throuh the
process o& reportin whate*er %us or pro%lems initially show up, with the &ocus
%ein on critical %us" 0ince this type o& pro%lem can se*erely a&&ect schedules and
indicates deeper pro%lems in the so&tware de*elopment process, such as insu&&icient
unit testin, insu&&icient interation testin, poor desin, improper %uild or release
procedures, manaers should %e noti&ied and pro*ided with some documentation as
e*idence o& the pro%lem"
.6. %ow o you /now when to sto! testin-?

Answer: (his can %e di&&icult to determine" 5any modern so&tware applications are so
comple, and run in such an interdependent en*ironment, that complete testin can
ne*er %e done" 1ommon &actors in decidin when to stop areR
Beadlines, e"" release deadlines, testin deadlinesP
(est cases completed with certain percentae passedP
(est %udet has %een depletedP
1o*erae o& code, &unctionality, or re)uirements reaches a speci&ied pointP
?u rate &alls %elow a certain le*elP or
?eta or alpha testin period ends"

.8. What if there isn@t enou-h time for thorou-h testin-?

Answer: 0ince it6s rarely possi%le to test e*ery possi%le aspect o& an application,
e*ery possi%le com%ination o& e*ents, e*ery dependency, or e*erythin that could o
wron, risk analysis is appropriate to most so&tware de*elopment pro.ects" /se risk
analysis to determine where testin should %e &ocused" (his re)uires .udment skills,
common sense and e,perience" (he checklist should include answers to the &ollowin
)uestions:
V 7hich &unctionality is most important to the pro.ect6s intended purposeD
V 7hich &unctionality is most *isi%le to the userD
V 7hich &unctionality has the larest sa&ety impactD
V 7hich &unctionality has the larest &inancial impact on usersD
V 7hich aspects o& the application are most important to the customerD
V 7hich aspects o& the application can %e tested early in the de*elopment cycleD
V 7hich parts o& the code are most comple, and thus most su%.ect to errorsD
V 7hich parts o& the application were de*eloped in rush or panic modeD
V 7hich aspects o& similarErelated pre*ious pro.ects caused pro%lemsD
V 7hich aspects o& similarErelated pre*ious pro.ects had lare maintenance
e,pensesD
V 7hich parts o& the re)uirements and desin are unclear or poorly thouht outD
V 7hat do the de*elopers think are the hihest@risk aspects o& the applicationD
V 7hat kinds o& pro%lems would cause the worst pu%licityD
V 7hat kinds o& pro%lems would cause the most customer ser*ice complaintsD
V 7hat kinds o& tests could easily co*er multiple &unctionalitiesD
V 7hich tests will ha*e the %est hih@risk@co*erae to time@re)uired ratioD

09. What #an be one if re*uirements are #han-in- #ontinuously?

Answer: 7ork with manaement early on to understand how re)uirements miht
chane, so that alternate test plans and strateies can %e worked out in ad*ance" It
is help&ul i& the application6s initial desin allows &or some adapta%ility, so that later
chanes do not re)uire redoin the application &rom scratch" Additionally, try toR V
9nsure the code is well commented and well documentedP this makes chanes easier
&or the de*elopers"
V /se rapid prototypin whene*er possi%leP this will help customers &eel sure o& their
re)uirements and minimi!e chanes"
V In the pro.ect6s initial schedule, allow &or some e,tra time to commensurate with
pro%a%le chanes"
V 5o*e new re)uirements to a HPhase 2Z *ersion o& an application and use the oriinal
re)uirements &or the HPhase 3Z *ersion"
V Neotiate to allow only easily implemented new re)uirements into the pro.ectP
mo*e
more di&&icult, new re)uirements into &uture *ersions o& the application"
V 9nsure customers and manaement understand schedulin impacts, inherent risks
and
costs o& sini&icant re)uirements chanes" (hen let manaement or the customers
decide i& the chanes are warrantedP a&ter all, that6s their .o%"
V ?alance the e&&ort put into settin up automated testin with the e,pected e&&ort
re)uired to redo them to deal with chanes"
V Besin some &le,i%ility into automated test scriptsP
V 4ocus initial automated testin on application aspects that are most likely to remain
unchanedP
V Be*ote appropriate e&&ort to risk analysis o& chanes, in order to minimi!e
reression@
testin needsP
V Besin some &le,i%ility into test casesP this is not easily doneP the %est %et is to
minimi!e the detail in the test cases, or set up only hiher@le*el eneric@type test
plansP
V 4ocus less on detailed test plans and test cases and more on ad@hoc testin with an
understandin o& the added risk this entails"

01. What if the a!!li#ation has fun#tionality that wasn@t in the
re*uirements?

Answer: It may take serious e&&ort to determine i& an application has sini&icant
une,pected or hidden &unctionality, which it would indicate deeper pro%lems in the
so&tware de*elopment process" I& the &unctionality isn6t necessary to the purpose o&
the application, it should %e remo*ed, as it may ha*e unknown impacts or
dependencies that were not taken into account %y the desiner or the customer"
I& not remo*ed, desin in&ormation will %e needed to determine added testin needs
or reression testin needs" 5anaement should %e made aware o& any sini&icant
added risks as a result o& the une,pected &unctionality" I& the &unctionality only
a&&ects areas, such as minor impro*ements in the user inter&ace, it may not %e a
sini&icant risk"

02. %ow #an software QA !ro#esses be im!lemente without stiflin-
!rou#tivity?

Answer: Implement -A processes slowly o*er time" /se consensus to reach
areement on processes and ad.ust and e,periment as an orani!ation rows and
matures" Producti*ity will %e impro*ed instead o& sti&led" Pro%lem pre*ention will
lessen the need &or pro%lem detection" Panics and %urnout will decrease and there
will %e impro*ed &ocus and less wasted e&&ort" At the same time, attempts should %e
made to keep processes simple and e&&icient, minimi!e paperwork, promote
computer@%ased processes and automated trackin and reportin, minimi!e time
re)uired in meetins and promote trainin as part o& the -A process" 8owe*er, no
one, especially talented technical types, like %ureaucracy and in the short run thins
may slow down a %it" A typical scenario would %e that more days o& plannin and
de*elopment will %e needed, %ut less time will %e re)uired &or late@niht %u &i,in
and calmin o& irate customers"

0$. What is !arallel?auit testin-?

Answer: ParallelEaudit testin is testin where the user reconciles the output o& the
new system to the output o& the current system to *eri&y the new system per&orms
the operations correctly" Aet us say, &or e,ample, the currently so&tware is in the
main&rame system which calculates the interest rate" (he company wants to chane
this main&rame system to we%@%ased application" 7hile testin the new we% %ased
application, we need to *eri&y that the we%@%ased application calculates the same
interest rate" (his is parallel testin"

0'. What is system testin-?

Answer: 0ystem testin is %lack %o, testin, per&ormed %y the (est (eam, and at the
start o& the system testin the complete system is con&iured in a controlled
en*ironment" (he purpose o& system testin is to *alidate an application6s accuracy
and completeness in per&ormin the &unctions as desined" 0ystem testin simulates
real li&e scenarios that occur in a Ksimulated real li&eL test en*ironment and test all
&unctions o& the system that are re)uired in real li&e" 0ystem testin is deemed
complete when actual results and e,pected results are either in line or di&&erences
are e,plaina%le or accepta%le, %ased on client input"
/pon completion o& interation testin, system testin is started" ?e&ore system
testin, all unit and interation test results are re*iewed %y 0o&tware -A to ensure all
pro%lems ha*e %een resol*ed" 4or a hiher le*el o& testin it is important to
understand unresol*ed pro%lems that oriinate at unit and interation test le*els"
Cou 1AN learn system testin, with little or no outside help" Net 1AN et &ree
in&ormation" 1lick on a link[

0). What is en;to;en testin-?

Answer: 0imilar to system testin, the \macro\ end o& the test scale is testin a
complete application in a situation that mimics real world use, such as interactin
with a data%ase, usin network communication, or interactin with other hardware,
application, or system"

0.. What is se#urity?!enetration testin-?

Answer: 0ecurityEpenetration testin is testin how well the system is protected
aainst unauthori!ed internal or e,ternal access, or will&ul damae" (his type o&
testin usually re)uires sophisticated testin techni)ues"

00. What is re#overy?error testin-?
Answer: :eco*eryEerror testin is testin how well a system reco*ers &rom crashes,
hardware &ailures, or other catastrophic pro%lems"

06. What is #om!atibility testin-?

Answer: 1ompati%ility testin is testin how well so&tware per&orms in a particular
hardware, so&tware, operatin system, or network en*ironment"

08. What is #om!arison testin-?

Answer: 1omparison testin is testin that compares so&tware weaknesses and
strenths to those o& competitors6 products"

69. What is a##e!tan#e testin-?

Answer: Acceptance testin is %lack %o, testin that i*es the
clientEcustomerEpro.ect manaer the opportunity to *eri&y the system &unctionality
and usa%ility prior to the system %ein released to production" (he acceptance test is
the responsi%ility o& the clientEcustomer or pro.ect manaer, howe*er, it is conducted
with the &ull support o& the pro.ect team" (he test team also works with the
clientEcustomerEpro.ect manaer to de*elop the acceptance criteria"

61. What is a Test?QA Team 1ea?

Answer: (he (estE-A (eam Aead coordinates the testin acti*ity, communicates
testin status to manaement and manaes the test team"

62. What is software testin- methoolo-y?

Answer: #ne so&tware testin methodoloy is the use a three step process o&R
3" 1reatin a test strateyP
2" 1reatin a test planEdesinP and
2" 9,ecutin tests" (his methodoloy can %e used and molded to your orani!ation6s
needs" :o% Ba*is %elie*es that usin this methodoloy is important in the
de*elopment and in onoin maintenance o& his customers6 applications"

6$. What is the -eneral testin- !ro#ess?

Answer: (he eneral testin process is the creation o& a test stratey (which
sometimes includes the creation o& test cases', creation o& a test planEdesin (which
usually includes test cases and test procedures' and the e,ecution o& tests"

6'. %ow o you #reate a test strate-y?

Answer: (he test stratey is a &ormal description o& how a so&tware product will %e
tested" A test stratey is de*eloped &or all le*els o& testin, as re)uired" (he test
team analy!es the re)uirements, writes the test stratey and re*iews the plan with
the pro.ect team" (he test plan may include test cases, conditions, the test
en*ironment, a list o& related tasks, passE&ail criteria and risk assessment" Inputs &or
this process:
V A description o& the re)uired hardware and so&tware components, includin test
tools" (his in&ormation comes &rom the test en*ironment, includin test tool data"
V A description o& roles and responsi%ilities o& the resources re)uired &or the test and
schedule constraints" (his in&ormation comes &rom man@hours and schedules"
V (estin methodoloy" (his is %ased on known standards"
V 4unctional and technical re)uirements o& the application" (his in&ormation comes
&rom re)uirements, chane re)uest, technical and &unctional desin documents"
V :e)uirements that the system can not pro*ide, e"" system limitations" #utputs &or
this process:
V An appro*ed and sined o&& test stratey document, test plan, includin test cases"
V (estin issues re)uirin resolution" /sually this re)uires additional neotiation at
the pro.ect manaement le*el"

6). %ow o you #reate a test !lan?esi-n?

Answer: (est scenarios andEor cases are prepared %y re*iewin &unctional
re)uirements o& the release and preparin loical roups o& &unctions that can %e
&urther %roken into test procedures" (est procedures de&ine test conditions, data to
%e used &or testin and e,pected results, includin data%ase updates, &ile outputs,
report results" Nenerally speakinR
(est cases and scenarios are desined to represent %oth typical and unusual
situations that may occur in the application"
(est enineers de&ine unit test re)uirements and unit test cases" (est enineers also
e,ecute unit test cases"
It is the test team that, with assistance o& de*elopers and clients, de*elops test
cases and scenarios &or interation and system testin"
(est scenarios are e,ecuted throuh the use o& test procedures or scripts"
(est procedures or scripts de&ine a series o& steps necessary to per&orm one or more
test scenarios"
(est procedures or scripts include the speci&ic data that will %e used &or testin the
process or transaction"
(est procedures or scripts may co*er multiple test scenarios"
(est scripts are mapped %ack to the re)uirements and tracea%ility matrices are used
to ensure each test is within scope"
(est data is captured and %ase lined, prior to testin" (his data ser*es as the
&oundation &or unit and system testin and used to e,ercise system &unctionality in a
controlled en*ironment"
0ome output data is also %ase@lined &or &uture comparison" ?ase@lined data is used to
support &uture application maintenance *ia reression testin"
A pretest meetin is held to assess the readiness o& the application and the
en*ironment and data to %e tested" A test readiness document is created to indicate
the status o& the entrance criteria o& the release"
Inputs &or this process:
Appro*ed (est 0tratey Bocument"
(est tools, or automated test tools, i& applica%le"
Pre*iously de*eloped scripts, i& applica%le"
(est documentation pro%lems unco*ered as a result o& testin"
A ood understandin o& so&tware comple,ity and module path co*erae, deri*ed
&rom eneral and detailed desin documents, e"" so&tware desin document, source
code and so&tware comple,ity data"
#utputs &or this process:
Appro*ed documents o& test scenarios, test cases, test conditions and test data"
:eports o& so&tware desin issues, i*en to so&tware de*elopers &or correction"

6.. %ow o you e=e#ute tests?

Answer: 9,ecution o& tests is completed %y &ollowin the test documents in a
methodical manner" As each test procedure is per&ormed, an entry is recorded in a
test e,ecution lo to note the e,ecution o& the procedure and whether or not the test
procedure unco*ered any de&ects" 1heckpoint meetins are held throuhout the
e,ecution phase" 1heckpoint meetins are held daily, i& re)uired, to address and
discuss testin issues, status and acti*ities"(he output &rom the e,ecution o& test
procedures is known as test results" (est results are e*aluated %y test enineers to
determine whether the e,pected results ha*e %een o%tained" All
discrepanciesEanomalies are loed and discussed with the so&tware team lead,
hardware test lead, prorammers, so&tware enineers and documented &or &urther
in*estiation and resolution" 9*ery company has a di&&erent process &or loin and
reportin %usEde&ects unco*ered durin testin"A passE&ail criteria is used to
determine the se*erity o& a pro%lem, and results are recorded in a test summary
report" (he se*erity o& a pro%lem, &ound durin system testin, is de&ined in
accordance to the customer6s risk assessment and recorded in their selected trackin
tool"Proposed &i,es are deli*ered to the testin en*ironment, %ased on the se*erity o&
the pro%lem" 4i,es are reression tested and &lawless &i,es are mirated to a new
%aseline" 4ollowin completion o& the test, mem%ers o& the test team prepare a
summary report" (he summary report is re*iewed %y the Pro.ect 5anaer, 0o&tware
-A 5anaer andEor (est (eam Aead"
A&ter a particular le*el o& testin has %een certi&ied, it is the responsi%ility o& the
1on&iuration 5anaer to coordinate the miration o& the release so&tware
components to the ne,t test le*el, as documented in the 1on&iuration 5anaement
Plan" (he so&tware is only mirated to the production en*ironment a&ter the Pro.ect
5anaer6s &ormal acceptance"

60. What testin- a!!roa#hes #an you tell me about?

Answer: 9ach o& the &ollowins represents a di&&erent testin approach:
?lack %o, testin,
7hite %o, testin,
/nit testin,
Incremental testin,
Interation testin,
4unctional testin,
0ystem testin,
9nd@to@end testin,
0anity testin,
:eression testin,
Acceptance testin,
Aoad testin,
Per&ormance testin,
/sa%ility testin,
InstallEuninstall testin,
:eco*ery testin,
0ecurity testin,
1ompati%ility testin,
9,ploratory testin, ad@hoc testin,
/ser acceptance testin,
1omparison testin,
Alpha testin,
?eta testin, and
5utation testin"

66. %ow o you ivie the a!!li#ation into ifferent se#tions to #reate
s#ri!ts?
Answer4 4irst o& all, the application is di*ided in di&&erent parts when a %usiness
analyst writes the re)uirement document (or /se 1ases or Besin Bocument',
heEshe writes 9A18 re)uirement document &or 9A18 module" Aet us say, i& there are
32 di&&erent modules in an application that a %usiness analyst has written the
re)uirements &or, then a tester would write the test cases &or each module, which
means in 32 di&&erent sections" (his is the standard practice" (here miht %e
scenarios where you miht ha*e to %reak down scripts into su%@cateories" 4or
e,ample, i& a tester is writin a script &or Aoin Pae, heEshe miht write one &or
positi*e and neati*e testin and another su%@set o& test cases would %e &or error
messae when the wron in&ormation is entered" In short, the test cases are di*ided
accordin to the modules"
((he &ollowin )uestions were asked to Padma in one o& her inter*iews *ery recently'

68. What is your -oal?
((his )uestion is asked to check how am%itious you are as &ar as your career is
concerned, whether you like the .o% you are doin and so on" (here&ore, no matter
what, you should stick to your -A .o% at this point and say that you lo*e this so
much and your oal is some thin similar to the one %elow'

Answer: 5y oal is to %e -A Aead (or -A 5anaer' in near &uture"

89. What are you e=!e#tin- from our #om!any?

Answer: 5y e,pectation &rom you company would %e I will ha*e more challenes
and new thins to learn and whate*er the skills I ha*e to contri%ute, hope&ully, I will
%e a%le to contri%ute i& they are in any way help&ul to enhance producti*ity o& the
company"

81. What i you learn from your !revious #om!anies?

Answer: I learned a lot &rom the pre*ious companies where*er I ha*e worked"
7here*er I ha*e worked, I &ound out the there is always somethin to learn"
Bi&&erent companies ha*e di&&erent ways o& workin" (he en*ironment and
technoloy always di&&er &rom one company to another company" I ha*e ne*er &ound
one company6s en*ironment matchin with another company" 4or e,ample, i& one
company is usin documents called re)uirement documents, then the other company
miht %e usin /se 1ases and some companies miht %e usin Besin Bocument
and so on" (here&ore, in my e,perience, there are always new thins to learn in
e*ery company and we can always contri%ute these thin in the ne,t company i& they
help to %e more producti*e"

82. What o you want to be in ne=t 2 years?

Answer: I want to %e -A Aead in another two years"

Why QA 1ea? Why not somethin- else?

Answer: -A is the only thin I lo*e doin it" I lo*e this .o% and want to proress in
this sector" I want to know how to manae -A process, how to handle di&&erent .o%s
and so on" 0ince the ne,t step is the -A Aead, that would pre&era%ly %e one I will
taretin &or"

8$. Why o you want to wor/ for this #om!any?

Answer: ((his is a tricky )uestion" (hey want to know what really interests you and
you ha*e to %e care&ul when you answer this )uestion" Cou must admire the line o&
that company" 4or e,ample, i& you are %ein inter*iewed %y a pharmaceutical
company, then tell them that you are always interested in the medical applications
and the %etter part o& your company is that it has e,citin products that I am really
curious to learn" (hat6s why I would &eel really reat i& I am i*en the opportunity to
work in your company'

8'. (i you -et any #om!liments from your !revious em!loyers?
What were those situations?

Answer: Ces" I did" (here were many occasions where I had compliments" 4or
e,ample, I was testin an application oin a little %it o&& my test cases" A&ter I
&inished e,ecutin my test cases, I always think in a way what a real user would
possi%ally click in *arious parts o& the application" 0o I was .ust clickin %ack and
&orth and at one speci&ic scenario, the application simply %roke and displayed an
error messae" (hat scenario was not in the test cases" (he manaer really
appreciated me and thanked &or &indin this kind o& critical de&ect" Answer: Ces" I
did" (here were many occasions where I had compliments" 4or e,ample, I was
testin an application oin a little %it o&& my test cases" A&ter I &inished e,ecutin
my test cases, I always think in a way what a real user would possi%ally click in
*arious parts o& the application" 0o I was .ust clickin %ack and &orth and at one
speci&ic scenario, the application simply %roke and displayed an error messae" (hat
scenario was not in the test cases" (he manaer really appreciated me and thanked
&or &indin this kind o& critical de&ect"

What are your stren-ths?

Answer: I am a *ery detailed oriented person" I ha*e the sense o& urency" I can
prioriti!e my .o% accordin to the deadline" I am *ery much dedicated towards my
.o%" I am honest" I ha*e the skills and e,pertise in -A process" (hese are some o&
my strenths"

What is your wea/ness?

Answer: I think my weakness is that whene*er I am i*en some responsi%ilities and
there is a deadline &or it, I work day and niht, 7 days a week" (his is pro%a%ly %ad
&or my &amily li&e, %ut I can6t sleep unless I am done with my assinments"
(Note: Cou should think o& your weakness where %ecause o& your weakness (like the
one a%o*e', still the employer %ene&its" B#N6( 0AC anythin neati*e thin, like KI
cannot work lon hours, it is hard &or me pick up thins, it is di&&icult &or me to
understand re)uirement documents etc'

What is your salary re*uirement?
O70k (neotia%le', or (O25 per hour'

&lease !rovie information (an e=am!le) of your e=!erien#e testin- 1inu=
an ,EIF environments (in#luin- ty!e of system teste+ how teste+ a#tual
#ommans an ste!s use for test) Testin- a!!li#ations usin- 1inu= an
,EIF.

Answer4 I ha*e tested applications usin /NI<" 4or e*ery %ackend testin I ha*e
done in the past, I ha*e used /NI< plat&orm while per&ormin %ackend testin" 4or
e,ample, when the data is &ed into the system in the &ront end, that data oes to the
data%ase a&ter the %atch processin" 4rom the data%ase, the data is now sent to the
9(A system (in <5A &ormat' &or data manipulation as per our need (9(A is a so&tware
tool o& A% Initio company which is used to manipulate data in the data warehouse'"
In the 9(A system, we manipulate those data accordin to our need', &or e,ample, it
could %e income statement o& the company, %alance sheet, monthly reports, and so
on" In order to produce income statement, we need to run a .o% in 9(A" (o run this
.o%, we use /NI<" In the same way, di&&erent types o& .o%s are created &or each need
(creatin %alance sheet is another .o%, creatin reports is ne,t .o% etc' then I had to
run di&&erent .o%s in the 9(A system" #nce we run the .o%, the runnin .o% &inally
creates an output &ile which is now *alidated %y us tester" (his output &ile can %e in
te,t &ormat or N/I &ormat" (hus, this is the scenario where I had to use /NI<" (I
ha*e used Ainu, much, howe*er, since /NI< and Ainu, are the same thin, I should
ha*e no pro%lem in usin Ainu,'
0ome o& the commands I used while testin usin /NI< areP
As Fl QQQ]to check the &ile list
PwdQQQ@] to see which directory I am in
1d QQQF]chane the directory
1d "" QQQ]chane the directory one le*el up
5kdir QQQ]make a directory
:mdir QQQ]Belete the directory
seten* name * QQ]0et en*ironment
killM QQF]$ill the runnin .o%
*i QQQ]editor /sed to write scripts
moreQQ@] to see the contents pae %y pae
cat QF]list contents o& the &ile
chmod QQF]chane permission
cp QQF]copy
rm QF]delete a &ile
%ow o you o ris/ assessment? (This *uestion was as/e to :ona in her
interview)

Answer: ((his is what 5ona answered': (he risks %y understandin the
in&rastructure o& the application, hard dri*e and system capa%ilities etc" Also added
K:isk and 5itiation 0trateyL column within the test plan" (he ma.or risk &or the
company was system ettin crashed upon recei*in se*eral hits %y the users "
1ompany did not set any metrics at the de*elopment phase as to what it can handle"
I told him that i noted mitiation stretey to deal with each known risk within the
test plan"
1AI1$ 89:9 4#: 5#:9 -/90(I#N0RRRR
7hat is 0-A and how is it usedD

The followin- are the some of the thin-s that a tester has to /now (but may
not be as/e in the interview)What is a #oo/ie? (Gou must /now how to
#lean #oo/ies'
A small te,t &ile o& in&ormation that certain 7e% sites attach to a user6s hard dri*e
while the user is %rowsin the 7e% site" A 1ookie can contain in&ormation such as
user IB, user pre&erences, archi*e shoppin cart in&ormation, etc" 1ookies can
contain Personally Identi&ia%le In&ormation"
(oes a tester have to /now about #oo/ie?

Ces" A tester has to know 8#7 (# 1A9AN cookies (Boes not ha*e to know the
di&inition'"
Why o we nee to #lean #oo/ies?

A tester can clean cookies %y openin Internet 9,plorer %rowser and 4ire&o, %rowser
(whate*er you are usin'" We nee to #lean #oo/ies 75CA,S5:
7hen we et a new %uild (what is a %uildD 0ee )a)uestions"com', we must clean
cookies" (:emem%er, once the de*elopers &i, the de&ects, the con&iuration team
makes a %uild and this process continues until the product (application' is ready to
hando*er to the customer'" I& we don6t clean cookies, then there is a possi%ility that
we may et the same error which was already &i,ed %y the de*eloper" 7hyD
?ecause the error is sittin inyour computer hard dri*e and the computer &eels easy
to et the same in&ormation &rom the hard dri*e rather than oin to the ser*er and
pullin new thin &or the same thin" 4or e,ample, let us say, when you were testin
a pae, there was a %utton called K#$L" (he client decided that K#$L is N#( the riht
%utton here, there&ore, that %utton name was chaned &rom K#$L to K1ontinueL"
Accordinly, you wrote a de&ect sayin that K#$L %utton should %e chaned to
K1ontinueL %utton" Now, this de&ect is &i,ed (the de*eloper chaned the K#$L %utton
to K1ontinueL'" Now, you started testin, there is a possi%ility that you miht see
K#$L %utton aain" 7hyD ?ecause you BIB N#( clean your cookies"
(here&ore, you must clean your cookies %e&ore you startin testin a new %uild"
%ow to #lean #oo/ies?

1ookies are cleaned in the %rowsers like I9 (Internet 9,plorer', 4ire&o,, 0a&ari (&or
5A1 and windows %oth', Netscape and so on" 8owe*er, the mostly used (;0M'
%rowser is I9 (Internet 9,plorer'
%ere is how you #lean #oo/ies in I5 (Internet 5=!lorer)4

3" #pen I9 (Internet 9,plorer'
2" #n the menu, click (oolsF]Internet #ptionsF]1lick Belete %utton (It is in Neneral
(a%'
(Cou will see di&&erent %uttons now, &or e,ample, Belete 4iles, Belete 1ookies,
Belete 8istory, Belete 4orms, Belete Passwords,

Belete All'"
2" 1lick Belete All %utton"
Now the cookies are cleaned in I9"

%ere is how you #an #lean #oo/ies in <ire <o=4

3" #pen 4ire&o, ?rower"
2" 1lick (ools"
2" 1lick 9rror 1onsole"
I" 1lick 1lear"
Now the cookies are cleaned in 4ire&o,"
What are ifferent ty!es of !roto#ols?

@Nenerally, a (ester does N#( necessarily ha*e to know di&&erent types o& protocols"
(his is Network 9nineers .o%" 8owe*er, i& you want to know more &or your
knowlede, you can *isit: http:EEen"wikipedia"orEwikiEAistSo&SnetworkSprotocols"
What is Web Ar#hite#ture?

@A tester does not necessarily ha*e to know this unless you are a *ery 0enior (ester
testin networks and doin some kind o& de*elopment" 8owe*er, i& you want to know
more a%out it, please *isit: http:EEwww"o%.s"comEsur*eyE7e%Arch"htm
(oes a Tester nee SQ1?

Answer: Ces" 4or a (ester, 0-A is needed" I had the same )uestion in mind %ecore
I came to the actual implication@what is 0-A used &orD And now, I know that when
we do the %ackend testin (see )a)uestions"com &or details', we need to write 0-A
)ueries to retrie*e the data &rom the data%ase and compare this data to the one with
reports or output" Another scenario is, i& somethin oes wron in the application,
&or e,ample, i& there is an error, then we miht ha*e to write 0-A )ueries to retrie*e
the data &rom the data%ase and check what went wron" Aet6s say, we need to check
in the 9rror Ao ta%le what went wron" (o check this, we open the data%ase, o to
9rror Ao ta%le and &ind out that happened" In the 9rror Ao ta%le, there are many
records, so which one is your error thenD (o &ind out which one is yours, we need to
write 0-A )ueries" 9,ample, you loed in to the application with /ser IBGde*in;;
and passwordGsn;;2.." Now, to retrie*e your record, you can write a )uery some
thin like this: select \ &rom 9rrorSAo where userIBGde*in;;P (his )uery will
retrie* your record only so that you can see what happened"
What is a HShow Sto!!er@?
A show stopper is a de&ect or %u that stops the user &or &urther action (testin'" It
has no work around" In other words, it stops e*ery thin and the user cannot o any
&uther" (his is called show stopper in so&tware industry lanuaue" ((his is not an
inter*iew )uestions, %ut you ha*e to know this terminoloy'