Interviews are anxiety-inducing, and nothing can better boost your confidence than some solid knowledge preparation before you enter the interview room. Here are top 50+ QA interview questions and answers for you to review your knowledge in Quality Assurance and the testing process.
We have categorized these QA interview questions by difficulty level, question types, and even positions (QA manager, QA lead, and QA tester). You may read through all 50 of these interview questions or jump to the most personally relevant sections. The choice is yours!
QA in software development is a process to ensure that software products meet quality standards and requirements by verifying their functionality, performance, usability, and security.
A real-life example is when the QA team tests a mobile banking app pre-release to make sure that it works well on both the front end and back end. They check that the user can log in, view account balances, transfer funds, and make payments on the front end, while on the back end, they test the communication between code modules.
If bugs are found, the QA team documents and reports them to the development team, who immediately resolves the issue. After that, the QA team runs the test once again to validate that the bug is actually fixed, and no new bugs arise.
Read: Software Quality Management Best Practices | 5 Do's & Don'ts
The software testing life cycle is the standard process that software testing teams follow to ensure that software products are thoroughly tested and meet the specified quality standards.
Read: [Free E-Book] Questions to Improve Software Testing Processes
Requirements analysis
In the first phase, the QA team analyzes the software's requirements and specifications to create a detailed test plan that outlines the approach, objectives, and schedule of the testing process.
What a developer and a tester absorb from the requirement analysis is different. A developer would be looking into translating requirements into code, specifically its architecture, design method, technologies and what not.
A tester looks into the code testability. In order words, they need to know how the code could be broken down into smaller chunks, scenarios and test cases. Testability is key from the design phase to avoid ambiguous requirements, resulting in invalid software tests.
Together, testers and developers will need to fully understand and input on how business requirements are feasible or not for implementation.
Test planning
Test planning involves aligning with relevant stakeholders on the test strategy:
Test case development
After defining the scenarios and functionalities to be tested, we’ll go ahead and write the test cases.
Manual test cases can be done on test management tools like Xray, whereas for automated tests, Katalon, Ranorex or TestComplete all offer an intuitive UI for designing tests.
For open source options, building your own framework is still popular with libraries like Selenium, Cypress and Playwright.
Read more: Katalon vs Selenium Full Comparison Updated 2024
Test execution
With clear objectives in mind, the QA team starts to write test cases, test scripts, and prepare necessary test data for execution.
The execution of these tests go on to be manually or automatically performed. The rule to remember is if it requires insights and judgment from a human, manual testing is the way to go. In contrast, if the flow is repetitive with minor adjustments here and there, it's better to choose automation testing.
In terms of environment selection, set up the hardware and software that best reflect the real-life environment in which the application is used. Teams have the option to choose between cloud environments and physical devices. The decision between the two falls on the nature of an application-under-test and how end-users are accessing it.
Once it’s all done, tests are executed, and any defects found are tracked and reported to the dev team, who immediately resolve these defects.
Read more: What is Software Testing? Definition, Types, and Tools
Test cycle closure
Reporting activities now take place. Before taking off to production, teams need to take a good look at test summary reports, remaining defects and release readiness.
Test frameworks can either be built or purchased. Automation testing simply means rewriting tests from a text editor or manual format into runnable automation code.
An automation testing tool serves the purpose of providing utilities to write, run, debug and report test scripts. It also needs to be able to work with key DevOps tools like test and defect management, CI and containers.
Depending on the application a team is working with, test automation tools are categorized by:
Some of the common names by application types are:
Here are some of the most popular automation testing tools/frameworks in the current market according to the State of Software Quality Report 2024. You can download it and read through to get the latest insights on industry trends and best practices.
Keep in mind that codeless tools shouldn’t be misused. Don’t fall into the trap of think that knowledge of programming won’t be needed.
Low-code methods such as record-and-playback or using a keyword library surely speeds up the creation of quality automated tests. At the same time, it buffers automation beginners more time to play around with pre-built assets and the underlying test code before scripting their first test with a programming language.
Any activities that modify the automation test code like customizing, debugging and refactoring requires a firm understanding of an application’s structure, behavior and technologies. For example, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
After all, automated tests are simply code put together to verify…..code!
Testing levels refer to the different stages and granularity of testing.
Let’s use an ecommerce website to give sample scenarios for unit testing, integration testing and end-to-end testing.
Waterfall vs. Agile testing
Waterfall or Agile, choosing between the two really depends on what will work for a team.
Agile is meant to address the demand of higher iteration and deployment frequency. But if a team only requires releasing new code every once in a while, say a month, then Waterfall sequential and linear testing would still make sense.
The same applies for risk-based, model-based, hybrid or other approaches.
Test plan vs. test strategy
A test plan outlines what to be done to execute a test strategy.
A test strategy sets the high-level direction with different tactics and plans. Since it’s giving a high-level overview, a test strategy will be applied across products and releases to standardize how quality engineering will be done.
On the contrary, a test plan goes a level lower to give more on the details of things like testing types, tools and timelines.
Exploratory testing is a testing approach that involves simultaneous learning, test design, and execution. It is employed when there is no formalized test plan or script, and when there is a need to discover issues not yet covered by existing test cases.
Exploratory testing is typically performed by experienced testers who use their domain knowledge, intuition, and creativity to identify defects in the software.
Read more: Exploratory Testing: A Comprehensive Guide
Stress testing, load testing, and volume testing are all non-functional testing types used to assess the performance of an application under real-world scenarios.
Stress testing puts the application under extreme conditions beyond the normal operating parameters. It aims to identify the breaking point of the system and how it behaves when it reaches its limits. Testers gradually increase the load on the application beyond its normal capacity until it fails or by creating a sudden spike in the load to see how the system responds. The insights from stress testing sessions allow the developers to better manage damage to the system when issues occur.
Load testing involves testing the application under varying levels of normal user load to determine how well the system can handle normal amounts of traffic. Load testing helps to identify performance bottlenecks, such as slow response times, high CPU usage, and memory leaks.
Volume testing involves testing the application with a large amount of data to determine how well it can handle data processing. It aims to identify performance issues such as slow response times, data corruption, and data loss that may occur when the application is processing a large amount of data.
Agile testing is a testing approach that is aligned with the Agile software development methodology, which emphasizes collaboration, continuous feedback, and rapid iteration.
In Agile testing, testing is integrated into the development process and performed iteratively and continuously throughout the development lifecycle. Agile testing involves the entire team, including developers, testers, and stakeholders, to ensure that the released app meets the customer's requirements and is of high quality.
The importance of Agile testing lies in its ability to catch defects early in the development cycle, giving teams ample time to troubleshoot. It also allows the application to be tested continuously throughout the development cycle, enabling teams to respond quickly to changing customer requirements and feedback.
TDD is a development approach to drive software testability. BDD is also a development approach, but drives the design of software via an end-user’s perspective.
Test driven development or TDD aims to ensure code testability by knowing exactly what you want your software to do. Some existing codebase was not designed with testing in mind, leading to less maintainable code and fear of refactoring. And no, TDD isn’t entirely dictating the structure of code. Instead, this methodology wants to use software tests to influence well thought out software implementation as opposed to just banging out code.
BDD prescribes a more effective approach to testing by communicating technical slangs and concepts into easy-to-understand English. It’d be impossible to not have any business stakeholders like clients or product managers in software projects.
For BDD, the end deliverables are Gherkin test scripts written with frameworks like Cucumber.
TDD and BDD compliments each other well in environments that requires a clear alignment between test efforts and software requirements:
Below is a table for quick comparison:
TDD | BDD | |
Definition | Start software development by writing test cases | Use given-when-then syntax to:
|
Goal | Test coverage and code testability | Alignment between technical and business stakeholders |
Test writing | Developers | Varies on the team context. The ideal scenario is normally:
|
Tools | Test libraries: JUnit, NUnit, TestNG, Selenium Testing tools: Katalon, TestComplete | Available frameworks: Cucumber, SpecFlow and Behave. |
Read more: TDD vs BDD: A Comparison
Data-driven testing is a design pattern to reuse the same test flow against multiple sets of data.
In other words, you’re testing a module of code under various conditions and not just the happy paths.
Scenario: Login
| Test case | Data input |
Test Case 1 | Valid username and password combos | |
Test Case 2 | Invalid username and password combos |
The point of data-driven testing is not hard-coding and limiting tests to a single input value. Instead, you’ll be parameterizing and using global variables for your test to read directly from databases, spreadsheets, or XML files.
Data-driven testing is particularly useful for:
Read more: Data-driven testing for automated form filling or Parameterization and Variables in Katalon Studio
Performance testing evaluates the system's performance (i.e. responsiveness, scalability, stability, and speed) under varying workload conditions. Its goal is to determine how the application behaves under normal and peak usage scenarios, such as high user traffic, large data volumes, or simultaneous user interactions.
The results of performance testing will be used to identify and resolve bottlenecks, optimize system performance, and enhance the user experience.
Read More: Performance Testing vs Load Testing
Accessibility testing is the process of evaluating a software application or website's usability for all users, including people with disabilities, such as visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments. It tests the app’s compatibility with assistive technologies such as screen readers, magnifiers, and voice recognition software.
Aspect | Manual Testing | Automated Testing |
Definition | Testers manually perform actions (e.g., open browser, set texts) to interact with the application-under-test. Tests are written in text editors on Xray, test management tools or spreadsheets. | Testers outline interactions with the application-under-test then write an automation script to execute those actions. These test scripts can be scheduled to run on-demand and continuously optimized. |
Cost | Investment in human testers. This offers lower upfront costs but is hard to scale in the future. | Investment in developers/automation engineers and tools for test automation, CI, test management and defect tracking. |
Test Coverage | Low | High |
Reusability | Test content cannot be easily reused | Test content can be reused easily:
|
Types of Testing | Exploratory testing Usability testing Ad hoc testing | Regression testing Integration testing Data-driven testing Performance testing |
If the testing effort is repetitive and requires frequent regression testing, QA teams should consider automation testing. However, manual testing still has its value in ad-hoc testing or exploratory testing, so the decision really depends on the type, goal, and complexity of the project. Here is a guide to move from manual testing to automation testing.
Read More: 15 Different Types of QA Testing
Black-box Testing | White-box Testing | |
Definition | Write tests without access and visibility to an application's internal workings and code structure | Write tests with full access and visibility to an application's internal workings and code structure |
Goal | Testing for user experience, security, and compatibility | Testing for code quality and optimization |
Testing levels | UI E2E testing Compatibility testing | Unit testing Integration testing Static code analysis |
Tester | Business stakeholders Test engineers (manual or automated) | Developers |
End-to-end testing evaluates the entire application flow from start to finish, to ensure that all integrated components of the software system work together as expected. Integration testing looks at how individual integrated components, from the API to UI, work.
The test pyramid is always the best theory to refer back to 3 test levels: unit, integration and end-to-end testing.
Read More: End-to-end Testing. vs Integration Testing
The list above includes fairly common QA interview questions that anyone in the industry can face in interviews. In this section, we provide you with QA Interview questions specifically tailored for QA testers.
QA testers are professionals responsible for executing test cases, identifying and documenting defects, and providing feedback to the development team. They are usually asked technical questions aiming to uncover their understanding of the testing activities and automation testing best practices.
Visual testing can be performed manually, where the tester checks the application visually for inconsistencies. This can be time-consuming and prone to human error.
Many testers employ the Image Comparison technique, which involves capturing screenshots of the UI elements in a baseline state, then comparing them with screenshots of the actual UI to see if there are any unintended visual changes.
However, even this approach is not the best. There are so many factors that may cause false positives in visual testing. Using visual testing tools can reduce false positives and make the process more efficient.
Read more: How Automated Visual Testing Will Redefine the Testing Pyramid
There are many criteria to consider when prioritizing test cases for execution. Below is a list of 9 most common criteria QA professionals use:
Read: A Complete Guide To Choose Test Case For Automation
Defect triage meetings are used to prioritize and assign defects to the appropriate team members. During defect triage meetings, QA testers present the defects identified during testing, including their severity and priority, and discuss the potential impact of the defects on the project.
There is no true answer to this question because it depends on your experience. You can follow this framework to provide the most detailed information:
Step 1: Describe the defect in detail, including how it was identified (e.g., through testing, customer feedback, etc.)
Step 2: Explain why it was particularly challenging.
Step 3: Outline the steps you took to resolve the defect, including any collaboration with developers or other team members.
Step 4: Discuss any obstacles or roadblocks you encountered.
Step 5: Explain how you verified that the defect was fully resolved and the impact it had on the project and stakeholders.
Step 6: Reflect on what you learned from this experience.
API testing is key because almost every application type is heavily reliant on APIs. The UI and API are interlaced, making it even more critical to understand how data and logic processes from one layer to the other.
Here are what to consider when designing an API test:
Although it is not always feasible to cover ALL possible scenarios, testers should try to venture beyond the happy path i.e. testing the app under normal conditions. Apart from the common test cases, QA testers also need to consider edge cases, and negative scenarios, which are test scenarios that involve unusual or unexpected inputs or usage patterns. Attackers are more likely to exploit non-standard scenarios, so including such scenarios in your test plan is a great way to improve test coverage.
Many QA testers follow these steps to identify and report newly found defects:
There are several testing metrics to consider:
Test management tools are used by testing teams to manage and organize their testing activities. These tools provide features to manage test cases, test plans, test execution, and test reporting.
QA interview questions for managers usually focus more on leadership, strategy, and management skills, sometimes even on compliance standards if you are in a highly regulated industry like BFSI or Healthcare. For technical QA interview questions, you can refer to the previous section. In this section, we will go over management-focused questions.
This is a situational question, and of course, there is no correct answer. You can use the STAR method to ensure that your answer provides the information your interviewer wants to hear:
Read more: How To Choose The Right Automation Testing Tool?
QA Managers are not just managers. They used to be testers, and their subject expertise makes them a valuable asset to the team whenever roadblocks arise. QA managers should also collaborate with cross-functional teams, including development and product teams, to identify and resolve issues that impact the product's quality.
With their skills, QA managers usually take on high-level analysis and make data-driven decisions based on testing reports to best improve testing efficiency and effectiveness.
This question is designed to learn more about your management style. Not just in QA, managers in any industry need to have good communication skills, empathy to understand diverse perspectives, good leadership skills to connect a diverse group of testers together, and have accountability for the performance of the whole team.
There are also other common questions that the interviewer might ask to learn about you, your personality, and your understanding of the company. Have a look at these general QA interview questions and prepare in case you are asked. They are not tricky questions, and you can easily answer them on the spot:
They are QA interview questions that allow interviewers to take a deep-dive into your professional life. These questions come after the general questions. Try to give a more detailed answer, and demonstrate your professionalism. Showcase who you are in a work setting.
These QA interview questions can’t easily be answered by pure knowledge. They are tricky situations that QA testers tend to find themselves in when doing the job. Experienced QA testers (who will probably interview you in the technical interview round) can easily differentiate a tester who has been through such situations from one who hasn’t.
We recommend that you only use the answers we provide in this section as references, and try to put in your real-life stories for the most authentic response. You can leverage the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, and Result) we mentioned above for such behavioral questions. Be specific, and don’t forget to show your thought process. This helps the interviewer understand how you approach problems and can be more valuable than simply giving a correct answer.
The list above only touches mostly the theory of the QA industry. In several companies you will even be challenged with an interview project, which requires you to demonstrate your software testing skills. You can read through our Katalon Blog for up-to-date information on the testing industry, especially automation testing, which will surely be useful in your QA interview.
As a leading automation testing platform, Katalon offers free Software Testing courses for both beginners and intermediate testers through Katalon Academy, a comprehensive knowledge hub packed with informative resources.
Katalon Academy offers short-form, easy-to-digest video courses for beginners, and in-depth guides on the Katalon platform for advanced learners. It also offers courses focused on specific testing types, such as API, desktop, mobile, or web testing, to cater to the specific needs of QA professionals. The platform is continually updated to keep up with the latest trends, and experienced testers can even have a look to keep their knowledge up-to-date.
In addition to all of this, to better prepare for your interviews, here are some topic-specific lists of interview questions: