Interview prep
QA Engineer interview questions
13 questions qa engineers get asked, grouped by type. Under each one are the skills it is really testing, so you can pick a story from your own work that shows them.
Technical
- How do you deal with a test suite that fails intermittently for no obvious reason?Tests: test strategy, debugging
- Walk me through how you'd build a test plan for a new feature with a tight deadline.Tests: test strategy, prioritisation
- How do you decide what to automate versus test manually?Tests: test strategy, prioritisation
- What's your approach to load or performance testing a new service before launch?Tests: test strategy, performance
- How do you approach exploratory testing on a feature that already has documented test cases?Tests: test strategy, attention to detail
Situational
- A developer says the bug you filed isn't reproducible on their machine. What do you do?Tests: communication, debugging
- You're asked to sign off on a release but only have time to test part of the regression suite. How do you choose what to run?Tests: prioritisation, delivery risk
- A product manager wants to ship a feature you believe has a serious bug. How do you handle it?Tests: communication, delivery risk
Behavioral
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with a coworker and how you handled it.Tests: conflict resolution, communication
- Describe a project or task that did not go well and what you did about it.Tests: ownership, reflection
- Give an example of persuading someone to adopt an idea they initially resisted.Tests: influence, communication
- Walk me through how you decided what to work on when you had more requests than time.Tests: prioritisation, judgment
- Tell me about a time you had to learn something new quickly to get a job done.Tests: learning agility, ownership
Getting the resume right first? See resume guidance for QA Engineers, or browse interview questions for every role.