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Prior to any interview, you should have a list mentally prepared of your greatest strengths. You
should also have, a specific example or two, which illustrates each strength, an example chosen
from your most recent and most impressive achievements.
As a general guideline, the 10 most desirable traits that all employers love to see in their
employees are:
· Your problem-solving skills. · Your ability to work under pressure. · Your ability to focus on
projects. · Your professional expertise. · Your leadership skills. · Your positive attitude. · Tell
me about your dream job. · Definiteness of purpose...clear goals. · Enthusiasm...high level of
motivation. · Likeability...positive attitude...sense of humor. Stay away from a specific job. You
cannot win. If you say the job you are contending for is it, you strain credibility. If you say
another job is it, you plant the suspicion that you will be dissatisfied with this position if hired.
The best bet is to stay generic and say something like: "A job where I love the work, like the
people, can contribute, and can't wait to get to work."
Why do you think you would do well at this job?
Give several reasons and include skills, experience, and interest.
What are you looking for in a job?
Stay away from a specific job. You cannot win. If you say the job you are contending for is it,
you strain credibility. If you say another job is it, you plant the suspicion that you will be
dissatisfied with this position if hired. The best bet is to stay generic and say something like: "A
job where I love the work, like the people, can contribute, and can't wait to get to work."
What kind of person would you refuse to work with?
Do not be trivial, It would take disloyalty to the organization, violence or lawbreaking to get you
to object. Minor objections will label you as a whiner.
What is more important to you: the money or the work?
Money is always important, but the work is the most important. There is not better answer.
What would your previous supervisor say your strongest point is?
· Loyalty
· Energy
· Positive attitude
· Leadership
· Team Player
· Expertise
· Initiative
· Patience
· Hard Work
· Creativity
· Problem solver
· Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor.
Biggest trap of all. This is a test to see if you will speak ill of your boss. If you fall for it and tell
about a problem with a former boss, you may well blow the interview right there. Stay positive
and develop a poor memory about any trouble with a superior.
What has disappointed you about a job?
Don't get trivial or negative. Safe areas are few but can include.
Not enough of a challenge.
You were laid off in a reduction.
Company did not win a contract, which would have given you more responsibility.
Tell me about your ability to work under pressure.
You may say that you thrive under certain types of pressure. Give an example that relates to the
type of position applied for.
Do your skills match this job or another job more closely?
Probably this one. Do not give fuel to the suspicion that you may want another job more than
this one.
What motivates you to do your best on the job?
This is a personal trait that only you can say, but good examples are:
Challenge
Achievement
1. Recognition
3. Several ways are good measures: Ø You Set high standards for yourself and meet
them. Ø Your outcomes are a success. Ø Your boss tells you that you are successful.
4. Would you be willing to relocate if required?
5. You should be clear on this with your family prior to the interview if you think
there is a chance it may come up. Do not say yes just to get the job if the real answer is
no. This can create a lot of problems later on in your career. Be honest at this point and
save yourself future grief.
6. Describe your management style. Try to avoid labels. Some of the more
common labels, like "progressive", "Salesman" or "Consensus", can have several
meanings or descriptions depending on which management expert you listen to. The
"situational" style is safe, because it says you will manage according to the situation,
instead of "one size fits all."
7. Do you have any blind spots? Trick question, if you know about blind spots,
they are no longer blind spots. Do not reveal any personal areas of concern here. Let them
do their own discovery on your bad points. Do not hand it to them.
8. How do you propose to compensate for your lack of experience? First, if you
have experience that the interviewer does not know about, bring that up. Then, point out
(if true) that you are a hard working quick learner.
9. What qualities do you look for in a boss? Be generic and positive, safe
qualities are knowledgeable, a sense of humor, fair, loyal to subordinates, and holder of
high standards. All bosses think they have these traits.
10. Describe a bad decision you made. The major pitfall that interviewee's often
exhibit with this question is that they make the "bad decision" something they did when
they were ten years old. The idea here is not to avoid the question. Pick something from
the relevant past. We all make mistakes and a hallmark of honesty is admitting that and a
hallmark of self-awareness is being able to recognize when we made those mistakes.
Do not put your mistake so far back in the past that you are obviously picking something
that is "harmless" but if you feel the need to do this, you might say something like, "Well,
I have more current answers but I have one from my past that really stuck with me." If
you go that route, then explain why that decision "stuck with you" and, more importantly,
how it is has guided your actions in other areas so as to not make that kind of bad
decision again. The real point here, for the candidate, is to turn this into a "lesson
learned" answer. State your bad decision, make it clear why you perceive this was a bad
decision, and then talk about what you learned from that.
11. Describe your work ethic. Emphasize benefits to the organization. Things like,
"determination to get the job done" and "work hard but enjoy your work" are good.
12. Do you have any questions for me? Always have some questions prepared.
Questions involving areas where you will be an asset to the organization are good. "How
soon will I be able to be productive?" and "What type of projects will I be able to assist
on?" are examples.
Black Box Testing Software Testing Books Software Testing Document Software Testing Notes
A testing where the tester tries to break the software by randomly trying functionality of
software.
The Alpha Testing is conducted at the developer sites and in a controlled environment by the end
user of the software
In Compatibility testing we can test that software is compatible with other elements of system.
Multi-user testing geared towards determining the effects of accessing the same application code,
module or database records. Identifies and measures the level of locking, deadlocking and use of
single-threaded code and locking semaphores.
The process of testing that an implementation conforms to the specification on which it is based.
Usually applied to testing conformance to a formal standard.
The context-driven school of software testing is flavor of Agile Testing that advocates
continuous and creative evaluation of testing opportunities in light of the potential information
revealed and the value of that information to the organization right now.
Testing in which the action of a test case is parameterized by externally defined data values,
maintained as a file or spreadsheet. A common technique in Automated Testing.
Testing of programs or procedures used to convert data from existing systems for use in
replacement systems.
Examines an application’s requirements for pre-existing software, initial states and configuration
in order to maintain proper functionality.
Checks for memory leaks or other problems that may occur with prolonged execution.
Testing a complete application environment in a situation that mimics real-world use, such as
interacting with a database, using network communications, or interacting with other hardware,
applications, or systems if appropriate.
Testing which covers all combinations of input values and preconditions for an element of the
software under test.
Confirms that the application under test recovers from expected or unexpected events without
loss of data or functionality. Events can include shortage of disk space, unexpected loss of
communication, or power out conditions.
This term refers to making software specifically designed for a specific locality.
Mutation testing is a method for determining if a set of test data or test cases is useful, by
deliberately introducing various code changes (‘bugs’) and retesting with the original test
data/cases to determine if the ‘bugs’ are detected. Proper implementation requires large
computational resources
Testing a system or an Application on the fly, i.e just few tests here and there to ensure the
system or an application does not crash out.
What is Positive Testing ?
Testing aimed at showing software works. Also known as “test to pass”. See also Negative
Testing.
Testing aimed at showing software does not work. Also known as “test to fail”. See also Positive
Testing.
Testing in which all paths in the program source code are tested at least once.
Confirms that the program recovers from expected or unexpected events without loss of data or
functionality. Events can include shortage of disk space, unexpected loss of communication, or
power out conditions.
Regression- Check that change in code have not effected the working functionality
Brief test of major functional elements of a piece of software to determine if its basically
operational.
Testing which confirms that the program can restrict access to authorized personnel and that the
authorized personnel can access the functions available to their security level.
Stress testing is a form of testing that is used to determine the stability of a given system or
entity. It involves testing beyond normal operational capacity, often to a breaking point, in order
to observe the results.
A quick-and-dirty test that the major functions of a piece of software work. Originated in the
hardware testing practice of turning on a new piece of hardware for the first time and considering
it a success if it does not catch on fire.
Running a system at high load for a prolonged period of time. For example, running several
times more transactions in an entire day (or night) than would be expected in a busy day, to
identify and performance problems that appear after a large number of transactions have been
executed.
We can perform the Volume testing, where the system is subjected to large volume of data.
Before attending the interview, check the job profile in detail. Understand if the requirement is
purely in manual testing, Automation testing or on both. Check if your job profile experience
match with what is expected.
The interviewer will mostly stick to questions around the given job profile and what you have
mentioned in your CV. Make sure you can answer questions confidently which are based on
your CV. It depends on how the discussion goes between the candidate and the interviewer,
which leads to discussion in other areas.
In most cases, the interview starts with a brief up about the candidate. One can answer to this
question by following a sequence like starting with your Name, what qualifications do you
posses, how you started your career as a software tester etc. Some interviewers do not like to
hear about personal details like family. So do not proceed with these details unless the
interviewer asks for it.
While answering any question tell what you know. Do not try to explain about ideal cases.
Interviewers are interested in practical approach, rather than ideal cases. Tell the interviewer how
you will go about solving the problems or about your way of tackling things. Do not talk
anything negative about any person especially about developers/programmers. If you do so, then
it shows that you are not mature enough. Now a days in most of the interviews, scenarios are
cited rather than direct question and answer. If the scenario is new to you, take few seconds to
think on it and then answer. Do not hurry up things.
The way you present in interviews is very important. Right attitude is very important too. Many
managers can judge it easily, if you have really worked on projects or it’s just a fake experience.
The confidence level with which you answer makes a strong impression. For any question if you
are not sure about the correct answer, just make an attempt. Do not just give up. You can also
talk about things that you explored in free time or with your interest. This shows that you take
initiative and are a continuous learner as well.
As many of us must have experienced that the interviewers keep asking about the processes that
you have followed or are familiar with. One does not need to worry if they have never followed
any processes. Following the processes is up to the company and a tester cannot do much
regarding that. But of course one can follow some processes for his/her own task (I mean the
modules that you own or are in charge of etc). This will not only help to manage things but also
inspires other to follow some processes. Any process, which has proven some good results, can
be followed. So, instead of blaming others for not following any processes, one can take an
initiative to do it. Do not forget that Initiative is one of the qualities that a tester should possess.
One more important point: It’s not necessary that the person who is taking your interview is a
person from QA background. A person from developing background can also take software
testing job interviews. What I mean to say is the person need not have actually worked on the
QA processes. In such case it becomes very important to answer the questions very carefully. It
may sound illogical when a person from non-QA background interviews a tester but remember it
will be a very good experience as you will get to know how testing is perceived by others.
Over to You:
What’s your experience about software testing interviews? If you want to share some do’s and
don’ts please make comments below so that other testers can get benefit from your experience.
And finally ‘all the best’ for your testing career!
108 Comments
In continuation with our Previous article on “ISTQB software testing certification sample
papers and tips to solve the questions quickly“, we are posting next set of ISTQB exam
sample questions and answers with detailed evaluation for each option.
ISTQB ‘Foundation level’ sample questions with answers and detailed evaluation of each
option:
186 Comments
Sandhya will be giving you ISTQB paper pattern and tips on how to solve the questions
quickly. To start with, here are 10 sample ISTQB ‘Foundation level’ questions with detailed
explanation for answers.
Now look at the options carefully. The options are chosen to confuse the candidates. To choose
the correct answer, we should start eliminating one by one. Go through each option and check
whether it is appropriate or not. If you end up selecting more than one option, repeat the above
logic for the answers that you selected. This will definitely work.
Before you start with the question papers, please read the material thoroughly. Practice as many
papers as possible. This will help a lot because, when we actually solve the papers, we apply the
logic that we know.
1. Designing the test environment set-up and identifying any required infrastructure and
tools are a part of which phase
2. Test Implementation and execution has which of the following major tasks?
i. Developing and prioritizing test cases, creating test data, writing test procedures and optionally
preparing the test harnesses and writing automated test scripts.
ii. Creating the test suite from the test cases for efficient test execution.
iii. Verifying that the test environment has been set up correctly.
iv. Determining the exit criteria.
We need to select only from ‘a’ and ‘c’. We only need to analyze option (iii) as (i) and (ii) are
marked as true in both the cases. Verification of the test environment is part of the
implementation activity. Hence option (iii) is true. This leaves the only option as ‘a’.
i. Test Items
ii. Test Scripts
iii. Test Deliverables
iv. Responsibilities
4. One of the fields on a form contains a text box which accepts numeric values in the range
of 18 to 25. Identify the invalid Equivalence class
a) 17
b) 19
c) 24
d) 21
Option ‘a’ falls under invalid class. Options ‘b’, ‘c’ and ‘d’ fall under valid class.
a) 22,23,26
b) 21,39,40
c) 29,30,31
d) 0,15,22
The question is to identify valid equivalence values. So all the values must be from ‘Valid class’
only.
10.
What is the expected result for each of the following test cases?
A.TC1: Anand is a 32 year old married, residing in Kolkatta.
B.TC3: Attapattu is a 65 year old married person, residing in Colombo.
a) A – Issue membership, 10% discount, B–Issue membership, offer no discount. B
b) A – Don’t Issue membership, B – Don’t offer discount. C
c) A – Issue membership, no discount, B – Don’t Issue membership.
d) A – Issue membership, no discount, B- Issue membership with 10% discount.
Note: The answers are based on writers own experience and judgment and may not be 100%
correct. If you feel any correction is required please discuss in comments below.
Please feel free to ask any question related to ISTQB exam and testing certifications in
comment section below.
139 Comments
Boundary value analysis and Equivalence partitioning, explained with simple example:
Boundary value analysis and equivalence partitioning both are test case design strategies in black
box testing.
Equivalence Partitioning:
In this method the input domain data is divided into different equivalence data classes. This
method is typically used to reduce the total number of test cases to a finite set of testable test
cases, still covering maximum requirements.
Continue reading →
119 Comments
Do companies really judge candidate’s testing ability in interviews? Do they ask the questions
that really judge the candidate’s skill? What questions should be asked to judge the candidate for
software testing field? What is the key process to hire good candidates for software testing
positions?
Ok, I am asking to many questions without giving answer to any of it. Well, each question
mentioned above will require a separate post to address the problem fairly. Here we will address
in short about – How to hire the right candidates for software testing positions?
Companies or interviewers, who are not serious about hiring right candidates, often end with
hiring poor performers.
Whichever is the reason, there is definitely loss of organization. Loss in terms of both revenue
and growth.
If you need answer to these questions, here is an informative video from Pradeep Soundararajan
– Consulting tester of Satisfice Inc in India. He explained what is the current situation of
software testing interview process in India and how interviewers are wrong in selecting questions
to be asked to candidates. A nice start to spread the awareness and importance of software testing
interviews.
Click on the bottom right button to see the video in full screen.
You can watch his more video’s on software testing here.
51 Comments
Despite of hundreds of web articles on Smoke and sanity testing, many people still have
confusion between these terms and keep on asking to me. Here is a simple and understandable
difference that can clear your confusion between smoke testing and sanity testing.
SMOKE TESTING:
Smoke testing originated in the hardware testing practice of turning on a new piece of
hardware for the first time and considering it a success if it does not catch fire and smoke.
In software industry, smoke testing is a shallow and wide approach whereby all areas of
the application without getting into too deep, is tested.
A smoke test is scripted, either using a written set of tests or an automated test
A Smoke test is designed to touch every part of the application in a cursory way. It’s
shallow and wide.
Smoke testing is conducted to ensure whether the most crucial functions of a program are
working, but not bothering with finer details. (Such as build verification).
Smoke testing is normal health check up to a build of an application before taking it to
testing in depth.
SANITY TESTING:
A sanity test is a narrow regression test that focuses on one or a few areas of
functionality. Sanity testing is usually narrow and deep.
A sanity test is usually unscripted.
A Sanity test is used to determine a small section of the application is still working after a
minor change.
Sanity testing is a cursory testing, it is performed whenever a cursory testing is sufficient
to prove the application is functioning according to specifications. This level of testing is
a subset of regression testing.
Sanity testing is to verify whether requirements are met or not, checking all features
breadth-first.
Hope these points will help you to clearly understand the Smoke and sanity tests and will help to
remove any confusion.
Thanks to VijayD for answering this question in simple way for our readers.
If you have more points on smoke and sanity testing to elaborate on, please comment below.
106.