This might be useful to you if you are being interviewed or interviewing. Itâs interesting what people are asking and why.
âWhatâs the best bug youâve ever found?â
This allows me to see if the candidate is able to tell an interesting story about a bug, which helps when talking about bugs with devs/POs.
It also allows to have a longer conversation - why is this the âbestâ bug, what did they learn?
I like âHow would you explain testing to a 5 year old?â It gets people thinking and often puts them at ease which is nice.
What do you do when you find a bug? I want to understand what their process is
How do you go about getting better at testing? (hoping to pick up a conversation about books, blogs, meetups, etc.)
Would you be ok if a developer releases a content change when you didnât test it? Why: it helps me assessing if someone likes the whole team approach to quality and if he/she thinks about risk (or want to own the test column and test everything).
What would have been the business impact to the latest risk you raised had it been realized in production? Testers need to understand why theyâre testing, and itâs not just to make sure code worksâŠ
I ask âwhat got you into software testing / what makes you stayâ If a person doesnât like their job, how can they bring their a-game?
Well, I ask them to walk me through a typical day in their life as a software tester? Why? I look for passion towards their work, are they a learner, how do they communicate? Generally a nice ice breaker before diving deep into their experience.
âWhat makes you a good tester?â - Often says something about what the candidate thinks is important when it comes to testing. And also something about their view of themselves.
âHow to test a text fieldâ - I want to know if they just start testing it randomly or really ask good questions to clarify first what the field is about. Then of course I see what cases they want to cover
What do you look out for when testing an application that is largely customer focused? I want to know if you are Customer-centric and to what level.
When you are testing and find a bug, how do you know whether to stop or keep poking for the root cause? Why: itâs a question even I would have trouble putting into words as it is usually a feeling I get. Helps me see how the candidate thinks on their feet.
Whatâs the difference between quality assurance and testing? Testing alone does not achieve adequate quality. I am looking to check the applicants understanding of this and to learn what other measures they think are effective to achieve quality.
What was a favorite product feature or functionality that you tested? This is for me to know if the candidate has experience in testing complex functionalities.
A lot of time, when attending an interview, candidates are travelling somewhere theyâve never been to before. Even if its an area they are familiar with, they still have to find the office. This could be a great way to determine the candidates resourcefulness and planning abilities.
Iâd ask, how did you find the office? What did you do to make sure you didnât get lost?
Living in a more rural location, most of my interviews have been in towns or cities Iâve never been to before. I usually use my smart phone to help me find my way, but on one occasion my phone suddenly stopped working. Fortunately Iâd also written down all the information in my notebook, and even drawn out a map of the area so I could find the office.
I definitely like the idea of a test. I did one to get them to create A bdd Feature file for one of the roles. The job clearly stated that was something we were working with so people can research if they donât know.
I also like to ask the question why do you want the role
And I always ask describe the different types of testing. I do this to see how many just focus in on it does what it says on the tin and how many widen their answers to include Secuirty, Performance, Supportable
I used to give real situations and ask them about their actions - that helps alot to understand how this person will react because we can learn tools and languages but it is hard to change behavior and mindset
I usually ask them about this hypothetical situation where they are made âhead of testingâ for a product they know nothing about and is doing badly in terms of customer reported issues.
What would be their things to do on day 1 of their job. Their answers mostly tell me about the testing school of thought they belong to.
I always keen to know more about the attitude and approach towards solving the problems. If youâre open minded, it will not hard to learn the processes, tools and technologies sooner.
What would you add? Or have you heard some good questions in interviews? Share, we want to know!