February 17, 2007 - QA and Testing Interview Questions (And Some Answers)

When interviewing for a QA or Testing position, it's important to be honest.

Hiring managers want to know what you know, what you can do, and what you are like.  And nobody wants to hire a liar.

As a hiring manager, I can tell if you are stretching the truth - particularly if you are just repeating simple definitions to complex concepts.

If you are asked about QA or Testing terms that aren't familar to you, tell the interviewer that you haven't heard of those terms, then ask what they mean.  Since terms in this field are very company-specific, you may already know the concept, but just haven't heard the term before.

If you are asked about a tool that you haven't used before, tell the interviewer that you haven't used it.  Sometimes, you can point out other, similar tools that you have used.  Usually, if you are capable of learning one tool, you are capable of learning many.  And if you are good enough otherwise, many companies will hire you and train you on their tool of choice.

That said, some people posting at SQAForums.com (where I help moderate) constantly ask about interview questions.  We now have an Interview Questions forum there, which can help answer your questions.

Here are some other links which may help those who find value in such things.  I will not vouch for the accuracy of any of the answers, nor that any of the questions make sense.

But if you asked for help with interview questions, I sincerely hope this gives you what you are seeking.  Good luck on your interview!

(and if you find a list of questions and answers that actually helped you during an interview, send me an email and I'll note it here)

Questions (and some answers) specifically for QA / Testing

http://www.geocities.com/xtremetesting/InterviewQuestions.html
http://sqa.fyicenter.com/sqa/SQAInterviewQ.html
http://www.geekinterview.com/Interview-Questions/Testing/QA-Testing
http://www.devbistro.com/tech-interview-questions/Testing.jsp
http://www.careercup.com/show/?cat=cd70b254-e295-4ace-a656-1e262051bd6c

http://www.grove.co.uk/pdf_Files/Test_Questions.pdf

http://www.grove.co.uk/pdf_Files/Test_Answers.pdf

http://www.stickyminds.com/sitewide.asp?Function=edetail&ObjectType=ART&ObjectId=6787

http://www.softwaretester.com/ContentDisplay.cfm?ContentID=28

http://www.etestinghub.com/testing_faqs.php

Questions (and some answers) for any interview

http://www.sqablogs.com/jstrazzere/1215/More+Interview+Questions.html

http://interview.monster.com/archives/interviewquestions/
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/interview
http://www.dahlstromco.com/Samples/Questions.pdf
http://www.acetheinterview.com/interview/
http://www.careercc.com/interv3.shtml

http://www.quintcareers.com/job_interview_preparation.html

http://www.datsi.fi.upm.es/~frosal/docs/25mdq.html
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interviewquestionsanswers/a/interviewquest.htm
http://www.quintcareers.com/sticky_job_interview_situations.html

Interview questions (and some answers) for Microsoft/Google/etc

http://www.acetheinterview.com/questions/cats/index.php/microsoft_google
http://www.sellsbrothers.com/fun/msiview/
http://www.unboxedsolutions.com/sean/articles/830.aspx
http://geekswithblogs.net/jolson/archive/2005/01/21/20636.aspx
http://www.drizzle.com/~jpaint/google.html

http://www.facebook.com/jobs_puzzles/

http://blogs.msdn.com/jobsblog/

http://www.catonmat.net/blog/my-job-interview-at-google/

Logic Puzzle-style Interview Questions (and some answers)

http://www.techinterview.org/
http://halcyon.usc.edu/~kiran/msqs.html#puzzles
http://tickletux.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/ 

http://www.softwaretester.com/ContentDisplay.cfm?S_ID=SWT_574284_40164449&ContentID=29

http://www.softwaretester.com/ContentDisplay.cfm?S_ID=SWT_604665_90553779&ContentID=29

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wwu/riddles/cs.shtml

http://20bits.com/tag/interview/

Other articles related to interviewing

http://www.stickyminds.com/s.asp?F=S12122_COL_2

http://www.jrothman.com/Papers/detecting-great-testers.html

http://www.jrothman.com/Papers/hiringforteamfit.html
http://www.jrothman.com/Papers/interviewing-college-grads.html
http://www.jrothman.com/Papers/cultural-fits-starts.html

http://testobsessed.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/taoiastbt.pdf
http://www.testobsessed.com/2004/11/01/the-art-of-interviewing-and-selecting-the-best-testers/
http://www.kaner.com/pdfs/QWjobs.pdf

http://worsethanfailure.com/Articles/Riddle-Me-An-Interview.aspx

http://www.susanireland.com/interviewguide/index.html

http://joblounge.blogspot.com/search/label/interview%20-%20questions