The test manager can present more technical questions based on the nuances of the recording test tool that is present at the project site. The main objective of technical questions is to ensure that a candidate has experience that goes beyond merely recording and playing back scripts.
About the Author Jose Fajardo has worked as a test lead and test manager for various companies utilizing automated testing tools. He has helped create testing standards, implement testing best practices,mentor junior programmers, staff-up testing efforts with resources,audit testing results, execute test scripts, and implement automated testing strategies. Jose is Ivy League educated with graduate engineering education from the University of Pennsylvania and undergraduate engineering education from the University of Virginia. He has written and published numerours articles and founded the company Octanesystems. He can be contacted at [email protected] or at http://www.octanesystems.net
Summary: This article introduces suggested questions that can be presented to a candidate interviewing for a QA/Testing position. The suggested questions would help a test manager assess a candidate’s knowledge of QA concepts and technical skills. The test manager can create a sample set of questions from this article and that will help them form a framework for efficiently interviewing future candidates.
Test managers often hold brief phone interviews to screen out candidates for QA/testing positions. With resume in hand, which the test manager has probably not even reviewed, before the interview commences the test manager is expected to determine within an hour or less whether the interviewed candidate would be a good fit for the project. Trying to evaluate in such a short period time a candidate’s ability to perform the project’s testing and QA tasks can be an inexact science. It can also be a subjective undertaking if the test manager fails to ask the appropriate questions from the interviewing candidate. Even relying on a resume to determine the candidate’s aptitude for a position is unreliable since many candidates embellish their resumes.
A recommended approach for interviewing candidates is to draft a specific list of questions before the interview begins that are pertinent to the position that needs to be filled. These questions should be based on the candidate’s QA accomplishments and skill sets as documented in the resume. Below are some sample questions that can help demonstrate a candidate’s experience in the areas of quality assurance, and also their creativity and ability to comprehend basic testing concepts. The questions below can serve as criteria to screen out inexperienced candidates during the interviewing process.