The role of the QA analyst is critically important to software development. The QA analyst can be the difference between a bug-filled, frustrating application being released to customers or a crisp, clean, satisfying experience.
Being a QA tester requires that you are a professional problem solver. You have to be great at testing, but not every problem can be predicted and looked for in the testing environment. Problems often arise that no one could have expected so there is no recommended fix or past experience to use. A great QA analyst solves these problems themselves, or with their team while learning from the experience.
While it would be impossible to list every possible question, these are 10 of the most common QA analyst interview questions you may encounter.
- What are the primary responsibilities of a QA analyst?
- What are some of the biggest challenges a QA analyst may face while testing software?
- What is the difference between Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control?
- How would you describe Data-Driven Testing?
- What is Negative Testing (I.e. ‘error path testing’ or ‘failure testing’)
- What is a Test plan?
- What is Use Case Testing?
- What is Agile Testing?
- What is Agile Testing?
- What is the difference between bug leakage vs. bug release?
1. What are the primary responsibilities of a QA analyst
QA analysts play a key role in the production process. They are accountable for most, if not all, of the testing phase to ensure that the end result meets expectations. This includes meeting the expectations of the end-user, reliability, and functionality.
2. What are some of the biggest challenges a QA analyst may face while testing software?
A seemingly endless array of difficulties may be faced during Software Testing. Some of the most common are:
- Time management
- Task prioritization
- Lack of necessary tools
- Lack of skills in the tester themself
- Maintaining good relations between developers and testers
- Misunderstanding of the requirements
3. What is the difference between Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control?
Both Quality Assurance and Quality Control are techniques used during the testing process.
- Quality Assurance creates deliverables, verifies that the right things are done, is process-oriented, and is categorized as a Statistical Process Control.
- Quality Control verifies deliverables, validates expected results, is product-oriented, and is categorized as a Statistical Quality control.
4. How would you describe Data-Driven Testing?
Automation is used to both speed up and standardize parts of the testing process. When performing data-driven testing, the information required for the test comes from other data sources (e.g. ODBC sources) rather than being hardcoded.