BLACKSTONE QUESTIONS

Question 1

TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND

Answer 1

I AM A GRADUATE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY’S SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. SOON AFTER GRADUATING I BEGAN AN INTERNSHIP AT A COMPANY CALLED TUNECORE WHERE I EXCELLED AND WAS OFFERED A FULL TIME JOB. SOMETIME LATER HOWEVER I BECAME MORE INTERESTED IN QA SO I MADE THE SWITCH. SINCE I HAVE A COUPLE YEARS AS A TESTER WITH HANDS ON TESTING OF BUSINESS SYSTEMS. I HAVE WORKED CLOSELY WITH THE QA MANAGER, BA’S, PROJECT MANAGERS, AND DEVELOPERS. I HAVE EXPERIENCE CREATING TEST DOCUMENTS SUCH AS TEST PLANS, TEST SCENARIOS, TEST CASES RTM AND ASSISTING WITH THE UAT PLAN. I HAVE IN DEPTH KNOWLEDGE OF THE SDLC, STLC, AND DLC. I AM EAGER TO TAKE ON CHALLENGES AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUCCESS OF THE TEAM AND PROJECT.

Question 2

WHAT ARE YOUR TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES ON A DAILY BASIS

Answer 2

ATTENDING VARIOUS MEETINGS, ANALYZING REQUIREMENTS, CREATING, EXECUTING , AND REPORTING TEST CASES, CREATING BUG REPORTS AND WORKING WITH DEVELOPERS TO FINDING SOLUTIONS TO THE ROOT CAUSES OF THEM, AND FINDING AUTOMATION CANDIDATES TO CONVERT INTO AUTOMATION TEST SCRIPTS.

Question 3

WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT TEAM SIZE

Answer 3

CURRENTLY 3 DEVS AND 1 QA

Question 4

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

Answer 4

SOME OF MY STRENGTHS ARE attention to detail, multi- task, eager to learn, quick learner, problem solver,
organized, thinking outside of the box, creative, take initiative, I’M A self-starter.

AND SOME OF MY WEAKNESSES ARE PUBLIC SPEAKING, MAYBE SWITCHING TASKS.

Question 5

WHAT TYPE OF SOFTWARE TESTING ARE YOU PERFORMING AT YOUR CURRENT POSITION

Answer 5

DATABASE, AUTOMATION, API TESTING, INTEGRATION, REGRESSION, SMOKE, BLACKBOX TESTING, UTA TESTING, PERFORMANCE USING LOAD RUNNER, SOME ACCESSIBILITY TESTING,

Question 6

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH WRTING TEST DOCUMENTS

Answer 6

I HAVE IN DEPTH EXPERIENCE WRITING TEST CASES, BUG REPORTS, TEST SCRIPTS, RTM, TEST PLANS, TEST STRATEGIES ,

Question 7

DOES YOUR COMPANY FOLLOW AN AGILE METHODOLOGY

Answer 7

WE FOLLOW THE SCRUM METHODOLOGY WITH SPRINT PLANNING MEETINGS, DAILY STAND-UPS, PRODUCT BACKLOG MEETINGS, SPRINT REVIEW MEETINGS, AND SPRINT RETROSPECTIVES.

Question 8

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE BUG LIFECYCLE

Answer 8

MANAGEMENT IS A VITAL PHASE OF THE SOFTWARE TESTING LIFECYCLE. AS A QA IT HAS BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE TESTING PROCESS IN MOST OF MY PROJECTS.

WHEN AN ERROR IS FOUND THE STATUS IS SET TO NEW AND THEN ASSIGNED TO A DEVELOPER. AFTER BEING ASSIGNED A DEV CAN EITHER ACCEPT OR REJECT THE BUG OR DEFER IT . IF ACCEPTED THE DEVELOPER WILL WORK ON IT AND THE BUG WILL BE IN PROCESS AND THEN EVENTUALLY FIXED. ONCE FIXED WE RETEST AND VERIFY THAT IT HAS INDEED BEEN FIXED AND IF IT HAS WE CAN CLOSE IT OUT. IF THE ISSUE IS STILL THERE THE BUG GETS REOPENED AND ASSIGNED BACK TO A DEVELOPER AND STARTS THE PROCESS OVER AGAIN.

Question 9

what are some of the best practices you follow when reporting bugs

Answer 9

We try to reproduce the bug atleast 3 times, we can ask another QA to reproduce, re-
reading the requirements, re-reading bug report, write a clear bug summary that describes
the steps to reproduce the bug, severity of the bug, Version: 2.3, operating: windows,
browser (chrome, firefox), screenshot (bug), always one bug per report

Question 10

TELL US ABOUT A DIFFICULT SITUATION AND HOW YOU OVERCAME IT

Answer 10

SOMETIMES I ENCOUNTER A SITUATION IN AUTOMATION WHERE THERE ARE NO UNIQUE LOCATORS FOR THE ELEMENTS. AND ILL TALK TO THE DEVS TO TRY AND GET THEM TO ADD UNIQUE LOCATORS TO THE ELEMENTS OR TRY USING DYNAMIC XPATHS TO LOCATE THEM.

ANOTHER ONE IS SOMETIMES NOT HAVING ENOUGH TIME TO TEST SOMETHING. SO I’LL PRIORITIZE MAJOR FUNCTIONALITIES FIRST AND SPEAK TO THE TEAM SO WE CAN FIND A SOLUTION AND THEN NOTE BETTER ESTIMATE TIMES FOR THE FUTURE.

Question 11

WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES OF A GOOD TESTER

Answer 11

Detailed-oriented, creative tester, thinking outside of the box, understanding requirements,
being flexible, coming up with positive and negative scenarios & edge cases, also follow
steps and procedure to test before edge cases, good communication, team player, takes
initiative, willing to learn.

Question 12

How do you ensure complete test coverage (all requirements have been tested)?

Answer 12

Comprehensive test plan, test strategy, positive and negative test cases to cover all possible
scenarios. RTM (mapping between test cases and requirements), to make sure all acceptance
criteria have been implemented.

Question 13

HOW DO YOU DETERMINE TESTING HAS BEEN COMPLETE/FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING A SIGN OFF

Answer 13

TYPICALLY WHEN THERES NO MORE BUGS, NO MORE REQUIREMENTS TO BE TESTED, I THINK IVE THOUGHT OF ALL POSSIBLE SCENARIOS TO TES, ALL THE EXPECTED RESULTS MATCH THE ACTUAL RESULTS AND ALL ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA HAS BEEN MET

Question 14

WHEN DO YOU THINK QA ACTIVITIES SHOULD START

Answer 14

INTEGRATING QA ACTIVITIES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS IS ESSENTIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF A PROJECT. IT ENSURES EARLY BUG DETECTING, RISK MANAGEMENT, BETTER DESIGN. IT HELPS NAVIGATE ANY REQUIREMENT AMBIGUITIES AND ULTIMATELY SAVE TIME (AND MONEY) IN THE LONG RUN.

Question 15

What would you do if you have a large suite to execute in less time?

Answer 15

Prioritize based on the important or major functionality. Let others know a head of time about the
time constraint. Roll-back

Question 16

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUG LEAKAGE AND A BUG RELEASE?

Answer 16

Bug leakage refers to defects that are missed during testing and are only discovered after the software has been released to the customer or end-users

WHILE

Bug release refers to a situation where known bugs or defects are intentionally left in the software when it is released. These bugs are usually documented and communicated to the stakeholders.

Question 17

Supposed you find a bug in production, how would you make sure that same bug is not introduced again?

Answer 17

identify and Isolate:

Quickly identify the scope and impact of the bug to determine the severity and affected areas.

Deploy a Hotfix:

If the bug is critical, prioritize deploying a hotfix or patch to resolve the issue in production.

Document Findings:

Thoroughly document the findings of the RCA, including what went wrong, why it was missed, and how it can be prevented in the future.

Question 18

What is the difference between functional and non-functional requirements

Answer 18

Functional – what you what the system to do, requirements about the different functionalities of
the application

Non-functional – how the sys actually works under different constraints. Quality attributes
i. Usability, reliability, performance, availability, scalability

Question 19

Difference between verification and validation?

Answer 19

Verification is about checking if the software conforms to specifications and standards during development.
Validation is about checking if the software meets the needs and requirements of the end-users after development.
Both verification and validation are essential for delivering high-quality software that not only works as intended but also fulfills the user’s needs and expectations.

Question 20

If you do not have documents, what is your approach to testing the software?

Answer 20

Exploratory testing, random testing, play around with the website to understand its features and
functionalities, and its E2E process.
Always ask questions for clarifications and understanding more about it

Question 21

About how many test cases would you say you perform on a weekly basis

Answer 21

in depends on the number of features the team is working on during the sprint, and the
complexity. We create somewhere between 100- 120 test cases a week.

Question 22

In an application currently in production, one module of code is being modified. Is it necessary to re-test
the whole application or is it enough to just test functionality associated with that module?

Answer 22

While it’s often not necessary to re-test the entire application, comprehensive testing of the modified module along with targeted regression testing is crucial. If the impact analysis suggests that other modules or critical functionalities might be affected, extending the testing scope to include these areas is important. Automated regression tests and smoke tests can significantly streamline this process, ensuring that changes do not introduce new defects or negatively impact the application.

Question 23

What is the difference between white box and black box testing

Answer 23

White box- done by devs, knowledge of the code (unit testing)
Black box – no knowledge of the code, testing the UI, regression and functional testing

Question 24

Why are you leaving your current company?

Answer 24

Improve and develop your skills, change of environment, more responsibilities, challenging
environment, bigger company, more opportunities to grow to learn new tools and processes, you
need a more stable position, great benefits

Question 25

What tools do you use at your current company

Answer 25

Manual testing: TestRail (testcase management tool), Jira (project management tool)
b. API testing: Postman API
c. Database testing: SQL based database (Microsoft SQL server, Oracle SQL developer)
d. Accessibility testing: Google Lighthouse
e. Automation framework:
i. Selenium – automation tool
ii. IntelliJ – Editor
iii. Java – Coding language
iv. Maven – built tool – integrate dependencies, archives
v. TestNG – testing framework
f. Performance testing – LoadRunner, Jmeter

Question 26

How would your colleagues describe you?

Answer 26

Reliable, hard working, team player, on-time, punctual, creative, out- going, detail oriented,
organized, motivated, willing to learn, quick learner, takes initiative

Question 27

What is the sequence of testing you follow in incorporating both manual and automation testing

Answer 27

Looking at reqs  manual testing (smoke testing, functional testing, e2e testing, UAT)  Automated
Regression tests  Push to prod

Then think about automation candidates automate tests that are good automation candidates

Question 28

What is the difference between re-testing and regression testing

Answer 28

Re-testing – retest the defect after the fix was made. — bug is no longer there
b. Regression – testing other functionalities to makes sure other features are still working and no
new bugs were introduced.

Question 29

Do you have any questions for me? (2-3 questions)

Answer 29

Research the company – and ask more about it
b. What is the typical day or week look like?
c. What are your expectations and goals for this role within the first 3 months, 6 months, 1 year
a. Existing position or new position?
b. What is qa team size, structure
c. What tools do you currently use
d. Management methods
e. What innovations or new technology is looking to incorporate
f. What excites them about working for that company
g. Do you offer any benefits for this position?
h. Are there any competitors in this market and how do you stay competitive
i. Where do they see the company going in the next 5 -10 years

Question 30

What does a 200 request status mean

Answer 30

– accepted, pass

Question 31

API testing

Answer 31

API testing is a type of software testing that focuses on verifying and validating the application programming interfaces (APIs). The goal is to ensure that the APIs meet the expected functionality, reliability, performance, and security criteria. We do that by using tools such as postman where you can retrieve, delete, update, and post information.

Question 32

What is your role in database testing?

Answer 32

Validate and verify data, to test the relationship between tables, to test the table
structure and data accuracy by writing complex SQL queries/statements
b. You test actual data against your requirements

Question 33

What is the difference between primary and foreign key?

Answer 33

Primary key – this is the most unique value or column of data in a table. Appears once in
a table
b. Foreign key – this is data shared amongst multiple tables that can be used to form
relationship between tables

Question 34

Differences between the JOINS

Answer 34

Inner join – matching info from two tables
b. Right join – matching and all info from right table, (N/A)
c. Left join – matching and all info from left table
d. Full outer join – all data

Question 35

What database tool are you familiar with?

Answer 35

a. Oracle SQL developer
b. Microsoft SQL server
c. MySQL
d. Mongo DB
e. PostgreSQL
f. Toad

Question 36

What is your automation framework

Answer 36

a. Selenium webdriver – automation tool
b. Java – coding language
c. IntelliJ – IDE – editor
d. Maven – built tool, dependencies and archives, jars, maven’s live repository to
access and implement the dependencies directly into our projects
e. TestNG – testing Framework, organize, structure, and execute test (annotations,
xml suite, execute tests in parallel or cross browser)

Question 37

What is maven and what is the advantage of it when compared to a java project

Answer 37

Maven – plugin that could be used across all projects, dependencies and archives
are located in a live repository, POM file (add you dependencies and the
components of your project)

Question 38

What is the most ideal locator to use when locating an element

Answer 38

must be a unique locator (lD, Name), Xpath (dynamic and you can locate using
relative or absolute xpath)
b. Relative and absolute xpath:
i. Relative – you are locating a unique element closer to the element you
are trying to locate. And then you can go down the HTTP hierarchy to
your element
ii. Absolute- you are starting from the beginning of the http hierarchy to
your element

Question 39

What is the different between static and non-static method

Answer 39

Static Methods: Belong to the class, can be called without creating an instance, cannot access instance variables or methods, and are used for tasks that do not depend on instance-specific data.

Non-Static Methods: Belong to an instance of the class, require an instance to be called, can access instance variables and methods, and are used for tasks that involve the state of the object.

Question 40

What are the different types of waits available and when would you use them?

Answer 40

a. Thread.sleep (implicit wait, hard coded), pauses the execution of the code for
the specified time
b. Implicit wait – if action is not executed within the time frame provided or
designated (hard coded time) it will throw an exception – beginning after
navigating to a site.
c. Explicit wait – wait until the expected condition is met. The code will execute
when the specified condition is fulfilled, you provide a maximum wait time.
More dynamic, allows your test to execute faster
d. Fluent wait

Question 41

Write a code to print all numbers from 10 -100 in increments of 10

Answer 41

public class IncrementByTen {

public static void main(String[] args) {
    for (int i = 10; i <= 100; i += 10) {
        System.out.println(i);

    }
} }

Question 42

What type of database testing do you normally perform and what is the tool you use?—

Answer 42

a. Functional test – database is working properly

b. Relation testing – relationship between tables and columns
c. Structural testing – structure of tables and columns and data types
d. Performance – verify the performance of the data base
e. Oracle SQL developer
f. SQL – Structured query language
g. DBMS- Database management system
h. RDBMS – relational database management system

Question 43

What is the difference between inner join and left join?

Answer 43

An INNER JOIN returns only the rows that have matching values in both tables. It excludes rows where there is no match.

A LEFT JOIN (or LEFT OUTER JOIN) returns all rows from the left table, and the matched rows from the right table. If there is no match, the result is NULL on the side of the right table.

Question 44

What is a primary key?

Answer 44

A primary key in SQL is a column or a set of columns in a table that uniquely identifies each row in that table. The primary key ensures that the data within the column(s) is unique and not null, which means no two rows can have the same primary key value, and the primary key column(s) cannot contain null values.

Question 45

What is a data schema

Answer 45

A data schema is a structured framework or blueprint that defines how data is organized, stored, and managed in a database. It outlines the database’s logical and physical structure, including tables, fields (columns), data types, relationships, constraints, and other elements that define how data is stored and accessed.