QA engineer interview questions in English

1. How would you test a login page?

Testing fundamentals

What they listen for: Structure: functional, negative, security, usability, performance, not a random list.

“I'd group it. Functional: valid login, wrong password, unknown user, empty fields. Security: password not visible, lockout after several failures, no hint about which field was wrong. Then usability, like keyboard navigation, and a quick check under load. I'd automate the happy path and the main negative cases first.”

2. What is the difference between verification and validation?

Testing fundamentals

What they listen for: A correct, simple distinction.

“Verification asks: did we build it right, does it match the specification? Validation asks: did we build the right thing, does it actually solve the user's problem? Reviews and tests against requirements are verification; user acceptance testing is closer to validation.”

3. How do you write a good bug report?

Behavioural

What they listen for: Reproducible steps, expected versus actual, and neutral tone.

“A clear title that says what's broken and where. Exact steps to reproduce, expected result, actual result, environment and build, and a screenshot or log. I also give severity with a reason. And I keep it factual: the report is about the software, never about the developer.”

4. A test passes locally but fails randomly in CI. What do you do?

Automation or coding

What they listen for: Systematic investigation of flakiness, not just adding retries.

“First I'd check how often and where it fails, from the CI history. Common causes are timing, like waiting for a fixed time instead of for an element, shared test data, or test order. I'd fix the root cause, for example replace a sleep with an explicit wait. A retry hides the problem, so I'd only use it as a short-term measure.”

5. What would you automate, and what would you leave manual?

Automation or coding

What they listen for: A cost-benefit view, including the test pyramid.

“I automate things that are stable, repeated often and high-risk, like regression on checkout. I keep exploratory testing and things that change every sprint manual. And I push most automation down the pyramid: many unit and API tests, fewer UI tests, because UI tests are slow and fragile.”

6. A developer says your bug is 'not a bug, it's expected behaviour'. What do you do?

Behavioural

What they listen for: Going back to the requirement or the user, calmly.

“I'd check the requirement together with them. If the requirement is unclear, I'd bring in the product owner, because it's their decision what 'expected' means. My goal isn't to win the argument; it's to make sure the user gets what we promised.”

7. How do you decide what to test when time is short before a release?

Testing fundamentals

What they listen for: Risk-based testing and honest communication of what was not tested.

“I'd use risk: what changed in this release, what's most used, and what would hurt most if it broke, like payments. I test those first. And I tell the team clearly what I didn't test, so the release decision is made with that information.”

8. Describe the automation framework you work with.

Recruiter screen

What they listen for: Structure, tooling and how it runs in the pipeline.

“It's Playwright with TypeScript, using the page object pattern so selectors live in one place. Tests run in GitHub Actions on every pull request, in parallel across three browsers, and take about eight minutes. Failures post a trace and a screenshot to the PR.”

9. How do you test an API?

Automation or coding

What they listen for: Status codes, schema, edge cases, authentication and contract thinking.

“I check the status code, the response schema and the data. Then negative cases: missing fields, wrong types, unauthorised calls, very large inputs. I also check what happens when I call it twice, for things like payments. I'd automate it in Postman or in code so it runs in CI.”

10. Tell me about a serious bug you found before release.

Behavioural

What they listen for: How you found it, how you communicated it, and the impact avoided.

“During regression, I noticed that changing the currency in the basket didn't update the shipping cost. It only happened for one country. I reported it with exact steps and a screen recording, marked it as a release blocker, and explained the possible revenue impact to the product owner. It was fixed the same day, before release.”

What are common QA interview questions?

How would you test a given feature, verification versus validation, writing bug reports, automation choices, flaky tests, API testing, risk-based testing under time pressure, and disagreements with developers about bugs.

How should I answer 'how would you test this?' in English?

Say the categories first, then give two or three cases in each: 'I'd look at functional, negative, security and performance.' This sounds organised and stops you from listing ideas at random.

Do QA engineers need to code in interviews?

For automation roles, yes. Expect to write or review a test, often in the language of the team's framework. Manual testing roles focus more on test design and communication.