3 July 2024 Leave a comment QA
When interviewing for a QA automation position, it is not uncommon to encounter questions that seem more suited to application developers. This can be confusing, especially for those new to the field. Understanding the rationale behind these interview techniques and preparing accordingly is crucial for success in such interviews.
Why Programming Skills Matter in QA Automation
QA automation involves creating and maintaining automated testing projects, which can be quite complex. These projects often require:
- Managing deployments of applications
- Starting and stopping application servers
- Setting up test data and clearing directories and files after tests
- Handling various operating systems
- Gathering, formatting, and displaying results
- Interacting with applications in various, often complex ways
Given these requirements, strong programming skills are essential. Candidates need to understand build tools, software architecture, design patterns, and language features. Without these skills, the quality of the automation project can suffer, becoming flaky and hard to maintain.
Key Areas to Focus On
When preparing for a QA automation interview, consider the following areas:
- Programming Questions: These questions help demonstrate the candidate’s coding skills. Expect to answer basic algorithmic questions, as well as more complex problems related to software architecture and design patterns.
- QA-Specific Questions: These questions assess the candidate’s understanding of different test types, their experience with each, and their problem-solving approach. Examples include how to test a specific application or how to handle communication with developers.
Understanding the Interview Approach
Many companies view both application engineers and automation engineers as programmers. Therefore, both roles need to understand programming principles. The tasks given during interviews, such as checking if a number is prime or determining if a string is a palindrome, are designed to see how candidates approach common problems.
While these tasks may not directly relate to the job, they provide insight into the candidate’s problem-solving process, coding style, and understanding of programming fundamentals. This approach helps interviewers gauge whether the candidate can learn and adapt to the specific technical requirements of the role.
Balancing Technical and Soft Skills
While technical skills are crucial, soft skills and the ability to learn are equally important. Interviews should not solely be about passing or failing technical tests. Instead, they should also evaluate a candidate’s ability to fit into the team, their approach to learning, and how they handle collaboration and communication.
For more insights on transitioning from manual to automated testing, you can read our comprehensive guide here.
Leveraging Repeato for QA Automation
For those involved in QA automation, tools like Repeato can significantly streamline the process. Repeato is a no-code test automation tool for iOS and Android that helps create, run, and maintain automated tests for your apps. It uses computer vision and AI, making it particularly fast to edit and run tests.
Repeato is simple to set up and use, making it an excellent choice for quality assurance professionals looking to enhance their testing capabilities without extensive coding knowledge. To learn more about how Repeato can benefit your QA automation projects, visit our getting started page.
For more detailed strategies on interviewing QA candidates, check out our article on effective strategies for interviewing automation QA candidates.
