5 QA Automation Interview Questions That Senior Engineers Still Get Wrong

Source: Dev.to

Preparing for QA Engineer / SDET Interviews

• Most candidates jump straight to tools (Selenium, Playwright).
• Common topics: Page Object Model vs. Screenplay pattern, test data management strategy, CI/CD integration approach, reporting & failure analysis.
• Tip: Start with the problem (what are we testing?), not the tool.

Common Pitfalls

• The trap: candidates start writing tests immediately.

• Better approach:

  1. 5 min – Read the API docs/Swagger.
  2. 10 min – Identify critical paths & edge cases.
  3. 15 min – Set up collections (Postman/REST client).
  4. 90 min – Execute tests (happy path → edge cases → security).
  5. Remaining time – Document findings.

Handling Flaky Tests

• Flaky tests pass/fail without code changes (timing, test data, environment).
• Key follow‑up question: “How do you handle flaky tests in CI/CD?”
• Expected answer: quarantine, retry logic, root‑cause analysis — not just “re‑run”.

Test Design Exercise

You receive production source code and must decide which tests give full coverage.

• Identify boundary conditions.
• Spot implicit requirements.
• Consider error‑handling paths.

Interviewers evaluate:

1. Clear title (not “bug in form”).
2. Steps to reproduce (exact, numbered).
3. Expected vs. actual behavior.
4. Environment details.
5. Severity/priority classification.

Hands‑On Exercise Pack

I put together a QA Automation Interview Master Pack with real scenarios:

• ✅ Production‑grade Playwright project (TypeScript, POM, fixtures)
• ✅ Attention‑to‑detail exercises with solutions
• ✅ Decision‑tree test case templates
• ✅ Code‑reading challenges
• ✅ Bug‑report writing exercises

Buy the pack – pay what you want, starting at €19.99

Discussion

What’s the hardest QA interview question you’ve been asked? Drop it in the comments! 👇