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Automation Testing Telephonic Interview Questions & Answers

30 questions for the telephonic interview stage — 18 easy, 12 medium.

About the telephonic interview round

The telephonic or screening round is a 15-30 minute call with a recruiter or engineer. It checks your basics, your CV and whether you can explain Automation Testing concepts clearly without a screen to point at.

Tips for the telephonic interview round

  • Keep your CV in front of you and be ready to explain every line on it.
  • Answer in short, clear sentences; there is no whiteboard, so structure matters.
  • Take the call somewhere quiet and confirm the time in advance.
  • Prepare one question to ask the interviewer at the end.
Solved — telephonic interviewStart practicing
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01

What is the LoadableComponent pattern in Selenium?

Page Object ModelMedium
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LoadableComponent is a Selenium support class that standardises how a page object ensures it is loaded. You extend it and implement load(), which navigates to the page, and isLoaded(), which throws an Error if the page is not ready. Calling get() checks isLoaded and calls load only if needed, then checks again. It gives a consistent, self-verifying way to open pages and fails fast with a clear message.
02

What is a Jenkins agent and how do labels help run tests?

Git, Maven and JenkinsEasy
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An agent is a machine or container that runs build steps on behalf of the Jenkins controller. Labels are tags given to agents, such as linux, docker or windows-chrome. In a pipeline, agent { label 'docker' } sends the job to a matching agent. Testers use labels to send UI tests to agents with browsers or Docker installed, and to keep heavy test runs off the controller, which should only coordinate.
03

What is a smoke test versus a sanity test in a pipeline?

API Testing and CI/CDEasy
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A smoke test is a broad, shallow check that the build is stable enough for further testing, such as the app launches, login works and main pages load. A sanity test is a narrow check after a specific fix or change to confirm it works. In pipelines, smoke runs on every deploy as a gate; sanity checks are targeted runs for a particular change.
04

What is the Rule keyword in Gherkin?

Cucumber and BDDEasy
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Rule, added in Gherkin 6, groups scenarios that illustrate one business rule inside a feature. For example, a Feature: Discounts can have Rule: Orders above 1000 get free delivery, followed by scenarios showing the rule holding and not holding. Each Rule can have its own Background. It makes feature files read like a specification of rules with examples, which helps business stakeholders see exactly what each scenario proves.
05

POST vs PUT vs PATCH?

API Testing and CI/CDMedium
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POST creates a resource, PUT replaces the whole resource (idempotent) and PATCH updates part of it.
06

What are Java collections and which ones do testers use most?

Core Java for TestersMedium
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ArrayList and LinkedList for lists, HashSet for unique values, HashMap for key-value test data, and Iterator for traversing them, for example collecting web elements in a list.
07

How do you pass parameters from testng.xml?

TestNG FrameworkMedium
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Define parameter name and value in the XML and read them with @Parameters in the test or configuration method.
08

What is the Cucumber runner class and what does it configure?

Cucumber and BDDEasy
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The runner tells the test engine where features and glue code are and how to report. With JUnit 5 it uses @Suite, @IncludeEngines("cucumber"), @SelectClasspathResource("features") and @ConfigurationParameter for glue, plugins and tags. With TestNG you extend AbstractTestNGCucumberTests and use @CucumberOptions(features, glue, tags, plugin, monochrome). The runner lets Maven or Jenkins run features like normal tests.
09

What is the difference between average, median and 95th percentile response time?

Performance Testing with JMeterMedium
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Average is the sum divided by count, so a few very slow requests can distort it. Median is the middle value, meaning half the requests were faster. The 95th percentile means 95 percent of requests were faster than that value, which reflects what most users experience including slow cases. SLAs are usually written on 90th, 95th or 99th percentiles because averages hide long tails that frustrate real users.
10

An assertion on element text fails even though the text looks identical on screen. What could be the reason?

Selenium WebDriverEasy
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The text may contain extra whitespace, a line break or a non-breaking space that looks normal visually. getText() also returns only visible text and applies CSS text-transform, so uppercase styling changes the value. Print the string with its length or character codes to spot hidden characters. Fix it by trimming and normalising whitespace before comparing, or compare with the expected case-insensitively when the UI uses text-transform.
11

What is Appium Inspector and how do you use it?

Appium Mobile AutomationEasy
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Appium Inspector is a desktop or web tool that connects to an Appium server with your capabilities and shows a live screenshot of the app with its element tree. Clicking an element shows its attributes such as accessibility id, resource-id, text and bounds, and suggests locators. You can also try taps and swipes interactively. Testers use it to find stable locators and to check whether an element is really present before writing code.
12

What is the difference between a Docker image and a container?

Selenium Grid & DockerEasy
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An image is a read-only template that contains an operating system layer, software and configuration, for example selenium/standalone-chrome with Chrome and ChromeDriver installed. A container is a running instance of an image with its own process, network and writable layer. You can start many containers from one image and destroy them after a test run. This is why every run starts from the same clean browser environment.
13

What is WebDriver and how does it communicate with the browser?

Selenium WebDriverEasy
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WebDriver sends commands over HTTP (W3C protocol) to a browser-specific driver such as chromedriver, which controls the actual browser.
14

How do you build dynamic JSON request bodies without hard-coded strings?

REST AssuredMedium
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Use POJOs with a builder pattern or Lombok @Builder, so tests write User.builder().name("Ravi").role("QA").build(). For quick cases use a HashMap or Jackson ObjectNode. For large templates, keep a JSON file and change fields with a JSON library. Combine with a faker library for unique values. This avoids escaping issues and makes changes to the schema easy to update.
15

What is git cherry-pick?

Git, Maven and JenkinsMedium
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git cherry-pick <commit> applies the changes of one specific commit onto your current branch, creating a new commit. It is useful when a fix on one branch, such as a locator fix on develop, is urgently needed on a release branch without merging everything else. Overuse creates duplicate commits and confusing history, so prefer normal merges when possible.
16

What is shift-left testing?

API Testing and CI/CDEasy
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Shift-left means testing earlier in the development cycle: reviewing requirements, writing acceptance criteria and test cases before coding, running unit and API tests on every commit, and giving developers fast feedback. Defects found early are cheaper to fix. In practice SDETs pair with developers, add tests to pull request pipelines and test APIs before the UI is built.
17

What is a Jenkins pipeline?

Git, Maven and JenkinsMedium
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A scripted or declarative Jenkinsfile that defines stages such as build, test and deploy as code stored with the project.
18

What are appPackage and appActivity in Android automation?

Appium Mobile AutomationEasy
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appPackage is the unique application id of an Android app, such as com.example.shop, and appActivity is the activity screen that Appium launches first, such as .MainActivity. Together they let Appium start an app that is already installed without passing the apk path. You can find them with adb shell dumpsys window or by reading the manifest. A wrong activity name is a common reason a session fails to start.
19

What is the difference between a page object and a utility class in a test framework?

Page Object ModelEasy
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A page object models one screen or component: its locators and the user actions possible there, such as LoginPage.loginAs. A utility class holds generic helpers not tied to any page, such as reading config, generating test data, date formatting or taking screenshots. Mixing them makes page objects bloated and utilities dependent on the UI. Keep page objects in a pages package and helpers in a utils package.
20

What is the difference between extract().response() and extract().path()?

REST AssuredEasy
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extract().response() returns the full Response object, so you can read status, headers, cookies, body as string, and use jsonPath() several times. extract().path("field") returns one value directly from the body. Use path() when you need a single value like an id or token, and response() when you need many details or want to log the response.
21

Common HTTP status codes?

API Testing and CI/CDEasy
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200 OK, 201 Created, 204 No Content, 400 Bad Request, 401 Unauthorized, 403 Forbidden, 404 Not Found, 500 Internal Server Error.
22

What are the UiAutomator2 and XCUITest drivers in Appium?

Appium Mobile AutomationMedium
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They are the platform drivers that actually control the device. UiAutomator2 drives Android by installing a small server app on the device that uses Google's UiAutomator framework. XCUITest drives iOS through Apple's XCTest framework via WebDriverAgent, which needs Xcode and signing for real devices. In Appium 2 they are installed separately with appium driver install, so each project picks only the drivers and versions it needs.
23

What is JSON and how is it used in API testing?

API Testing and CI/CDEasy
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A lightweight text format of key-value pairs and arrays used in API requests and responses, validated field by field in tests.
24

What is the Page Object Model?

Page Object ModelEasy
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A design pattern where each page is a class holding its locators and actions, so tests stay readable and a locator change is fixed in one place.
25

What is the difference between hard and soft assertions?

TestNG FrameworkMedium
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Hard assert stops the test at the first failure; SoftAssert collects failures and reports them together when assertAll() is called.
26

What is performance testing and what are its main types?

Performance Testing with JMeterEasy
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Performance testing checks how fast, stable and scalable a system is under a given workload. Load testing measures behaviour at expected traffic. Stress testing pushes beyond capacity to find the breaking point and how the system recovers. Spike testing applies sudden jumps in users. Soak or endurance testing runs normal load for hours to find leaks. Scalability testing checks whether adding resources increases capacity as expected.
27

Implicit vs explicit vs fluent wait?

Selenium WebDriverEasy
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Implicit wait applies globally to element lookups. Explicit wait waits for a specific condition (WebDriverWait + ExpectedConditions). Fluent wait is an explicit wait with custom polling and ignored exceptions.
28

What is Gherkin and what are its main keywords?

Cucumber and BDDEasy
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Gherkin is the plain-English language Cucumber uses to describe behaviour. Main keywords are Feature, Scenario, Given (precondition), When (action), Then (expected outcome), And/But (continuation), Background (common steps), Scenario Outline with Examples (data-driven), and Rule (groups scenarios under one business rule). Because it is readable by business analysts and testers alike, the feature file becomes living documentation as well as an executable test.
29

What is the difference between an array and an ArrayList?

Core Java for TestersMedium
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Arrays have a fixed size and can hold primitives; ArrayList grows dynamically, holds objects and offers helper methods.
30

A click works locally but throws ElementClickInterceptedException in CI. How do you fix it?

Selenium WebDriverMedium
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Another element, such as a cookie banner, loader overlay or sticky header, covers the target. In CI the window is often smaller, so the layout differs. Set a fixed window size, wait for the overlay to disappear with invisibilityOfElementLocated, close banners in setup and scroll the element into view. Use a JavaScript click only as a last resort, since it bypasses real user behaviour.

Frequently asked questions

What happens in the Automation Testing telephonic interview round?

The telephonic or screening round is a 15-30 minute call with a recruiter or engineer. It checks your basics, your CV and whether you can explain Automation Testing concepts clearly without a screen to point at.

How do I clear the telephonic interview round?

Keep your CV in front of you and be ready to explain every line on it. Answer in short, clear sentences; there is no whiteboard, so structure matters. Take the call somewhere quiet and confirm the time in advance.

Which round comes next?

A typical order is online assessment, telephonic screening, one or two technical rounds, a managerial round and HR. Use the other round pages to practise each stage.

Practise every interview round

Online Assessment questionsTechnical Round questionsManagerial Round questionsRapid-Fire questionsHR & behavioural questionsFull mock interview

More ways to practise

Company-wise Automation Testing questionsPackage-wise Automation Testing questionsExperience-wise Automation Testing questionsRole-wise Automation Testing questionsCity-wise Automation Testing questionsMost asked Automation Testing questionsScenario-based questionsPractical / hands-on questionsHR & behavioural questionsAutomation Testing mock interviewOnline assessment questionsTechnical round questionsManagerial round questionsAutomation Testing topic sheets