Curated interview practice questions with answers. These are practice scenarios, not a verified list of past interview questions.
About Birlasoft hiring for Software Testing roles
Birlasoft is an Indian IT services company and part of the CK Birla Group. It focuses on enterprise solutions such as Oracle, SAP and Microsoft applications, along with cloud, data and testing services for manufacturing, life sciences and energy clients. In India it hires for software engineers, ERP consultants, test engineers and data analysts.
For Software Testing roles, this Birlasoft practice set focuses most on Test Case Design (8), Manual Testing Basics (6), Automation Basics for Manual Testers (5), Bug Life Cycle and Jira (5). It has 22 easy, 18 medium questions, so you can start easy and work up to the harder ones.
Company type
IT services
Headquarters
Pune, India
Main India offices
Pune, Noida, Bengaluru, Chennai
Birlasoft Software Testing interview process
Online assessment (aptitude + reasoning)
Technical MCQs
Technical interview
HR round
Typical pattern based on public candidate experiences. Rounds vary by role, team and year.
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01
Write a Gherkin scenario for applying a valid coupon at checkout.
Feature: Coupon at checkout
Scenario: Valid coupon reduces the total
Given I am logged in with 1000 rupees of items in my cart
And the coupon 'SAVE10' gives 10 percent off
When I apply the coupon 'SAVE10'
Then the discount shown is 100 rupees
And the order total is 900 rupees
02
What is the difference between a Deferred bug and a Rejected bug?
A deferred bug is valid, but the team decides to fix it in a later release because of low priority, time limits or low impact. It stays in the backlog with a target version. A rejected bug is one the developer or triage team considers invalid: working as designed, not reproducible, a duplicate or caused by wrong test data. Testers should check the reason for rejection and challenge it with evidence if they disagree.
Components are fixed sub-parts of a project, such as Payments or Login, often with a default owner. Labels are free-text tags, such as regression or ui, that anyone can add for grouping. Fix version is the release in which the issue is planned to be fixed, while affects version is where the bug was found. Testers use these fields to filter bugs and to build release-wise reports.
05
What is the difference between accessibility testing and usability testing?
Accessibility testing checks that people with disabilities can use the product, often against WCAG criteria, using keyboards, screen readers, zoom and contrast tools. Usability testing checks how easily typical users complete tasks, by watching real users and measuring success, time and errors. They overlap, since clear labels help everyone, but a page can pass WCAG and still be confusing, or be easy for most users yet unusable with a screen reader.
06
A feature passed all your test cases, but users say it is confusing. What went wrong?
The tests verified the specification but did not validate the user experience. The test cases probably checked only functional outcomes and missed usability: unclear labels, too many steps or poor error messages. Next time, add usability heuristics to reviews, do exploratory sessions as a real user persona and involve users in UAT or demos. Log the current feedback as improvement items with clear examples.
07
SQL: how do you test that a primary key rejects duplicate values?
-- Insert a row, then try the same key again; the second insert must fail
INSERT INTO users (id, email) VALUES (9001, 'a@test.com');
INSERT INTO users (id, email) VALUES (9001, 'b@test.com');
-- Expected: duplicate key or unique constraint error
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users WHERE id = 9001;
-- Expected: 1
DELETE FROM users WHERE id = 9001;
08
SQL: find rows where mandatory columns are NULL or empty in a customers table.
-- Mandatory fields: name, email, phone
SELECT id, name, email, phone
FROM customers
WHERE name IS NULL OR TRIM(name) = ''
OR email IS NULL OR TRIM(email) = ''
OR phone IS NULL OR TRIM(phone) = '';
-- Expected result: no rows
Moves to the chosen floor, doors open and close, door sensor stops closing on obstruction, overload alarm, emergency button, behaviour in a power cut, max capacity and the floor display.
Three Amigos is a short meeting where a business person or product owner, a developer and a tester discuss a story before development. The business explains the need, the developer considers how to build it and the tester asks what could go wrong and how it will be verified. The output is clear acceptance criteria and example scenarios. It prevents misunderstandings and reduces bugs found late.
11
The developer says "it's not a bug". What do you do?
-- Compare counts and sums side by side; both columns must match
SELECT
(SELECT COUNT(*) FROM staging_orders) AS src_count,
(SELECT COUNT(*) FROM dw_orders) AS tgt_count,
(SELECT SUM(amount) FROM staging_orders) AS src_amount,
(SELECT SUM(amount) FROM dw_orders) AS tgt_amount;
Situation: a small tax rounding change was made late on a Friday. Task: no manual regression was planned for pricing. Action: our nightly API suite failed one data-driven case where a 3-item cart was off by one rupee; I checked the trace, reproduced it manually and logged it with the failing input. Result: it was fixed before release, and the team agreed to keep pricing tests in the pull request suite.
15
How do specification-based techniques differ from experience-based techniques?
Specification-based (black box) techniques derive tests systematically from requirements: equivalence partitioning, boundary values, decision tables, state transitions and use cases. They give measurable coverage. Experience-based techniques rely on the tester's knowledge and intuition: error guessing, exploratory testing and checklist-based testing. They are good at finding defects the specification never mentioned. Strong testers use specification techniques for coverage and experience techniques to fill the gaps.
Both are temporary pieces of code used in integration testing when some modules are not ready. A stub replaces a called lower-level module and returns fixed responses, used in top-down testing; for example, a stub payment service that always returns success. A driver replaces a calling higher-level module and sends inputs to the module under test, used in bottom-up testing. In API testing, mock servers play the role of stubs.
17
What is the difference between statement coverage and branch coverage?
Statement coverage measures the percentage of code statements executed by tests. Branch coverage measures whether every decision outcome, true and false, has been executed. Branch coverage is stronger: for 'if (amount > 1000) applyDiscount()', one test with 1500 gives 100 percent statement coverage, but you need a second test with 500 to cover the false branch. 100 percent branch coverage implies 100 percent statement coverage, not the other way round.
18
What is colour contrast ratio and what values does WCAG require?
Contrast ratio compares the brightness of text and its background, from 1:1 to 21:1. WCAG AA requires at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, which is about 18 point or 14 point bold. User interface parts such as input borders and icons need 3:1. AAA raises text to 7:1. Testers check this with a contrast checker or browser developer tools, including placeholder, disabled and hover states.
19
How is back-end database testing different from front-end UI testing?
UI testing checks what the user sees and does: screens, buttons, messages and flows. Database testing checks what happens underneath: whether the right rows are inserted, updated or deleted, whether constraints hold and whether data stays consistent across tables. A screen can show a success message while the database saved a wrong amount or nothing at all. So testers combine both, using SQL to confirm that every important UI action leaves the database in the expected state.
20
You join a project in the middle of a release. How do you plan your testing?
Spend the first day learning the scope: read the release notes, user stories and test plan, and ask the lead what is at risk. Get access to the environment, tracker and test repository. Pick up a clearly defined module, run its existing test cases to learn the application and note gaps. Ask questions early in stand-up. Within a few days, take ownership of retesting and regression for that module.
A flaky test passes and fails on the same code without any change. Common causes are timing problems such as fixed sleeps or missing waits, tests depending on each other or on shared data, unstable locators, animations, third-party services, test order in parallel runs and environment issues like slow servers. Flaky tests destroy trust in the suite, so teams quarantine them, find the root cause and fix it rather than adding retries forever.
22
What is a locator and what types of locators exist?
A locator tells the automation tool how to find an element on the page so it can click, type or check it. Common types are ID, name, CSS selector, XPath, link text, and in modern tools role-based locators such as a button with name Login, plus label, placeholder and test ID locators. A good locator is unique, readable and unlikely to change when the page design changes.
A high-level test case states what to test without detailed steps or exact data, for example 'Verify user can reset password using registered email'. A low-level test case gives exact steps, test data and expected results for each step. High-level cases are quick to write and suit experienced testers or changing features. Low-level cases suit regulated projects, new team members and cases that will later be automated.
25
Difference between black box, white box and grey box testing?
This relies on colour alone to give information, which fails WCAG criterion 1.4.1. Users with red-green colour blindness, which affects a noticeable share of men, cannot tell the states apart, and screen readers announce nothing. Recommend adding text or icons such as a tick and a cross with labels like 'Passed' and 'Failed', and accessible names for the dots. Test with a colour blindness simulator in browser developer tools.
27
How do you handle it when a reviewer criticises your test cases?
I treat review comments as free help. I ask for specifics if a comment is unclear, fix valid points quickly and explain my reasoning if I disagree, with the requirement in hand. For example, a senior once said my cases missed negative paths; I added them and also made a personal checklist for future reviews. Repeated comments show me a skill gap I should work on, not a personal attack.
Quality assurance is process-oriented and preventive: it sets standards, reviews and checklists so defects are not introduced in the first place. Quality control is product-oriented and detective: it checks the actual build through testing and inspection to find defects. For example, introducing a requirement review checklist is QA, while executing test cases on a release build is QC. Software testing is one activity inside quality control.
Exhaustive testing means trying every possible input, path and combination, which is practically infinite for real software. Even a single text field accepting 20 characters has more combinations than you could ever run. So testers use risk and techniques like equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis to select a small set of tests that give high confidence. The goal is enough coverage of important risks, not every possible case.
Verify notifications arrive when the app is in foreground, background and closed. Check title, text, icon and that tapping opens the right screen with the correct data. Test with notifications disabled at OS level and inside app settings. Check behaviour after logout, reinstall and on multiple devices with the same account. Test grouping of many notifications, time-sensitive ones, and that no notification shows private data on the lock screen.
An urgent patch released outside the normal schedule to fix a critical production defect, followed by regression testing and merge back to the main branch.
XSS is a vulnerability where an attacker's script is injected into a page and runs in other users' browsers, which can steal session data or change the page. It occurs when user input is shown without proper encoding. Testers enter a harmless script tag or an image tag with an onerror alert in comments, profile names and search boxes, then check if it executes when the page is displayed. Output encoding prevents it.
37
What is the difference between UI automation and API automation, and which gives faster feedback?
UI automation drives the browser or app like a user, so it checks the full experience but is slower and breaks more often with design changes. API automation sends requests directly to services and checks responses, which is much faster, more stable and can run before the UI exists. API tests give faster feedback, so teams place most business rule checks at the API level and keep a smaller set of UI journeys.
38
When is manual testing a better choice than automation?
Manual testing is better for exploratory testing, usability and look-and-feel checks, features that change often, one-time tests and early testing of new functionality. Automation pays off for stable, repetitive tests such as regression suites, data-driven checks and smoke tests run on every build. Most teams combine both: manual for discovery and judgement, automation for speed and repeatability.
Valid login, wrong password, empty fields, case sensitivity, max length, SQL-injection strings, password masking, 'remember me', lock-out after N attempts and the forgot-password link.
A keyboard trap is when focus moves into a component and the user cannot move out using the keyboard, for example an embedded video player or date picker that captures Tab forever. Mouse users never notice, but keyboard and screen reader users are stuck and must reload the page. It fails WCAG criterion 2.1.2. Test every widget by tabbing in and out, and check that Escape closes popups and returns focus.
Tips to crack the Birlasoft Software Testing interview
Learn basic ERP concepts such as procure-to-pay and order-to-cash, as many Birlasoft projects involve enterprise applications.
Revise SQL and data basics, since ERP and analytics roles both rely on strong querying skills.
Read about the CK Birla Group and Birlasoft's manufacturing and life sciences client focus.
Keep a one-minute story ready for every project on your CV: problem, your part, tools, result.
Practise the hard questions on this page aloud; Birlasoft interviewers usually ask follow-ups on your first answer.
Frequently asked questions
How many rounds are there in the Birlasoft Software Testing interview?
Candidates usually go through 4 stages: Online assessment (aptitude + reasoning); Technical MCQs; Technical interview; HR round. The exact rounds change with the role, team, location and your experience, so confirm the process with the recruiter.
Which topics should I prepare for the Birlasoft Software Testing interview?
This practice set leans on Test Case Design (8), Manual Testing Basics (6), Automation Basics for Manual Testers (5), Bug Life Cycle and Jira (5). Revise those first, then practise explaining one or two of your own projects end to end, because most Birlasoft interviewers ask you to walk through real work.
Are these the exact questions asked at Birlasoft?
No. These are curated practice questions that match the skills and difficulty usually tested in it services interviews like Birlasoft's. They are not a leaked or verified list of past questions.
Where does Birlasoft hire Software Testing professionals in India?
Birlasoft has large teams in Pune, Noida, Bengaluru, Chennai. Openings and locations change often, so check the Birlasoft careers page and filter by city and experience.