01
What is the difference between a test suite and a test run?
Show answer
A suite is a collection of related test cases; a run is one execution of a set of tests against a build.
EXL Software Testing Interview Questions & Answers
Curated interview practice questions with answers. These are practice scenarios, not a verified list of past interview questions.
About EXL hiring for Software Testing roles
EXL is a data analytics and digital operations company serving insurance, healthcare, banking and other industries. Its analytics teams build models for risk, marketing, collections and claims. In India it hires for business analysts, data analysts, data scientists and operations roles, many of them in insurance and banking analytics.
For Software Testing roles, this EXL practice set focuses most on STLC and Test Planning (6), Agile, SQL and API Testing (5), Mobile Testing (5), Accessibility & Usability Testing (4). It has 7 easy, 28 medium, 5 hard questions, so you can start easy and work up to the harder ones.
- Company type
- Analytics
- Headquarters
- New York, USA
- Main India offices
- Noida, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Pune
EXL Software Testing interview process
- Online assessment (aptitude + SQL or analytics)
- Technical interview
- Case or guesstimate round
- HR round
Typical pattern based on public candidate experiences. Rounds vary by role, team and year.
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02
Your automated accessibility scan shows zero errors. Is the page accessible?
Show answer
Not necessarily. Automated tools catch only a part of WCAG issues, such as missing labels and contrast. A clean scan still needs manual checks: keyboard-only navigation, focus order, a screen reader pass, meaningful alt text and link names, error handling, zoom and reflow and dynamic content. Report the result as 'no automated violations found' and add the manual checklist outcome before claiming conformance.
03
What is test automation and what problems does it solve?
Show answer
Test automation means using scripts and tools to run tests, compare results and report them without a person doing each step. It solves slow and repetitive regression, gives fast feedback on every code change in CI, runs the same checks exactly the same way every time and covers many data combinations. It does not replace thinking: exploratory testing, usability judgement and new feature testing still need manual testers.
04
What is a bug bash and how do you run one?
Show answer
A bug bash is a short, time-boxed session where people from across the team, including developers, product and support, test the product together to find as many issues as possible before a release. To run one, share a build, scope and test accounts, assign focus areas, give a simple bug template and a shared board, then triage findings at the end. It brings fresh eyes and finds usability issues formal tests miss.
05
How do you run a moderated usability test session?
Show answer
Define goals and three to five realistic tasks, such as 'Book a train ticket for next Friday'. Recruit participants who match real users. In the session, explain that you are testing the product, not them, ask them to think aloud, and avoid hinting even when they struggle. Record the screen with consent, note where they hesitate or fail, and finish with a short questionnaire. Then group findings by severity and frequency.
06
How do you plan testing for a two-week sprint?
Show answer
In sprint planning, review each story's acceptance criteria and estimate test effort, including test data and regression. Write test cases in the first days while development starts. Ask for early builds so testing is spread across the sprint, not crowded at the end. Keep time for regression and bug retesting in the last two or three days. Track progress on the board and raise risks in stand-up.
07
Write a basic Selenium test in Python that opens a page and checks its title.
Show answer
from selenium import webdriver
def test_home_title():
driver = webdriver.Chrome() # Selenium Manager finds the driver
try:
driver.get('https://qa.example.com')
assert 'Home' in driver.title
finally:
driver.quit()
08
How do you chain requests in Postman by passing a token from login to the next call?
Show answer
// Tests tab of the Login request
const body = pm.response.json();
pm.environment.set('authToken', body.token);
// Next request header:
// Authorization: Bearer {{authToken}}
// Postman replaces {{authToken}} with the saved value
09
User reviews say the app drains the battery. How do you investigate?
Show answer
Collect details from reviews and support: devices, OS versions and app version when it started. Compare battery usage of the current and previous versions on the same devices over a typical session and while idle in background. Use profiling tools to look for background location, wake locks, frequent sync or network polling. Share measurements with developers, verify the fix with the same method, and add a battery check to release testing.
10
What is the difference between smoke testing in CI and full regression?
Show answer
Smoke tests run on every build for quick feedback; full regression runs less often, such as nightly or before release.
11
How do you test app permissions such as camera, location and contacts?
Show answer
Check that the app asks for permission only when the feature is used, with a clear reason. Test allow, deny, and deny with do not ask again. When denied, the app must not crash and should explain how to enable it in settings. Revoke permission from settings while the app is in background and return. Test allow only once or only while using the app options on newer OS versions.
12
A CAPTCHA on the signup page blocks screen reader users. What do you recommend?
Show answer
Log it as a high-severity accessibility bug because it fully blocks a group of users from signing up. An image-only CAPTCHA fails WCAG unless an alternative is offered. Recommend options such as invisible or risk-based bot checks, an email or OTP verification step, an audio alternative plus another modality, and rate limiting on the server. Retest the full signup with NVDA and TalkBack after the change.
13
What is mutation testing?
Show answer
Mutation testing measures the quality of a test suite. A tool makes small changes, called mutants, to the code, such as changing greater than to greater than or equal, and runs the tests. If a test fails, the mutant is killed; if all tests still pass, the mutant survived, which shows a weak spot in the tests. The mutation score is killed mutants divided by total mutants. It is strong but slow, so teams apply it to critical modules.
14
How do you capture logs from an Android device for a bug report?
Show answer
Enable developer options and USB debugging, connect the phone and confirm it is visible with adb devices. Clear old logs with adb logcat -c, reproduce the bug, then save logs with adb logcat -d > crash_log.txt, filtering by the app package or error level if needed. For a crash, search for FATAL EXCEPTION. Attach the log, device model, OS version, app version and a screen recording to the bug.
15
The test environment is down for two days just before release. What do you do?
Show answer
Escalate immediately with the impact on the schedule. While it is down, prepare test data, review and update test cases, and test what you can elsewhere: API tests against another environment, UI on a developer machine or a staging copy. Track the lost hours in the status report. When the environment returns, run smoke first, then the prioritised list, and ask whether the release date or scope needs to change.
16
Tell me about a time you had to learn SQL or API testing quickly for a project.
Show answer
Model answer: Situation: in my first project, testers had to verify orders in the database, and I knew only basic SELECT. Task: become useful within a week. Action: I practised joins on a copy of the test database every evening and asked a senior to review my queries. Result: by the second sprint I was validating order data on my own and caught a missing tax column bug.
17
The product team wants to skip UAT to ship faster. What do you advise?
Show answer
Explain the risk: system testing proves the software matches the specification, but only users confirm it fits real business work. Propose a lighter option instead of none: a short, focused UAT on critical flows with two or three key users, or a staged rollout to a small user group with monitoring and quick rollback. If they still skip it, record the decision and the accepted risks with the product owner.
18
A developer changed a shared header component used on every page. What testing do you plan?
Show answer
Retest the change itself, then run a focused regression on every page type that uses the header: home, listing, detail, checkout and account. Check navigation links, search, login and logout state, cart count and the mobile menu. Do cross-browser and responsive checks because layout changes affect all sizes. A quick visual comparison against the previous build helps spot alignment issues across many pages.
19
What is state transition testing?
Show answer
Testing how a system moves between states based on events, for example an order going from placed to paid to shipped to delivered.
20
How do you calculate test execution progress and pass rate?
Show answer
Execution progress = test cases executed divided by total planned test cases, multiplied by 100. Pass rate = test cases passed divided by test cases executed, multiplied by 100. For example, if 200 cases are planned, 150 are executed and 120 passed, progress is 75 percent and pass rate is 80 percent. Report blocked cases separately because they are neither passed nor failed.
21
How do you write test cases when only wireframes are available and the UI is not ready?
Show answer
Use the wireframes and the user story as the test basis. Write test scenarios and high-level cases for the flows, field validations, navigation and error states shown in the design. Note open questions, such as missing empty states or error messages, and clarify them with the designer. Keep exact UI text and steps light so they are easy to update. Once the build arrives, refine the cases and add any missing details.
22
The developer says "it's not a bug". What do you do?
Show answer
Re-check the requirement, reproduce with clear steps and evidence (screenshots, logs), discuss with the BA/PO and record the final decision.
23
A dashboard shows pass or fail status only with red and green dots. What is the issue?
Show answer
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.
24
Write test cases for a calculator app.
Show answer
Basic operations, division by zero, decimals, large numbers, order of operations, clear and backspace, repeated operations and memory keys.
25
Managers say the automation test report is hard to understand. What should a useful report include?
Show answer
A useful report shows total tests run, passed, failed and skipped, the run time, the environment, build number and browser. For each failure it should show the test name, the failing step, the error message, and a screenshot, video or trace, plus logs. Trends across runs help spot flaky tests. Linking failures to Jira bugs or manual case IDs helps managers see real product risk, not just numbers.
26
How do you manage testing for multiple projects with competing deadlines?
Show answer
Model answer: Situation: I was supporting two products whose releases fell in the same week. Task: deliver both without dropping quality. Action: I listed tasks by release date and risk, agreed priorities with both leads, blocked focus time for each product and shared daily status. I also asked a teammate to take retesting on one project. Result: both releases went out on time with no critical escapes.
27
What is performance testing and its types?
Show answer
Measuring speed and stability: load (expected users), stress (beyond limits), spike (sudden surge), endurance (long duration) and scalability testing.
28
A feature passed all your test cases, but users say it is confusing. What went wrong?
Show answer
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.
29
SQL: find customers who placed more than three orders in the last 30 days.
Show answer
SELECT c.id, c.name, COUNT(o.id) AS order_count
FROM customers c
JOIN orders o ON o.customer_id = c.id
WHERE o.order_date >= CURRENT_DATE - INTERVAL '30' DAY
GROUP BY c.id, c.name
HAVING COUNT(o.id) > 3
ORDER BY order_count DESC;
30
What is the OWASP Top 10 and why should testers know it?
Show answer
The OWASP Top 10 is a widely used list of the most critical web application security risks, published by an open community project. It includes broken access control, cryptographic failures, injection, insecure design, security misconfiguration, vulnerable components and authentication failures. Testers use it as a checklist to include basic security checks in their testing and to speak the same language as security teams.
31
How do you test session management in a web application?
Show answer
Check that a new session ID is created after login, and that the session expires after the defined idle time. Verify logout invalidates the session on the server, so pressing back or reusing the old cookie does not work. Check that cookies use Secure, HttpOnly and SameSite flags. Test concurrent logins if they are limited, and that changing the password ends other sessions. Session IDs must not appear in URLs.
32
Leadership asks for a one-page quality update before a release. Which bug metrics do you report?
Show answer
Keep it short and decision-oriented. Show open bugs by severity, the created versus resolved trend, blockers with owners and dates, defect leakage from the last release and modules with the most defects. Give a clear recommendation, such as ready, ready with known issues or not ready, with reasons. Use a shared dashboard for detail, and one slide or email summary for leaders who need only the risk picture.
33
What goes into a test plan?
Show answer
Scope (in and out), objectives, approach, environments, schedule, roles, entry/exit criteria, risks and mitigation, deliverables and tools.
34
What is the difference between an emulator, a simulator and a real device?
Show answer
An emulator imitates both the hardware and software of a device, as with the Android emulator, so it behaves close to a real phone. A simulator imitates only the software environment, as with the iOS simulator, and does not reproduce the hardware. Both are free and fast for early testing. Real devices are needed for camera, battery, sensors, actual performance, network behaviour and final sign-off.
35
Tell me about a disagreement with a developer about a bug's severity.
Show answer
Model answer: Situation: I logged a bug where the invoice PDF showed the wrong GST number, and the developer marked it minor because the screen value was correct. Task: get the right priority. Action: I explained that customers use the PDF for tax filing and showed the requirement. Result: the product owner agreed it was major, it was fixed before release, and we added PDF checks to regression.
36
What is shift-left testing and why is it cheaper?
Show answer
Shift-left means starting testing activities earlier in the life cycle: reviewing requirements, joining design discussions and writing tests before code is complete. A defect found in requirements may cost a short conversation to fix, while the same defect found in production may need a hotfix, data correction and customer support. Testers shift left by asking questions in grooming, defining acceptance criteria and reviewing designs.
37
What do testers look for during a requirement review?
Show answer
Check that each requirement is clear, complete, consistent and testable. Look for vague words like fast or user-friendly, missing error handling, undefined limits, conflicting rules and missing roles or states. For each requirement ask how you would test it and what the expected result is. Record questions in a review log and get answers from the business analyst before writing test cases, so ambiguity does not turn into defects later.
38
Write a Postman test script that checks the status is 201 and the response contains an id.
Show answer
pm.test('Status is 201', function () {
pm.response.to.have.status(201);
});
pm.test('Response has id', function () {
const body = pm.response.json();
pm.expect(body).to.have.property('id');
pm.expect(body.id).to.be.a('number');
});
39
Why are you interested in a mobile testing role?
Show answer
Model answer: Most users in India now use services first on their phones, so mobile quality directly affects customers. In my project I tested a college event app on four phones and found that the registration button was hidden by the keyboard on small screens. Fixing it raised sign-ups. I enjoy the variety of devices, networks and real-life situations that mobile testing involves.
40
SQL: find orders whose total does not match the sum of their order items.
Show answer
SELECT o.order_id, o.total_amount,
SUM(i.quantity * i.unit_price) AS items_total
FROM orders o
JOIN order_items i ON i.order_id = o.order_id
GROUP BY o.order_id, o.total_amount
HAVING o.total_amount <> SUM(i.quantity * i.unit_price);
Tips to crack the EXL Software Testing interview
- Revise SQL, Excel and statistics such as hypothesis testing and regression, which are core to EXL analytics roles.
- Practise guesstimates and simple business cases about credit card customers or insurance claims.
- Learn insurance and banking analytics concepts like loss ratio, churn and collections propensity models.
- 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; EXL interviewers usually ask follow-ups on your first answer.
Frequently asked questions
How many rounds are there in the EXL Software Testing interview?
Candidates usually go through 4 stages: Online assessment (aptitude + SQL or analytics); Technical interview; Case or guesstimate round; 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 EXL Software Testing interview?
This practice set leans on STLC and Test Planning (6), Agile, SQL and API Testing (5), Mobile Testing (5), Accessibility & Usability Testing (4). Revise those first, then practise explaining one or two of your own projects end to end, because most EXL interviewers ask you to walk through real work.
Are these the exact questions asked at EXL?
No. These are curated practice questions that match the skills and difficulty usually tested in analytics interviews like EXL's. They are not a leaked or verified list of past questions.
Where does EXL hire Software Testing professionals in India?
EXL has large teams in Noida, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Pune. Openings and locations change often, so check the EXL careers page and filter by city and experience.
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