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Software Testing Interview Questions for Hardware & semiconductors Companies

40 questions weighted to the interview style of hardware & semiconductors companies — 5 easy, 27 medium, 8 hard.

How hardware & semiconductors companies interview for Software Testing

Hardware, semiconductor and enterprise-technology companies hire data and QA people to work with engineering teams on large, complex products. Interviews test strong fundamentals, hands-on skills and careful, structured thinking.

This set focuses on Test Case Design (8), STLC and Test Planning (6), Testing Types (4), Bug Life Cycle and Jira (4).

HR round Technical round 1 Technical round 2 Managerial round Technical interview 1

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How do you test pagination, sorting and filtering through an API?

Agile, SQL and API TestingMedium

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Send page, size, sort and filter parameters, then verify counts, order, boundaries (first, last, empty page) and invalid parameter handling.

What is the difference between ad hoc testing and monkey testing?

Testing TypesEasy

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Ad hoc testing is informal testing without test cases, done by a tester who understands the application and tries likely weak areas based on experience. Monkey testing gives random inputs and actions, often without knowing the application, to see if it crashes. Ad hoc testing is targeted and good at finding logical bugs, while monkey testing is good at finding stability issues and is often automated.

Write test cases for a one-to-one chat feature.

Test Case DesignMedium

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Send and receive text messages and check order and timestamps. Test sent, delivered and read status. Send emojis, long messages, links and attachments within and over the size limit. Check messages sent while offline are queued and delivered on reconnect. Verify blocking a user stops messages. Test notifications when the app is in background. Check chat history after reinstall or on a second device, and that deleted messages disappear for both users if supported.

What are the typical JIRA workflows for bugs?

Bug Life Cycle and JiraMedium

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Statuses like To Do, In Progress, In Review, Ready for QA, Done and Reopened, with transitions that depend on the team's configuration.

What is recovery testing?

Testing TypesMedium

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Recovery testing checks how well the system recovers from crashes, hardware failures, network loss or other failures. For example, kill the server during a file upload, or disconnect the network during payment, and verify the system restores a consistent state, does not lose or duplicate data and resumes or shows a clear message. It also measures recovery time against agreed targets, which matters for banking and healthcare systems.

What is a performance baseline?

Performance and Security BasicsMedium

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A performance baseline is a set of measurements of the current system under a known load, such as response times, throughput, error rate and resource usage. Every new build or release is compared with it to spot regressions. For example, if the checkout API had p95 of 800 milliseconds at 200 users last release and now shows 1.5 seconds, the change needs investigation. A benchmark compares against an industry or competitor standard.

What is pairwise testing?

Test Case DesignMedium

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A technique that tests all pairs of input values instead of every combination, greatly reducing test cases while catching most defects.

What is visual regression testing in automation?

Automation Basics for Manual TestersMedium

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Visual regression testing takes screenshots of pages or components and compares them with approved baseline images to detect unexpected layout, font, colour or spacing changes that functional assertions miss. When a difference crosses a threshold, a person reviews it and either accepts the new baseline or logs a bug. Dynamic content like dates and ads must be masked, and the same browser and screen size must be used to avoid noise.

How do you make test cases reusable and easy to maintain?

Test Case DesignMedium

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Write one clear objective per case, keep steps short and avoid hard-coding data that changes. Put shared steps such as login into a common precondition instead of repeating them. Use consistent naming, link each case to a requirement and group them by module. Keep expected results specific but not tied to exact pixel layouts. Review and update cases whenever a story changes, so the suite stays trustworthy for regression.

How do you include automation in a test strategy document?

STLC and Test PlanningHard

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State the goals, such as cutting regression time and giving pull request feedback within fifteen minutes. Define the split across unit, API and UI layers, the tools and language, which suites run on each pull request, nightly and before release, and who writes and maintains tests. Add entry rules for automating a case, reporting, flaky test handling and environments. Review metrics every quarter and adjust.

How do you run a moderated usability test session?

Accessibility & Usability TestingMedium

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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.

Write test cases for a calculator app.

Test Case DesignMedium

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Basic operations, division by zero, decimals, large numbers, order of operations, clear and backspace, repeated operations and memory keys.

What is SQL injection and how can a tester check for it at a basic level?

Performance and Security BasicsMedium

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SQL injection happens when user input is added directly into a database query, letting an attacker change the query to read or modify data. A tester can enter inputs like a single quote or ' OR '1'='1 in login, search and URL parameters and watch for database errors, unexpected results or a login bypass. Only test in approved environments. The real fix is parameterised queries, not input filtering alone.

The same bug keeps reopening across three sprints. What do you do?

Bug Life Cycle and JiraHard

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Stop the retest loop and call a short session with the developer, lead and product owner. Check whether the fix addresses the root cause or only the symptom, whether everyone agrees on the expected behaviour and whether different environments or data are involved. Run a root cause analysis and agree on clear acceptance tests before the next fix. Add an automated regression check so it cannot silently return.

A CAPTCHA on the signup page blocks screen reader users. What do you recommend?

Accessibility & Usability TestingMedium

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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.

How do you decide the priority of test cases?

STLC and Test PlanningMedium

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By business criticality, usage frequency, defect history, risk and dependencies, running high-priority cases first.

What is ARIA and when should it be used?

Accessibility & Usability TestingHard

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ARIA, Accessible Rich Internet Applications, is a set of HTML attributes such as role, aria-label, aria-expanded and aria-live that tell assistive technology what a custom component is and what state it is in. The first rule is to prefer native HTML elements, such as a real button, because they are accessible by default. Wrong ARIA is worse than none, so testers verify announced roles and states match real behaviour.

What do you do in the test execution phase when a test fails?

STLC and Test PlanningEasy

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Re-run the test once to confirm the failure and rule out wrong data or environment issues. Capture evidence such as screenshots, logs and the build number. Check for an existing bug, then log a new one with clear steps and link it to the test case. Mark the test as failed, and mark dependent tests as blocked if they cannot run. After the fix, retest and run related regression.

How do you decide testing is complete when some bugs are still open?

STLC and Test PlanningHard

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Testing is complete when agreed exit criteria are met, not when the bug count is zero. Check that planned tests ran, critical and high bugs are fixed or formally accepted, and remaining open bugs have workarounds and low user impact. Present the list with risk to the product owner, who decides on release. Record accepted bugs as known issues, so nothing is hidden and they are planned for a later release.

SQL: find duplicate emails.

Agile, SQL and API TestingMedium

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SELECT email, COUNT(*) FROM users GROUP BY email HAVING COUNT(*) > 1;

A requirement says the page should load fast. How do you turn it into a test case?

Test Case DesignMedium

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The word fast is not testable, so ask the product owner for a measurable target, for example the page loads within 3 seconds on a 4G network for 95 percent of requests. Agree on the conditions: device, network, data size and whether it is first load or cached. Then write the test with those conditions and expected time. Record the agreed number in the story so the expected result is not open to opinion.

What is a traceability matrix?

STLC and Test PlanningMedium

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A grid mapping requirements to test cases and defects, proving every requirement is tested.

How do you handle a bug found late in a release cycle?

Bug Life Cycle and JiraMedium

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Assess impact and risk, discuss with product and dev, decide to fix, defer with a workaround or delay release, and document the decision.

How do you write test cases when only wireframes are available and the UI is not ready?

Test Case DesignMedium

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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.

How do you test session management in a web application?

Performance and Security BasicsMedium

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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.

How do you test biometric login with fingerprint or face unlock?

Mobile TestingMedium

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Test enabling biometrics in app settings after a password login. Verify login with a registered fingerprint or face, and failure with an unregistered one, falling back to PIN or password after the allowed attempts. Remove or add a fingerprint in device settings and check the app asks for re-authentication. Test devices without biometric hardware, disabled biometrics and app behaviour after an OS update or reinstall.

How would you test a feature that is enabled for only 10 percent of users through a feature flag?

Test Case DesignHard

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Test both states: flag on and flag off, so existing users are not affected. Verify the targeting rule assigns the right users and that a user stays consistently in the same group. Test switching the flag on and off in a live session and confirm data created with the flag on still works after it is turned off. Check analytics events for both groups and confirm the flag can be rolled back quickly.

Notifications arrive late, and some screens look broken, only on certain Android phone brands. Why can this happen and what do you test?

Mobile TestingMedium

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Android phone makers ship their own skins and settings on top of Android, so the same app can behave differently. Common problems are aggressive battery savers that kill background tasks and delay notifications, different permission screens, custom fonts and display scaling, camera differences and modified WebViews. Pick devices from the brands most used by your audience and test background work, notifications, camera and layout on each.

What is deep link testing?

Mobile TestingMedium

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A deep link opens a specific screen inside the app from a URL, email, SMS, QR code or notification. Test that each link opens the correct screen with the right data when the app is installed, closed or running in background. If the app is not installed, it should open the store page or a web fallback. Test links that need login, expired or invalid links, and that parameters cannot be tampered with to access other users' data.

What are transaction isolation levels and what is a dirty read?

Database TestingHard

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Isolation levels control how much one transaction can see of another's uncommitted work. Common levels are Read Uncommitted, Read Committed, Repeatable Read and Serializable. A dirty read is reading data another transaction changed but has not committed; if it rolls back, you acted on data that never existed. Testers check isolation using two database sessions: update without committing in one and query in the other to see what is visible.

How do you test a REST API that is not ready yet?

Agile, SQL and API TestingHard

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Use mocks or stubs from the API contract such as Swagger, write test cases early and validate again when the real service is available.

What is the OWASP Top 10 and why should testers know it?

Performance and Security BasicsMedium

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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.

What is UAT?

Testing TypesEasy

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User Acceptance Testing — end users or the client verify that the system meets business needs in a production-like environment before go-live.

A developer changed a shared header component used on every page. What testing do you plan?

Testing TypesMedium

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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.

What are components, labels and fix versions in Jira?

Bug Life Cycle and JiraEasy

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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.

Write test cases for live order tracking in a food delivery app.

Test Case DesignMedium

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Verify each status change appears in order: placed, accepted, preparing, picked up and delivered. Check the rider's location updates on the map at the expected interval. Test the estimated time updates when there is a delay. Verify notifications for each status. Check behaviour when the network drops and recovers, when the app is reopened, and when the order is cancelled midway. Confirm tracking stops after delivery and the rating screen appears.

What is a locator and what types of locators exist?

Automation Basics for Manual TestersEasy

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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.

What is the role of a QA lead across the STLC?

STLC and Test PlanningHard

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A QA lead reviews requirements and plans testing, including scope, estimates, resources and risks. They assign work, set standards for test cases and bug reports, and review test artefacts. During execution, they track progress, run triage and remove blockers. At the end, they give a clear release recommendation, prepare closure reports and drive lessons learned. They also mentor the team and improve the process over time.

What are ACID properties and how can a tester check them?

Database TestingMedium

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ACID means Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation and Durability. Atomicity: a transfer that debits one account must also credit the other, or neither happens; test by forcing a failure midway. Consistency: constraints still hold after the transaction. Isolation: two users updating together do not see each other's half-done work; test with two sessions. Durability: committed data survives a restart; test by committing, restarting the service and querying again.

A feature passed all your test cases, but users say it is confusing. What went wrong?

Manual Testing BasicsMedium

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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.