A quick guide to cracking that Manual Testing Interview
Tags: manualtesting, softwaretester, computerscience, interview
Published: 2023-08-01 10:07:12

Software Testing is a crucial part of any software development cycle. Testing ensures that there are no errors or faults in the software product. A software tester is one responsible for testing and ensuring that the product meets all the specified standards.

For a manual testing interview, the interviewer expects you to have strong knowledge of all the basic methodologies, terminologies, and functions related to manual testing. A quick revision before the interview can help easily crack that Manual testing interview and land your dream job.

I have curated a list of [Manual testing Interview questions](https://artoftesting.com/manual-testing-interview-questions) that will help you brush up on your concepts before the interview. The questions cover the range from basic to advanced level questions.

Let’s get started. 

**Manual Testing Interview Questions**

**Q 1.  What is Software Testing?
Ans.** Software testing is essentially the process of evaluating software with the intent to find bugs and validate the software. Software testing is done to ensure that the software meets all its quality standards and specified requirements. It ensures that all the functionalities are working properly. Software testing is a crucial part of the software development phase to ensure it meets all the specified standards.

**Q 2. Why is Software testing important?
Ans.** Software Testing is one of the most important steps in the software development cycle. The reasons for the importance of Software testing are:

- Testing assures that the product works exactly as intended.
- Enables to avoid any of the possible defects and errors that might be present in the software.
- Saves later cost of defect resolution as they are identified and resolved early.
- Saves development time by identifying and solving issues at early stages.
- Also saves the cost of customers for the repair of software in case of possible errors.

**Q 3. What are the various types of testing?
Ans.** There are mainly two types of testing manual testing and automation testing.

- **Manual Testing -** It is the type of testing that is performed manually. It is done by testers and reports are shared after the process with all the relevant stakeholders. It requires validation of the requirements of an application by executing a predefined set of test cases without using any automation tool.
- **Automation Testing -** Automation tools are used for testing the software application. It is a type of testing that involves automated test case execution using an automation tool. It includes using tools like Selenium, Katalon, etc.
 
Some other types of software testing are Functional testing and Non-functional testing, Black-box testing, white-box testing, and gray-box testing.

**Q 4. When should we stop testing?
Ans.** Testing of software can be stopped when one or more of the following conditions are fulfilled. The conditions are:

- **After test case execution** - When one complete cycle of test cases is executed and all the known bugs are fixed to the agreed value of pass percentage, then the testing phase can be stopped.
- **Once the deadline for the testing phase is met** - The testing can be stopped once the deadline for testing arrives and no high-priority issues are left unresolved.
- **Based on Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)** - MTBF refers to the time between two inherent failures. If the MTBF is quite large, then based on the stakeholder's decision the testing can be stopped.
- Based on code coverage value - When the code coverage touches a specific threshold holding an appropriate pass percentage and no significant issue, then the testing can be stopped.

**Q 5. What is the meaning of quality assurance?
Ans.** Quality assurance refers to a process-driven approach that ensures that the process of developing the product is authentic, correct, and conforms to all the specified requirements.

**Q 6. What is the meaning of quality control?
Ans.** Quality control is a product-driven approach that makes sure that the product being developed conforms to all the specified requirements. It is like a corrective measure because it tests the developed product for any defects.

**Q 7. Explain SDLC.
Ans.** SDLC is short for Software Development Life Cycle. SDLC represents all the steps in a sequential order that help in building and developing software. It includes requirement gathering, requirement analysis, designing, implementing, testing, deployment, and maintenance.

**Q 8. Explain STLC.
Ans.** STLS stands for Software Testing Life Cycle. It refers to all the steps followed during the testing of a software product. It includes the following steps:

1. Requirement analysis and validation
2. Test planning
3. Test designing and analysis
4. Test environment setup
5. Test execution
6. Test closure and reporting

**Q 9. What are the major advantages and disadvantages of manual testing?
Ans.** The advantages of manual testing are:

- Suitable for products with short life cycles.
- Save time and resources.
- Ensure bug-free product.
- Gives accurate user interface feedback.
- Provides better GUI testing.
- High reliability.

The disadvantages of manual testing are:

- Requires a large amount of time.
- Prone to human errors and mistakes.
- Less efficient and reliable as compared to other methods.
- May leave out some aspects of testing.
- Very expensive.

**Q 10. What are some Manual testing tools?
Ans.** Some manual testing tools are:

- Postman
- Message queue monitors
- DB tools
- JMeter, etc

**Q 11. What is the difference between Verification and Validation?
Ans.** The main differences between Verification and Validation are:

**Verification** 

- Verification is the process of evaluating the different functions and processes of software development at each step of the SDLC.
- It is a static testing process that checks the documents and design instead of the end product.
- It is a process-oriented approach.
- It answers the question - “Are we building the product right?”

**Validation**

- Validation is the process of validating that the developed software product fulfills all the required business requirements.
- It is a dynamic testing process that checks the end product by running it against test cases.
- It is a product-oriented approach.
- It answers the question - “Are we building the right product?”



**Q 12. What is performance testing?
Ans.** Performance testing is a type of non-function testing in which the performance of the system is tested under expected or higher load on the software product. It measures various standards of the product like response time, reliability, scalability, etc. Various types of performance testing are load testing, spike testing, volume testing, and endurance testing.

**Q 13. What is a test plan?
Ans.** A test plan is a  formal document that describes the scope of testing, the methods to be used, the resources needed, and the time estimated that will be required to carry out the testing. 

**Q 14. What is a test case and a test scenario?
Ans.** A test case is a set of conditions, input values, and expected results in a documented form. It is used to test the software product to check its credibility with the specified requirements.
A test scenario is a derivation from the use case. It is to test a specified feature from end-to-end to ensure that it meets the specified requirement. 

**Q 15. What is test data?
Ans.** Test data is the data that is used for the testing of the software product. It includes a variety of input data that is tested and then matched across the expected output data. Test data is generated based on the needs and specifications of the company.

**Q 16. What is a test script?
Ans.** A test script is an automated test case written in a programming or scripting language. They are used to evaluate the functioning of an application. 

**Q 17. What are the types of Manual testing?
Ans.** There are some manual testing methods and techniques. They are:

- Black box testing
- White box testing
- Unit testing
- Acceptance testing
- System testing
- Integration testing

**Q 18. What is an error in software testing?
Ans.** An error essentially is a mistake in the software. It can be due to some missing scenario left out while noting the requirements, some issue in the design, or an implementation mistake. 

**Q 19. What is a Bug?
Ans.** A bug is an error or fault in the software that is identified at the time of testing the software. The presence of a bug causes an unusual behavior, much different than anticipated, of the software during testing.

**Q 20. What is a defect?
Ans.** A defect is when the product does not conform to the specified requirements. It is usually detected after the product goes live.


**Conclusion**

These are some of the important and frequently asked questions in a Manual testing interview. These will help you with a quick revision and boost your confidence right before the interview. This blog will prove particularly useful when you don’t have time for studying deeply and need a quick overview of the important concepts.