QA Limited Interview Questions & Answers

The interview consisted of a short discussion with three members of the company. The graduate scheme was mainly operated by the tutor and a small number of other staff members who also carried out work / taught some of the modules you had to study alongside the job during the scheme.

It began with an overview of my CV and a discussion about my experiences at uni, commercial work and the kind of work that I wished to pursue. The panel asked generic questions like why they should employ me, what I would do with unhappy clients, how well I work with other people and examples of when I have worked with other people that have gone well and bad (and what I had learnt from them - this came up in several of my interviews).

The technical task process was very poorly organised, the interviewer was an elderly man and clearly disliked me so treated me in a bad manner. The work I was presenting on the board was correct but he spoke down to me regularly and at one point called mey ideas stupid (to which at that point I had had enough and called him stupid and asked not to be spoken to like that...).

The interview was rounded up with a small discussion about myself, to which they didn't pay much interest!

The technical task wasn't too difficult, just be sure to be prepared for things you may overlook in your preparation due to thinking you have it down perfectly! The hardest question I encountered was "Give us an example of a piece of work which went well and a piece that went bad, with the approaches you'd take to make them better and how you could incorporate teamwork into the process"

Seemed like a big question at the time and took me a bit to think about and process my answer in my head!

Be prepared for anything, some companies I had interviews for were genuinely lovely people - even if I wasn't appropriate enough for the job.

The interview in my opinion was very bad. I was spoken to in a rude manner before I had a chance to even show my abilities, it wasn't like I hadn't made an effort either as I had dressed well and was well spoken.

I am glad I had this interview as it made me realise how some companies employ graduates and push them around at such low rates of pay (this was £14,000!). If you don't like a companies ways, go elsewhere - I'm now with a lovely company, there's plenty of better people out there!

Normally, the assessment days are held at Worthing, outskirts of Brighton. However, NETBuilder managed to book a conference room with Manchester University, thus the assessment day was held in Manchester for practical reasons. However, they were not clear on the directions to the assessment centre as myself along with another candidate were pointed to the wrong building! Both of us spent wondering the wrong building for 10 minutes before one of the staff members told us we were in the wrong building! (Both of us happened to get pointed to the wrong building when asking people for directions). We arrived there 10 minutes late but we weren't the only ones late as more candidate kept turning up.
After the introduction of NETBuilder we were asked to take a Java test. Now, I don't know about you but I never learnt Java so I was at an disadvantageous position, a long with other candidates. I had to learn the basics Java in 1 day to even stand a chance against the other candidates who already knew Java!
After the test, we were handed booklets of tasks to be completed throughout the day. There were around 19 tasks in total, we had to organise the time for lunch and slot in 2 sets of 15 minutes interviews (Technical and 'Business') when organising the tasks. The tasks ranged from taking a group photo, creating a website, making a NETBuilder anthem etc. It wasn't too difficult but it certainly wasn't what I was expecting (Considering this was my first ever assessment day!). We managed to complete all of the tasks surprisingly although there were 20 candidates in the room (2 candidates dropped out for various reasons). After the tasks were completed, we had to do a presentation on what tasks we completed. After the presentation the day was completed.
We were meant to have the CEO of NETBUilder talking to us but he never came, we don't know why but he just never turned up! We were given laptops for the tasks but they lacked the required programmes for the tasks that I was conducting! We needed Windows Movie Maker or a similar programme but we couldn't download it! It was lucky that another candidate brought his laptop and managed to have WMM on his laptop otherwise my group couldn't have completed the tasks. NETBuilder seemed very disorganised throughout.
There were two interviews conducted. The first interview I had was the technical interview. This was to test out my technical knowledge. The second interview WAS meant to be a business interview. I felt that the technical interview didn't go too badly but it could have went a lot better so I thought I would make grounds in the business interview. It wasn't even an business interview! It changed to a personality interview, which wasn't bad but a long with the other candidates, we all wanted the business interview instead of a personality interview!

"What was the most difficult technical assignment you had to conduct?"
"Can you demonstrate the architecture of C# of the website you created?"

Stay in the city overnight. I thought that travelling from Birmingham to Manchester was going to be okay. But traffic caused me to be late, with 10 minutes left to get to the conference room. Also, if you're really applying for NETBuilder (I wouldn't recommend it) then you should really learn all of your technical knowledge as that was certainly the hardest part of the two interviews.

I was in a group with 3 other members. There were 4 tasks that we did, all using either the camera provided. The first task was to take a video of a local landmark in Manchester. The second task was the take a photo of all of the candidates. The third task was to create an interview asking 4 different candidates why they chose to apply with NETBuilder and the final task was the take a photo of another local landmark for an imagery.

At the start of the day, we were given a short presentation on the history of the company and the work it does, after which we were given a comprehension test and a Java test for 40 mins. The main part of the assessment day was the group task, though. We were asked to come up with an idea for a food-based technical product, design a marketing campaign and website, and finally present everything as if to a board of investors after which we had to answer any questions they had. During the day, we also had 1-1 technical interviews. The whole day was enjoyable, but pretty stressful.

What are the principles of object-oriented programming?

Brush up on Java and your presentation skills. The main purpose of the assessment is to see how you work with others as well as making sure you are competent for the role. Try to stay relaxed and it should be fine.

The assessment day wasn't help in the office as usual, but in a museum just down the road. While a nice setting, it wasn't a a reflection of the usual working environment.

It started with phone interview, where it asked basic questions about my knowledge, education and the role, after passing the phone interview I was invited to join assessment day in Worthing offices and was warned about Java basic test that will be held in assesment day. During the assessment day I was 20min early and had a good chat with the consultant manager. The assessment day started at 9am and finished at around 4pm. In the begining all of us took Java basic test (Even tho I never studied Java, I was learning C++ in university, I found the test very simple, it's only basic knowledge of programming), after the test we had to take on tasks. There was around 13 tasks to do, where we had to split the work to deliver all the tasks by the deadline. Also we had to arrange our lunch break, everyone was focused on work, so we just ordered Dominos pizza for delivery. Through all the day there was business (personality and character) and technical (programming and education) interviews keeping place, where we had to arrange the order who is going to the interview next, they took 15mins each. At the end of the day we had to present all the tasks we did to the current employees and explain what challenges we faced.

Explain the principles of Object Orientated programming.
What is the difference between Java and C++.

Before the assessment day, read about basic Java programming and its principles. Look smart, act smart, don't compete against other candidates, because they take people in intakes, so there is no set number how many people they are taking, if they will like you, they can take the whole group, it's all about showing yourself working inside a group, not competing against each other.

Tasks were very different from each other, from creativity tasks to technical tasks. We had to select our project manager and arrange tasks for each of us, so we would fit into time limit.

The day started with a presentation from an academy head, basic info about the company, their clients and opportunities available. We then took a 20 minute Java test and 20 minute Logical test, they weren't too bad. Logical one was complete the pattern activities for example and the Java was basic keywords associated it.

After this we were given a topic, in our case, boxing. We were given little booklets with areas that we needed to cover as a group. This meant splitting the workload and working as team. This was the majority of the day and to be honest as it sounds more difficult than it is! As long as your confident enough to speak to people and just give ideas and participate you will find it ok! It's pretty fun to be honest.

The tasks involved were: business plan, create website, make a TV advert etc. We then had to present to two members of the QA team, and as long as your confident and speak well, it's not too much stress. During the group activities they take you out for 1-1 interview, basic questions about your future ambitions, uni experiences, likes and dislikes, then some Java questions, like explain what void means, inheritance etc! That's the end of the day then!

Explain the 4 major principles of Object Orientated Programming and give an example of one of them?

Brush up on your Java understanding and the meaning of keywords! If your not a comfortable speaker, try practicing that, it can be a big part of the interview and we were given the impression it was a big factor in their choosing of who to employ.

It was supposed to be in their academy , but they were so busy they moved us to a hotel literally across the street! Meant we missed out on the chance to talk to people currently on the training and job, no big deal though.

A very relaxed phone interview with basic interview questions. Plenty of feedback and was more of a conversation than an interview.

Used the obvious interview formula of eduacation, work experience and general CV questions.

Some basic programming questions but nothing too technical. During the phone interview they take into account your knowledge of Java.

Explain object oriented programming to me as if I was a beginner.

If you have never used Java before don't bother turning up. I was assured that my experience in other programming paridigms would be fine... except it wasn't. The interview was 70% Java specific questions and the Java test was all about syntax and code specific questions. Considering from my initial application to assessment day I had 2 days to prepare, my crash course in OO programming failed. My advise would be make sure you know Java backwards and in the assessment day don't get exploited. I am good at video editing so ended up stuffed with 3 video tasks and a debate which was simply too much - I should have flagged this but was conducting my interview whilst tasks were dished out. I therefore had no time to prepare my part of the presentation and obviously it was far from polished.

When you arrive you receive a quick presentation about NetBuilder. Next stage is to conduct a technical Java test. After this you are handed a booklet outlining around 20 tasks that need to be fulfilled before the end of the day - past that you are given no guidance. The only requirements are that you need to elect a team leader and create a timetable to schedule everyone to have an interview. The tasks include creating a video advertisement and a song among other fun activities. However the clear problem with this system is that the only way to complete eveything on time is to split up the tasks and the two assesors are also conducting interviews in parallel. This means you are barely (if at all) assessed during the day, instead marked on the Java test, presentation and interview.

It was a one on one interview covering some competency questions and going over your interest in the role, and CV. You are pulled aside during the group task at any time so you need to plan ahead for that. It was a laid back atmosphere, they're not trying to catch you out with any of the questions.

Why are you interested in Technology? Can you tell me about a time you experienced conflict in the workplace?

Make sure your role in the group task is well defined and that you contribute without talking over others. For your presentation at the end plan to have some time to practice it with your group so it looks more professional. The booklet you are provided with is very thorough, make sure all the main points they are looking for are adressed, get started with the task early (don't spend too long on the name or logo although these are important too)

We were given the job of splitting ourselves up into two teams. We were then given approximately four hours to come up with a product and a business plan, and a presentation that should be ready by the end of the day. We had to present to each other.

Fantastic day, really enjoyed every moment of it.
Kirsty is a great recruiter, and Amy was amazing, she gave me back some excellent feedback. The best parts were creating the project and then presenting it. Elliot did put me to the test with the interview, how ever i did give it my best try. Can't wait to hear from QA consulting.

The question where I had to answer to to wether 9 is a prime number.

Make sure the programming knowledge is to a high level, find a good car parking spot before hand (if you are driving) I recommend you be yourself, have fun but remember you are being assessed so try your best throughout the day.

Clean and organised.

Asked basic questions about education, and interest in applying for this position