15 Manual Testing Interview Questions to Help You Prepare

Key takeaways

From manual testing methodologies to automated testing, a manual tester interview can cover a wide range of technical topics.

• Interviewers may ask you to explain how you approached a manual testing project to assess your testing strategy and problem-solving skills.

• You may be asked to describe scenarios where manual testing is preferred over automation testing.

• You can prepare for a career in manual testing by gaining a deeper understanding of quality assurance (QA).

Explore some common manual testing interview questions, including tips for answering them. Afterward, if you’re ready to build essential job skills, enroll in IBM’s DevOps and Software Engineering Professional Certificate. You’ll have the opportunity to learn about application development, software architecture, test-driven development (TDD), continuous integration, and more.

15 manual testing interview questions

Use this guide to test your knowledge, so you can feel empowered during your interview.

1. Explain what manual testing is and its role within software development.

This is your opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of manual testing. You’ll want to talk about the role's context within software development. Discuss your experience or, if you’re new to the field, your interest in confirming that systems work and meet business requirements. Mention the value of testing various aspects such as usability, accuracy, completeness, and efficiency.

2. Why do you think you are a good fit for this manual testing role?

You’ll want to bring up your education, skills, and experience that are relevant to the role here. If you have any insights into the company culture at the organization, also talk about why you think you will be a good fit. 

You might also use this as an opportunity to reiterate the importance of software testing. Outline your answer, with examples where possible, on the importance of manual testers pointing out defects and errors, reducing coding cycles, and improving user experience.

If you know the organization uses Agile testing, be sure to emphasize any experience you have in this approach. 

3. How have you used manual and automated testing in your previous role(s)?

You would opt for either manual or automated testing in different test cases. While automation is more suited for exploratory and usability testing, short-term projects, and ad-hoc testing, manual testing is more hands-on and individualized.

Use this question to demonstrate that you:

• Understand the distinction between manual and automated testing

• Differentiate between verification and validation in software testing

• Have exposure to various types of software testing

• Know when to stop the testing process

• Can communicate effectively about test planning and test coverage

• Have the problem-solving skills to find innovative solutions

4. What types of manual testing are there? Please explain.

This question assesses your breadth of knowledge in manual testing. You'll want to be able to explain very clearly the following:

• Black box testing

• White box testing

• System testing

• Integration testing

• Unit testing

• Acceptance testing

• Usability testing

• User acceptance testing

5. What is black box testing, and what techniques are involved?

Technical questions dive into your ability to explain why you'd use black box testing (when the internal architecture or code structure is unknown). You'll want to explain the following techniques:

• Boundary value analysis

• Equivalence partitioning

• Cause-effect graphing

Concisely explain that black box testing is a standard approach to validating the software from the end user’s point of view. If you’ve done white box testing, compare your experiences with the two. Every question is an opportunity to give concrete examples from your own background instead of answering with just a definition you could have learned in a textbook in school.

6. What is white box testing, and what techniques are involved?

Questions like this might act as a follow-up to the previous question, so that you can elaborate on your knowledge.

White box testing analyzes a system's architecture and implementation, alongside source code quality. Techniques include:

• Decision coverage

• Statement coverage

7. Describe the difference between alpha testing and beta testing.

This question aims to gauge your knowledge and understanding of the nuances of your role as a manual tester. Speak about the work you’ve done in alpha testing, which end-user representatives typically do at the developer’s site. 

You may also have done beta testing as a potential customer, but that’s not what they’ll be hiring you to do in a manual software testing role.

8. Describe the difference between manual testing and automation testing.

Just like the other compare and contrast questions, this one will test your knowledge of testing manually for defects in software. Manual testing executes specific steps, which are compared against what was expected to happen. Automation testing requires the use of special software to control test execution and compare results with expected outcomes. Automation testing is faster and can be more accurate.

9. When do you opt for manual testing over automation testing?

This important question requires you to know the why in addition to the how. Manual testing is chosen over automation testing when tests have quirks and require an extra pair of (human) minds to interpret. It's better for exploratory testing, usability testing, testing on more than one operating system, and when testing with specific hardware.

10. What are examples of experience-based testing?

You'll want to know the following and the differences between each technique:

• Exploratory testing

• Adhoc testing

• Error guessing

• Checklist-based testing

• Session-based testing

• Exploit-based testing

• Alpha testing

• Beta testing

• Usability testing

• User acceptance testing

11. Tell me the difference between quality control and quality assurance.

This question aims to check your understanding of the role in quality management. Quality control (QC) is a subset of quality assurance (QA). QA is broader and more focused on the performance of a process or the making of a product, and whether it will fulfill quality requirements. QC, meanwhile, focuses on the inspection of the quality management activities. As a manual tester, you’ll be on the QA side.

Read more: What Is a Quality Assurance Technician? Jobs, Skills, Salary

12. How would you ensure you achieve the highest possible testing coverage?

You might answer this question by sharing your best practices for writing test cases. For example, you might mention the 80/20 rule that suggests you’ll achieve the best coverage when 20 percent of your test covers 80 percent of the application. You might also talk about test case prioritization and how you ensure you're taking a granular, modular test case approach while regularly monitoring your test cases.

13. Tell me about the different types of testing software you’ve used and why you like them.

Many different tools are on the market for testers to use. Instead of listing the ones you have experience using, talk about how you have used each one. Consider the benefits or drawbacks of each type of testing. This provides a chance for you to differentiate between the types of testing. Maybe you’ve found that one software is better for acceptance and performance testing while another is best for unit, integration, or functional testing.

How to explain a manual testing project in an interview?

When explaining a manual testing project you’ve been a part of, try to be concise while giving a clear description of the project, your role, and how your skills made an impact on the project. If you’re not sure the best way to structure your story, you can start with an overview, followed by a description of your role and the testing approach, the execution of test cases, how you managed defects, and what successes and challenges you saw. For example, if you identified errors during the testing process, you can explain how you documented those issues and then collaborated with the development team to solve the problems.

14. What do you understand about end-to-end testing?

End-to-end testing is costly and more complicated since it replicates user behavior with the software in a complete application environment. As these tests are hard to maintain when automated, you can expect to do end-to-end testing as a manual tester. Mention examples of end-to-end tests you’ve done, such as logging in or verifying email notifications, or online payments.

15. What would you do to identify and resolve latent defects?

A latent defect is hidden from the user and will not cause a failure unless it meets certain conditions. For instance, the system might not recognize February 29, which happens only every four years.

Since latent defects are only triggered in particular scenarios, they can be challenging to identify in the testing environment. Here’s a chance to discuss your attention to detail, diligence in inspecting the product, and the importance of exhaustive testing.

How to prepare for the questions asked in a manual testing interview​

The more research you do ahead of time, the better equipped you’ll be.

Research the organization. 

If you’re looking for a job in manual testing, research the companies you apply to. Reading roundups of top companies available online is a great way to prepare. They are often customer-focused, helping an organization decide whether to take their business to that company. Still, you can learn about the top software testing companies this way.

Practice the interview.

Ask a friend or family member to pose the questions above to you in person, by phone, or via Zoom call. Try to replicate the actual interview environment you will experience. This can include dressing the part and setting yourself up without distractions to do your best in the practice stage. It can give you more confidence when you’re live and on the spot.

Ask for feedback.

Ask the person doing your mock interview to tell you what you did well and could improve. With manual testing, it will be helpful to do a mock interview with someone in the industry so that they can give you feedback.

If an interview doesn’t go well and you don’t get the job, you could follow up afterward with a request for feedback. They may or may not oblige. But there’s no harm in at least politely asking.

Explore our free resources for manual testers

Join Career Chat on LinkedIn to stay current with the latest trends in software testing. Continue your learning journey with our other free digital resources:

• Watch on YouTube: UX Research Basics: Smart Usability Testing

• Discover productivity hacks: AI Problem-Solving Tactics: Expert Insights from Vanderbilt’s Dr. Jules White

• Enhance your interviewing skills: How to answer interview questions with the STAR method

Accelerate your career growth with a Coursera Plus subscription. When you enroll in either the monthly or annual option, you’ll get access to over 10,000 courses.