Basis Wealth QA Engineer Interview: Rounds, Questions and Preparation

What the job involves

QA Engineers at Indian unicorns and high-growth startups test web and mobile products to catch bugs before release, often working in agile sprints with developers and product managers. They write manual test cases, perform regression testing, and increasingly automate repetitive checks using tools like Selenium or Cypress. In a fintech like Basis Wealth, they also verify money movement, KYC flows, and data accuracy under real-world conditions.

Role and Technical Knowledge

1. 1

   What is the difference between verification and validation in software testing?

   Verification checks if we are building the product right (reviews, inspections), while validation checks if we built the right product (actual testing). Give a simple example like checking a login form design vs. testing it with real credentials.

2. 2

   How do you decide what to include in a regression test suite for a fintech app?

   Focus on critical money flows, authentication, and features that changed recently. Mention prioritising based on risk and business impact, not just running all old tests.

3. 3

   What is the bug life cycle? Walk me through the stages.

   New, assigned, open, fixed, retest, verified, closed. Also mention rejected, deferred, and duplicate as terminal states. Keep it crisp and show you know when to reopen.

4. 4

   Explain the difference between smoke testing and sanity testing.

   Smoke testing is a broad check on a new build to see if it is stable enough for further testing. Sanity testing is a narrow, deep check on a specific fix or feature after a minor change.

Practical Scenarios

1. 5

   You are testing a UPI payment flow. What are the top five test cases you would write?

   Cover successful payment, insufficient balance, wrong PIN, network failure mid-transaction, and duplicate payment prevention. Mention checking the transaction status in the database and user notification.

2. 6

   How would you test a KYC document upload feature for a wealth management app?

   Test file types (PDF, JPG, PNG), file size limits, blurry images, expired documents, and multiple uploads. Also check that data is saved correctly and the user sees clear error messages.

3. 7

   A developer says the bug you reported is not reproducible. What do you do?

   Provide exact steps, environment details, screenshots, and logs. Try to reproduce on a different device or build. If still not reproducible, mark it as such but keep the report open for future observation.

4. 8

   How would you test an API that returns a user's portfolio balance?

   Use Postman to check status codes, response time, data types, and authentication. Test with valid, invalid, and missing tokens. Verify the balance matches the database and handles edge cases like zero balance or negative values.

Automation and Tools

1. 9

   What is the difference between findElement and findElements in Selenium?

   findElement returns a single WebElement and throws NoSuchElementException if not found. findElements returns a list of WebElements and returns an empty list if none are found. Mention when you would use each.

2. 10

   How do you write a basic SQL query to find duplicate transactions in a payments table?

   Use GROUP BY on transaction_id or user_id and amount, then HAVING COUNT(*) > 1. Show you understand that duplicates can indicate a bug or a data issue.

3. 11

   What are some challenges of testing mobile apps on different Android versions?

   Fragmentation, different screen sizes, OS-specific permissions, and varying performance. Mention using emulators for quick checks and real devices for final validation.

4. 12

   Explain how you would use Postman to test a login API that returns a JWT token.

   Send a POST request with valid credentials, check the response has a token, then use that token in the Authorization header for subsequent requests. Also test wrong password and missing fields.

Behavioural and HR

1. 13

   Tell me about a time you found a critical bug under a tight deadline. How did you handle it?

   Use STAR format. Emphasise clear communication, prioritisation, and working with the team to fix and retest quickly without blaming anyone.

2. 14

   Why do you want to work as a QA Engineer at a fast-growing startup like Basis Wealth?

   Show interest in the fintech domain, the pace of startups, and the opportunity to learn both manual and automation testing. Mention that you enjoy breaking things to make them better.

3. 15

   How do you handle a situation where a developer disagrees with your bug report?

   Stay calm, share evidence, and focus on the user impact. Suggest a quick call or screen share to reproduce together. Show you value the product over being right.

4. 16

   Where do you see yourself in two years as a QA Engineer?

   Talk about growing into automation, learning performance or security testing, and taking ownership of test suites. Avoid saying you want to move to development immediately.