Monday.com India SDET Interview: Rounds, Questions and Preparation

What the job involves

An SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) in a global tech product company builds and maintains automated test frameworks, writes code to test APIs, UIs, and backend services, and works closely with developers to ensure high-quality releases. Day to day, you might design test cases, write automation scripts in Java or Python, debug failures, and contribute to CI/CD pipelines. The role blends software engineering with quality assurance, so you need strong coding skills and a testing mindset.

Role and technical knowledge

1. 1

   What is the difference between a manual tester and an SDET?

   A strong answer highlights that an SDET writes production-quality automation code, builds test frameworks, and contributes to CI/CD, while a manual tester focuses on executing test cases. Mention that SDETs need strong programming skills and a quality-first mindset.

2. 2

   Explain the Page Object Model (POM) in Selenium. Why is it useful?

   Describe how POM creates a class for each page, separating page elements and actions from test logic. Benefits include reusability, maintainability, and reduced duplication. Give a small example if possible.

3. 3

   How do you test a REST API? What tools have you used?

   Cover verifying status codes, response body, headers, and schema. Mention tools like Postman for manual checks and REST Assured for automation. Talk about handling authentication, query parameters, and negative cases.

4. 4

   What is the difference between a stub and a mock in testing?

   A stub provides canned answers to calls, while a mock also verifies that specific calls were made. Explain when to use each, such as stubs for state verification and mocks for behaviour verification.

Practical scenarios

1. 5

   You have a flaky test that passes sometimes and fails other times. How do you debug and fix it?

   A strong answer covers checking for timing issues (add waits), test data dependencies, environment instability, and race conditions. Mention using logs, screenshots, and running the test in isolation to identify the root cause.

2. 6

   How would you automate testing for a login page that has username, password, and a CAPTCHA?

   Discuss handling the CAPTCHA by either disabling it in test environments or using a test hook. Focus on automating the rest: valid login, invalid credentials, empty fields, and error messages. Mention using Selenium with explicit waits.

3. 7

   Describe how you would set up a CI/CD pipeline to run automated tests on every pull request.

   Mention using Jenkins or GitHub Actions to trigger on PR events, running unit and integration tests, and reporting results. Talk about parallel test execution, test environment setup, and failing the build on test failures.

4. 8

   You find a critical bug just before release. How do you handle it?

   A strong answer shows you would report it immediately with clear steps to reproduce, assess impact, and collaborate with the team to decide whether to fix, delay, or work around. Emphasise communication and risk assessment.

Coding and automation design

1. 9

   Write a function to check if a string is a palindrome. How would you test it?

   Show a clean implementation in your preferred language. For testing, list cases: empty string, single character, even and odd length, spaces and punctuation, and non-palindrome. Mention edge cases and boundary values.

2. 10

   How do you design a test automation framework from scratch?

   Cover choosing a language and tools, defining folder structure, implementing POM, adding logging and reporting, integrating with CI, and handling test data. Mention modularity, reusability, and scalability.

3. 11

   Explain how you would use SQL to validate data after a UI action.

   Describe connecting to the database, writing a query to fetch the relevant record, and comparing it with the expected value from the UI. Mention using JDBC in Java or similar libraries, and handling transactions.

4. 12

   What are some best practices for writing maintainable automation code?

   Include using meaningful names, avoiding hard-coded values, separating test data, using design patterns like POM, adding comments where needed, and regularly refactoring. Mention code reviews and version control.

Behavioural and HR questions

1. 13

   Tell me about a time you found a bug that others missed. What did you do?

   Use the STAR method: describe the situation, the task, the action you took (e.g., thorough testing, edge case exploration), and the result (bug fixed, impact avoided). Highlight your attention to detail.

2. 14

   Why do you want to be an SDET rather than a developer?

   Show passion for quality and automation. Mention enjoying both coding and testing, liking the challenge of breaking software, and wanting to build tools that help teams ship faster with confidence.

3. 15

   How do you handle disagreements with a developer about whether something is a bug?

   Emphasise respectful communication, using data and reproduction steps to make your case, and focusing on the user impact. Mention being open to being wrong and collaborating to find the best solution.

4. 16

   Where do you see yourself in 3 years as an SDET?

   Talk about growing into a senior SDET or test architect role, deepening expertise in automation, performance testing, or security testing, and mentoring juniors. Show alignment with the company's quality goals.