Qorvo India SDET Interview: Rounds, Questions and Preparation

What the job involves

An SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) designs, builds, and maintains automated test frameworks and suites to validate embedded and RF-focused software used in global semiconductor products. Day to day you write code to test firmware, drivers, and tools, integrate tests into CI/CD pipelines, and debug failures with developers to ship reliable chips and modules.

Role and Technical Knowledge

1. 1

   What is the difference between a manual test case and an automated test script, and when would you choose each for embedded software?

   Explain that manual tests are good for exploratory or hardware-dependent one-off checks, while automation suits regression, repetitive firmware validation, and CI. Mention cost, stability, and hardware availability.

2. 2

   How would you test an API that returns calibration data for an RF module?

   Cover status codes, schema validation, boundary values, error handling, authentication, and comparing returned values against expected ranges. Mention using Postman or Python requests.

3. 3

   Explain how you would use Selenium to test a web dashboard that monitors chip test results.

   Describe locating elements, waits, data-driven tests, cross-browser checks, and integrating with a framework like pytest or TestNG. Mention handling dynamic tables and login flows.

4. 4

   What is a test pyramid, and how does it apply to a semiconductor company's software stack?

   Define unit, integration, and UI tests with more unit tests at the base. Relate to firmware unit tests, driver integration tests, and fewer end-to-end hardware-in-loop tests.

Practical Scenarios

1. 5

   A firmware test fails only on one specific board revision. How do you debug and report it?

   Suggest reproducing on that revision, checking logs, comparing hardware registers, isolating the change, and filing a bug with steps, expected vs actual, and environment details.

2. 6

   You need to add automated regression tests for a legacy C++ test tool with no existing framework. What is your approach?

   Propose starting with a small harness, wrapping existing commands, using a framework like Google Test or pytest with ctypes, and gradually covering critical paths before full integration.

3. 7

   How would you integrate automated tests into a CI/CD pipeline for a team that builds daily firmware images?

   Mention triggering tests on commit, using Jenkins or GitLab CI, running unit tests first, then hardware-in-loop tests on a lab machine, and reporting results with clear pass/fail gates.

4. 8

   You find a flaky test that passes 90 percent of the time. What do you do?

   Explain identifying the root cause such as timing, shared state, or hardware noise, adding retries only as a temporary measure, and fixing or quarantining the test with a tracking ticket.

Behavioural and HR

1. 9

   Tell me about a time you found a bug that others missed. How did you handle it?

   Use STAR format: situation, your testing approach, the bug's impact, and how you communicated it without blaming. Show attention to detail and teamwork.

2. 10

   Why do you want to work as an SDET in a global semiconductor company rather than a pure software firm?

   Connect interest in hardware-software interaction, quality at scale, and learning embedded systems. Mention wanting to grow in test automation and domain knowledge.

3. 11

   Describe a situation where you had to learn a new tool or technology quickly for a project.

   Pick a real example from college or internship. Highlight how you found resources, practiced, and applied it. Show self-learning and adaptability.

4. 12

   How do you handle disagreement with a developer who says your bug is not reproducible?

   Emphasise calm communication, sharing exact steps and logs, offering to reproduce together, and escalating with data if needed. Show respect and focus on product quality.

Coding and Problem Solving

1. 13

   Write a function to check if a given string is a valid hexadecimal representation of an RF register value.

   Clarify constraints, handle empty strings, optional 0x prefix, and invalid characters. Use a loop or regex and discuss time complexity.

2. 14

   Given a list of test results with pass/fail and timestamps, find the longest streak of consecutive passes.

   Explain iterating once, tracking current and max streak, and handling edge cases like empty list or all fails. Code in Python or C++ clearly.

3. 15

   How would you reverse a linked list in place, and why might this be asked for a test automation role?

   Show iterative pointer manipulation. Explain that it tests fundamental coding skills needed to write test utilities and understand data structures in frameworks.

4. 16

   Write a SQL query to find the top 3 test suites with the highest number of failed test cases.

   Use GROUP BY, COUNT with a filter for failures, ORDER BY DESC, and LIMIT. Mention handling nulls and joining tables if needed.