SS&C Technologies 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 tools to ensure software quality. In global tech companies, they work alongside developers to write code that tests code, often focusing on API, UI, and performance testing. Daily tasks include writing test scripts, reviewing test coverage, debugging failures, and integrating tests into CI/CD pipelines.

Role and Technical Knowledge

1. 1

   What is the difference between a QA Engineer and an SDET?

   Highlight that SDETs write production-level automation code, build frameworks, and contribute to test infrastructure, while QA focuses more on manual testing and test cases.

2. 2

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

   Describe how POM separates page elements and actions into classes, improving code reusability, readability, and maintenance.

3. 3

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

   Mention status codes, response body validation, authentication, and tools like Rest Assured, Postman, or Python requests. Include example of GET/POST tests.

4. 4

   What is the difference between implicit wait, explicit wait, and fluent wait in Selenium?

   Explain that implicit wait applies globally, explicit wait targets specific conditions, and fluent wait adds polling frequency and ignored exceptions.

Practical Scenarios

1. 5

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

   Discuss checking for timing issues, adding waits, isolating test data, reviewing logs, and making tests independent and repeatable.

2. 6

   How would you design an automation framework for a web application from scratch?

   Cover choice of language, test runner, POM, reporting, logging, CI integration, and parallel execution. Mention folder structure and config files.

3. 7

   Given a login page, write test cases covering positive and negative scenarios.

   List cases like valid credentials, invalid password, empty fields, SQL injection, account lockout, and remember to include boundary and security cases.

4. 8

   How do you integrate automated tests into a CI/CD pipeline?

   Explain triggering tests on code commit, using Jenkins/GitLab CI, running smoke and regression suites, and reporting results back to the team.

Coding and Problem Solving

1. 9

   Write a program to reverse a string without using built-in functions.

   Show a loop or two-pointer approach, handle edge cases like empty string, and discuss time/space complexity.

2. 10

   How would you find duplicate characters in a string?

   Use a hash map or set to count occurrences, then iterate to find duplicates. Explain logic clearly and test with examples.

3. 11

   Given an array of integers, find the second largest number.

   Traverse once keeping track of largest and second largest, handle duplicates, and mention edge cases like array size less than 2.

4. 12

   Write a SQL query to find employees with the second highest salary.

   Use subquery with MAX or LIMIT/OFFSET, and explain how to handle ties or nulls.

Behavioural and HR

1. 13

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

   Use STAR method: describe the situation, your action in reporting with evidence, and the positive outcome like a fix or process improvement.

2. 14

   Why do you want to become an SDET instead of a developer?

   Show passion for quality, automation, and coding, and mention enjoying both development and testing aspects.

3. 15

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

   Emphasize clear communication, providing logs, steps, environment details, and collaborating to reproduce together without blame.

4. 16

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

   Talk about growing into a senior SDET or test architect, mastering automation, and contributing to framework design and mentoring.