I was contacted by the recruiter through Linkedin and I have been asked to come for a F2F discussion in a day's time. This is for Bangalore in their newly setup office.
I was told that there will be 2 technical rounds and then 1 manager round.
But on the day of interview, I had only one round.
There are multiple flaws in the interview:
1. The position was for a senior-level testing/QA role. I had only one round that day and the person took 1 hr 15 minutes. And all the questions were related to coding, and some Java concepts. He asked me to write 6-7 Java programs during the interview. I wrote almost all of them except 1 for which I needed some more time. I also answered almost all Java questions. Surprisingly, there is not even a single question related to testing or QA. I was getting a feeling that I was being interviewed for a Developer position. These kind of companies look only your coding skills. Sorry, I won't say "Skills"; if you mug-up few Java and data structure programs from the internet and omit during the interview, you're selected. They don't even bother whether you're good in Test Planning, Test Case Design Techniques, Test Optimization etc. The person did not even bother to ask what I have done in the past, what are my skills and strength areas etc. He came in to the room and started directly asking Java questions and programs. He did not even ask whether I know Java or not. I know coding is an important skill for a QA Engineer, but that is not everything. A tester's focus is more on testing aspects than just coding. The HR people should guide the panel by giving a checklist to the panel on what and all aspects they should be covering during an interview. For example, for a Test Engineer - Test Case Design and Test Planning, Automation Skills, Domain Knowledge, Presentation Skills, Attention to Detail, Communication Skill etc. Otherwise, the whole interview goes into coding.
2. I had around 15 years of experience in software industry. But the interview was conducted by a person having just 3 years of experience. I came to know about this after checking his Linkedin profile. No surprise; what can you expect from a person having 3 years of experience other than coding! At least, they respect my experience and setup a panel having experienced people.
3. After my first round, HR came to me and told that the QA Manager is not in the office and the feedback needs to be discussed with the manager, and I was sent back. I understood what they meant. The interview was scheduled based on the panel's availability, and now they're saying they're not available. I would have been happy if they directly told me that it did not go through. Why should they lie? Moreover, it was a big surprise to me as the interview went well although the questions were not very relevant. I had written all the programs and answered most of the questions. I still don't understand what they're looking for.
