Application:

1. I responded to an advertisement posted by recruitment agents on one of the job boards before the New Year.
2. I received a callback from the recruitment agents in the first week of the New Year.
3. I was informed of a scheduled one-hour phone interview a week later.
4. The phone interview was successful and consisted largely of demonstrating 'ownership,' meaning I told the story of every role on my CV to the client, prompted by scenarios where the client wanted to gain a better understanding of my experiences.
5. A two-and-a-half-hour face-to-face interview with three colleagues in Reading followed a week later.
   • The first colleague, who would be my direct report on the client project I would be attached to, focused on real-life project scenarios.
   • The second colleague, the Software Testing Division Lead, assessed my logical thinking.
   • The third colleague, the Project Manager on the project I would be attached to, evaluated my team fit.

Questions from phone interview:

1. Tell me about your proudest role to date.
2. Tell me about challenges experienced on any projects and how you navigated the situation(s).
3. Typically, what size teams have you managed?
4. What would you say was the split of your responsibilities in previous roles?
5. Have you dealt with challenging clients and how did you handle it?
6. We tried to implement an automated test solution on one of our recent projects but found out too late it wouldn't work. What would you do to implement an automated test process? (Hint: I didn't even need to answer this question. I simply stated that before I could proceed with answering, I would appreciate it if he could explain what they previously tried that didn't work well. He did all the talking afterward and indirectly answered his own question. Check out Harvard Review's '5 Whys?' on YouTube.)
7. Here's a scenario on a project: You find a major defect with an app at the tail end of a project you're on and alert the PM. However, the PM, concerned about quality entry/exit criteria (e.g., no Severity 1s, 5 Severity 2s, etc.) set for the project, which might affect go-live/delivery timelines, requests that the new bug not be included on the burndown chart or list of found work for the project so that go-live isn't impacted. What do you do? (Hint: Emphasize achieving both – reporting every issue for the highest quality/investigation and delivering the project on time.)

I've found that talking about the relevant details of:

• Little details of my previous projects, e.g., the pattern of major issues resulting from 'Friday' deployments at a newspaper client.
• Everything I learned from pushing my daughter's buggy on the way to her creche, e.g., the stroll will take as fast or slow as I choose to walk.
• The book I'm reading, e.g., 'The Mythical Man-Month': That a woman delivers a baby in nine months does not mean three women will deliver the same baby in three months.
• My choir event last night, e.g., an uninvolved or inexperienced tenor singing soprano might cause a conflict of interest.
• The bitter relationship lessons I'm learning, e.g., must grow and share with my special one and home team.
• The holiday I had with my wife last month, e.g., the 'Date with Destiny' event attended in Florida.
• Racing with my Fitbit buddies, etc., e.g., realizing that though I love running and think it's easy for me, it really isn't easy. But that I've only learned how to accept the rituals I perform (stretch, lie awake for an hour before getting out of bed, stretch, conquer the fear, pick a destination and determine to get back; take no phone/money or bus pass, etc.) AND that if I was finding any aspects of my life difficult, I was probably underestimating the amount of rituals/work I needed to develop and get accustomed to.

This sort of stuff makes it a relationship. Say to yourself: "This person likes me; now, what have they just said, and how can I respond intelligently? Or, what can I say to entertain them about this subject?"

(1st colleague):

Fine-comb through my CV.

• Tell me what your recent projects have been about.
• Tell me how you achieved a 50% reduction of bugs on this project.
• Could you tell me how the webservice for this solution you were testing was implemented?
• Could you tell me how you achieved a 20% reduction in downtime on this project?
• How would you go about ensuring quality/standards on a project if you've inherited committed dates/timelines from a predecessor?
• How would you go about testing a similar instance of this service if there was no access to LIVE data?
• How would you set up your test rig if there were multiple security/access restrictions?

(2nd colleague):

[Scenario-based session on the whiteboard, to see how you think when on the spot/pressured]

1. First question: On one of my first projects here at MS, I'm told I've got 2 hours before I have to present a genius test solution for our client's million-pound project, given the following details:

   • Migration project where an identity management software was used to populate SAP (using Active Directory).
   • Two environment setups (test & PROD).
   • Like-live test data is available.
   • Personnel resources: Architect, one third-party test resource unfamiliar with the technology, client has an 8-man developer team offsite, you're on the team, systems support, network SME.

2. Second question: You're given a WPF application with a single text box that receives 2-digit numbers and processes them into a database on clicking a button. How would you test it (giving sample test data)?

(3rd colleague):

Agnostic to my CV, wanted to know about me and my journey.

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Tell me about your most challenging project.
3. Tell me about your largest team.
4. Tell me about your last project.
5. Have you worked on a project using XYZ component/feature/technology/DB/ERP tool etc. that we're using on this project?
6. What's your current availability?
7. When did/does your current contract come to an end?
8. Why did your current contract come to an end?
9. When can you start?