Quality Engineer Interview Questions

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Are you comfortable with calling together meetings to discuss specific product quality issues as necessary? See answer
What were some of your quality control procedures in your previous place of employment? See answer
Have you ever had to deal with somebody not following quality standards? What did you do to resolve the situation? See answer
What is a Project Quality Plan, and why is it so important to have one made efficiently? See answer
Do you have experience working directly with customers and their products and resolving potential issues that they may encounter? See answer
Quality engineers use different kinds of tests to determine how their systems will behave under different conditions. They use this information to determine how various circumstances could impact the quality of their products or workflows. Successful quality engineers know when to implement various tests and what to look for in the results to improve operations. This question informs the interviewer about a candidate’s familiarity with common performance tests and their understanding of how they impact quality assurance.
How do you find the source of production flaws and investigate possible solutions?
How do you set quality control standards at the beginning of a project to prevent waste and refine company processes?
Have you ever worked on a project with poor quality control? What improvements would you have made?
Describe your process for maintaining quality when scaling up production.
How do you determine the severity and priority level of a quality defect?
What are the attributes of a successful quality assurance test and how would you apply the results to future tests?
What are test cases and how do you document them during the quality analysis cycle?
What is the difference between validation tests and verification tests?
Are you comfortable using system automation to facilitate quality tests and updates?

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6 Quality Engineer Interview Questions and Answers

Q:

Are you comfortable with calling together meetings to discuss specific product quality issues as necessary?

A:

In the event of an emergency, a quality engineer may need to speak with the rest of the team regarding certain quality control issues. In some environments, this is not even done in an emergency. A good candidate should be comfortable with public speaking and collaborating, especially as a part of a weekly or monthly report. Knowing that the potential candidate has experience in this field can be invaluable.

What to look for in an answer:

Experience with public speaking
Experience addressing quality control issues in the past
Ability to adhere to the company’s meeting etiquette

Example:

“I have experience with leading meetings around quality control issues at my previous employment, and my meetings have resulted in immediate material rollbacks and improvements.”

Q:

What were some of your quality control procedures in your previous place of employment?

A:

Familiarity with standard procedures in the field are mandatory in a potential candidate. You want your quality engineer to know how quality tests work as well as how material-specific monitoring works, and there may be any number of additional responsibilities that you may want them to stay on top of. Things such as quality-oriented training procedures and quality-specific customer services can all be invaluable, especially if you are thinking about expanding your operations.

What to look for in an answer:

Familiarity with standard quality control systems and procedures
Additional background in quality-control staff training
Ability to delegate related tasks

Example:

“In addition to handling quality control testing on all of our materials, I handled training employees for our material-testing specifications during regularly scheduled intervals.”

Q:

Have you ever had to deal with somebody not following quality standards? What did you do to resolve the situation?

A:

This question is vital, as it offers insight into the candidate’s character from a managerial and departmental perspective. You can learn more about how the candidates would lead if they are in charge of training or how they may help uphold the culture of the workplace with their peers. Look for quality engineer candidates who display diligence and responsibility in making sure that their peers are up to standard.

What to look for in an answer:

Exhibition of initiative in stressful situations
Understanding of the required quality standards
Holds others to the required standards to maximize safety

Example:

“When I was in management at my previous workplace, I had to let an employee go for failing to meet quality standards for our products.”

Q:

What is a Project Quality Plan, and why is it so important to have one made efficiently?

A:

This is a vital question that any quality engineer should be able to answer. The Project Quality Plan is one of the most important documents that all staff members should stay on top of in any production or construction project. It is essentially the guidelines of the project, as it establishes a number of deliverable materials and standard work procedures. Don’t work with a candidate who cannot identify a PQP.

What to look for in an answer:

Understands the importance of a PQP
Knowledge of what goes into its development
Ability to decipher the information within as required

Example:

“The Project Quality Plan dictates standard procedures and materials used in projects, and it’s important because it sets the standards for all work to follow.”

Q:

Do you have experience working directly with customers and their products and resolving potential issues that they may encounter?

A:

Depending on the specific operations that you have planned, it is a good idea for you to work with a quality engineer who can speak with your clients directly. Businesses that specialize in specific products can have their quality engineers speak with the customers directly and take their feedback into immediate consideration. If the candidate is able to do this, then he or she can be a tremendous asset for your business.

What to look for in an answer:

Experience working with clients directly
Ability to efficiently handle customer criticism
Ability to redirect customer feedback to the appropriate channels

Example:

“I used to work with our clients directly, and I always listened to their feedback to learn more about how we could improve our products.”

Q:

Quality engineers use different kinds of tests to determine how their systems will behave under different conditions. They use this information to determine how various circumstances could impact the quality of their products or workflows. Successful quality engineers know when to implement various tests and what to look for in the results to improve operations. This question informs the interviewer about a candidate's familiarity with common performance tests and their understanding of how they impact quality assurance.

A:

Some elements of a successful answer are:

Project management skills
Logical thinking
Knowledge of quality analysis testing types

This response emphasizes the candidate's experience with running tests as part of the development process:

Example:

"Load tests assess the accuracy and output of a system when operating in standard conditions. They ensure that the system can handle the anticipated demand. Stress tests observe how the system behaves when it has limited resources and increased demands. You should perform load testing first then complete a stress test to identify the maximum capabilities for planning future growth."

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