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Uber

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QA interview loop at Uber

Difficulty 8/10
  1. 1

    API + SQL round

    45–60 min

    REST verbs, contract testing, JSON assertions, joins, window functions.

  2. 2

    Automation deep-dive

    60 min

    Selenium/Playwright architecture, waits, POM vs screenplay, flaky test triage.

  3. 3

    QA fundamentals

    45 min

    Test design, boundary/equivalence, defect life-cycle, severity vs priority.

  4. 4

    Bar-raiser / hiring manager

    45 min

    Ownership stories, on-call incidents, leading quality without authority.

  5. 5

    Recruiter screen

    20–30 min

    Compensation, notice period, why QA, why this company.

Median time-to-offer from peer reports: ~14 days. Prep with our QA interview question bank.

Green flags to look for

  • Test environments look like prod — not last quarter's snapshot.
  • QA is invited to grooming, not handed a finished spec.
  • Bug reports get triaged inside 24h with a named owner.
  • SDETs and manual testers get the same career ladder.

Red flags to grill in your loop

  • Manual regression cycles longer than the sprint itself.
  • PMs push scope changes on the day of release.
  • Only QA is on the release call at 11pm.
  • "We'll add tests later" — later never arrives.

QA tech stack signals

PlaywrightSeleniumPostman / APIJenkinsSQLGit

Common industry defaults — replace with peer-reported stack as reviews arrive.

Live culture signals

  • Fresh reviews (90 days)0
  • Would-recommend rate
  • Culture vs site average
  • Est. time-to-offer~14 days

Questions testers reported being asked

  • Case design

    Given a spec, write 6 test cases for the login endpoint — happy, negative, boundary, security.

  • Judgement

    How do you decide what NOT to automate?

  • Architecture

    Explain the trade-offs between Page Object Model and Screenplay pattern.

  • Release

    You have 15 minutes before a release and one flaky E2E — quarantine or block? Defend it.

  • SQL

    Write SQL to find users who placed 3 or more orders in the last 30 days.

  • API

    What signals in an API response would make you fail a test even if status is 200?

Insider FAQ — before you accept

What does the QA interview loop actually look like here?

Based on peer reports, expect a recruiter screen, a QA fundamentals round, an automation deep-dive (Selenium/Playwright), an API + SQL round, and a hiring-manager conversation. Ask the recruiter upfront whether there is a live coding round — that single question changes how you prep.

Do QA engineers here own test strategy or just execute it?

Look for it in the reviews below. A healthy signal: testers are in grooming, own the test plan, and can veto a release. A weaker signal: QA gets a finished spec and a deadline. Ask in your loop: 'Show me the last release where QA said no.'

What automation stack should I brush up on before the interview?

Whatever the pros/cons below mention most. If nothing is listed yet, assume the industry default: Selenium or Playwright + a Java/JS/Python runner, Postman or RestAssured for API, Jenkins/GitHub Actions for CI. Warm up on flakiness, waits and parallelisation — that's where 70% of tough questions live.

Is manual testing respected or treated as a stepping-stone?

This is culture, not process. Skim the 'Cons' below for phrases like 'only automation gets promoted' or 'manual testers left out of design reviews'. If it's absent, treat that as neutral and ask directly in the loop.

How is on-call and release ownership handled for QA?

Ask specifically: who joins the release bridge, who signs off, and what happens at 11pm on a Friday if a critical bug surfaces. Reviews mentioning weekend releases or lone-QA sign-off are the loudest red flag on this page.

What salary band should a mid-level SDET target here?

Cross-check the QA salary guides linked in the prep kit above — bands vary by city and years of experience, but the recruiter almost always negotiates within a ±15% window of their internal grid. Anchor with data, not a wish.

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