Advanced Level Test Manager (ATM-ISTQB) Interview Questions

Earning the Advanced Level Test Manager (ATM-ISTQB) certification delivers great value to you and your software testing career, with a rock-solid foundation for professional growth. You need to have a deep understanding of the testing process, improved test management, test methods, and techniques. Moreover, you must have hands-on expertise in handling any kind of technical issues that come your way. 

The Advanced Level Test Manager (ATM-ISTQB) certificate is meant to be proof of your knowledge in the software testing domain. But now, you’ll need to show that your skills are solid and that you can communicate elegantly, to pass the last hurdle successfully – the interview.  We are here to help you stay competitive in your domain. Here’s a list of Advanced Level Test Manager (ATM-ISTQB) interview questions that might come up during the interview. So go through them and do your best!

Our interview questions are designed to be short and precise. They are easy to read, understand and remember. We have also made sure that they reflect the actual questions that appear in the Advanced Level Test Manager (ATM-ISTQB) exam. Therefore, while practicing with our questions, you’re getting well prepared for the actual interview.

Can you describe your experience leading and managing software testing projects?

I have managed multiple software testing projects and have led teams of testers to ensure that software systems are thoroughly tested before deployment. I have experience in planning and executing testing activities, establishing test metrics, and reporting test results to stakeholders. Further, I have also applied various testing methodologies and techniques to ensure the delivery of high-quality software products.

How have you used risk-based testing in your projects?

I have used risk-based testing to prioritize testing efforts and allocate resources based on the potential impact of defects. This approach involves identifying and assessing the risks associated with different areas of the software system and then targeting testing efforts to the areas with the highest risk. By focusing on high-risk areas, I have been able to ensure that critical defects are detected and resolved before they can cause significant problems.

Can you discuss your experience with test automation?

I have extensive experience in test automation, including the design, implementation, and maintenance of automated test scripts. I have used various test automation tools, such as Selenium and Appium, to automate functional, regression, and performance testing. Also, I have also led teams to implement continuous testing practices and integrated automated tests into the software development life cycle to ensure that software is tested quickly and thoroughly with each code change.

How have you managed test environments and test data for your projects?

I have experience in managing test environments and test data, including the configuration and maintenance of test environments, the creation of test data sets, and the provisioning of test data to test teams. I have also developed processes to ensure the consistency and accuracy of test data and have worked with stakeholders to establish test data management policies.

Can you describe your experience with performance testing?

I have experience in performance testing, including the design, implementation, and execution of performance tests. I have used various performance testing tools, such as JMeter and LoadRunner, to test the performance of software systems under different loads and conditions. Further, I have also analyzed test results to identify performance bottlenecks and worked with development teams to resolve performance issues.

Can you describe your experience with test estimation and budgeting?

1. Requirements analysis: Thoroughly analyze requirements to understand the scope of testing.
2. Test planning: Develop a comprehensive test plan that outlines testing activities, resources, and timeline.
3. Risk assessment: Assess potential risks to testing schedule and budget and plan accordingly.
4. Test case estimation: Estimate the number of test cases required to cover requirements and allocate time and budget accordingly.
5. Resource estimation: Estimate the number of testers, tools, and other resources required for testing.
6. Cost estimation: Estimate the total cost of testing, including personnel, equipment, and other expenses.
7. Schedule development: Develop a detailed testing schedule and allocate budget accordingly.
8. Continuous monitoring: Continuously monitor the project status and adjust testing activities, budget, and timeline as needed.
9. Regular review: Regularly review test estimation and budgeting to identify areas of improvement and make necessary adjustments.

How have you used testing tools and techniques to improve efficiency and effectiveness of testing processes?

1. Automated testing: Use automated testing tools to reduce manual effort and increase test coverage.
2. Test management tools: Use test management tools to organize and track test cases, defects, and test results.
3. Continuous integration and delivery: Implement continuous integration and delivery to automate and streamline the build and deployment process.
4. Test design techniques: Apply structured test design techniques, such as equivalence partitioning, boundary value analysis, and decision tables, to design effective and efficient test cases.
5. Test data management: Use test data management tools to manage and maintain test data effectively.
6. Performance testing: Use performance testing tools to measure and optimize system performance under different load conditions.
7. Code coverage tools: Use code coverage tools to measure the extent to which code is tested and identify untested code.
8. Root cause analysis: Use root cause analysis techniques to identify the underlying cause of defects and prevent reoccurrence.

Advanced Level Test Manager (ATM-ISTQB) Interview Questions

Can you discuss your experience with managing and mentoring a team of testers?

1. Team management: Define roles and responsibilities, delegate tasks, and manage team performance.
2. Resource allocation: Allocate resources and prioritize tasks based on project requirements.
3. Mentorship: Provide guidance, training, and feedback to team members to help them grow professionally.
4. Communication: Foster open and effective communication within the team and with stakeholders.
5. Process improvement: Continuously evaluate and improve testing processes to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
6. Conflict resolution: Address and resolve conflicts within the team in a professional and timely manner.
7. Performance evaluation: Regularly evaluate team performance and provide constructive feedback to drive improvement.
8. Career development: Encourage and support team members in their career development goals.

How have you dealt with challenging and complex testing situations, such as lack of requirements or changes in project scope?

1. Clarification: Seek clarification from stakeholders on requirements and scope changes.
2. Risk assessment: Assess potential impact of changes on testing schedule, budget and quality.
3. Adaptation: Adapt testing strategy and approach to accommodate changes.
4. Documentation: Document changes and their impact on test plan and test cases.
5. Communication: Communicate changes and their impact to relevant parties.
6. Collaboration: Collaborate with development team to ensure changes are integrated and tested effectively.
7. Continuous monitoring: Continuously monitor the project status and adjust testing activities accordingly.

Can you explain your understanding of software development methodologies and their impact on testing?

Yes, I can explain my understanding of software development methodologies and their impact on testing. Software development methodologies refer to the process or approach used to develop software. Examples include Agile, Waterfall, and DevOps. These methodologies have a significant impact on testing as they dictate the development timeline and testing approach. For example, in Agile, testing is integrated into the development process, allowing for quick feedback and continuous improvement. In Waterfall, testing is a separate phase, which can impact the overall timeline and efficiency of the development process. Understanding the software development methodology is crucial for effective testing and ensuring quality software.

How have you ensured software quality and continuous improvement in the testing process?

I have ensured software quality and continuous improvement in the testing process by:

1. Developing and maintaining a test strategy that aligns with the project goals and objectives.
2. Defining and implementing best practices for testing, such as continuous integration and automated testing.
3. Establishing quality metrics and KPIs to measure the effectiveness of the testing process.
4. Continuously reviewing and refining testing processes and techniques to identify areas for improvement.
5. Building a culture of quality by promoting collaboration and communication among cross-functional teams.
6. Encouraging the use of innovative testing tools and techniques to streamline and optimize the testing process.
7. Regularly seeking feedback from stakeholders to understand their needs and expectations, and incorporate their feedback into the testing process.

1. What are the different types of software testing?

There are mainly two types of software testing –

• Black-box testing – It is a software testing method that involves tests performed on an application without having any knowledge of internal structures.
• White-box testing –It takes a deeper look at the program. The developer checks every nook and cranny to ensure that every function is working at its best. 

2. How would you perform black-box testing?

Black box or high-level testing is used by developers to ensure the robustness of their software. It is one of the most challenging testing techniques. The tester uses a software program to perform various studies on software in order to ensure they work as expected. It is not based on how the program works internally, but on how it interacts with different system components and underlying hardware.

3. How would you perform white-box testing?

White box testing is based on a pyramid technique that divides a program into components and sub-units, then tests each of these separably. White-box ensures that your app can be used with ease by focusing on the components that make up the application. In simple words, it focuses on the internal structure of an application to determine whether the code works as intended.

4. As an Advanced Level Test Manager, what do you verify in the white-box testing?

The below-mentioned steps are verified, in white-box testing:

1. Firstly, the security holes in the code
2. Incomplete or broken paths in the code
3. Then, the flow of structure according to the document specification
4. Also, the expected outputs
5. All conditional loops in the code, for checking the complete functionality of the application
6. Last but not the least, the line by line coding 

5. What amount of testing is enough according to you?

If you ask me, testing is an endless journey. Testing contains its own set of core principles and values which are always changing as the world keeps on changing. It isn’t just about making sure that an application works, but it’s also about determining the risks you take when deciding whether to release the software. It is a continuous process of detecting and reducing cost, improving efficiency, maximizing capabilities, meeting customer needs, ensuring compliance standards

6. Can you tell the difference between errors, and faults?

An error is the result of an action that produces a fault. Errors are injected into all types of deliverables by any person involved in development activities. It occurs when you, as a software developer, tester, or user makes an action that causes a fault in the deliverable being produced. Programming errors are introduced during the creation of program code. These errors or mistakes create faults that then need to be fixed by a programmer. 

7. Why do you think software testing is necessary?

Software testing is the process of conducting a set of activities involving the operation of program code, to detect errors and other defects. It can help you gain confidence in your software, increase customer satisfaction, and lower the cost of fixing defects. 

Testing needs to be seen as more than finding bugs. It should also prevent their occurrence. A modern view of open source software development testing has emerged in recent years, focused on preventing and/or removing faults from source code at various stages of the development life cycle.

8. How would you distinguish between a bug, defect, error, failure, fault, and mistake?

The terms error holds the same meaning as a mistake. Similarly, the terms, bug, defect, and fault hold the same meaning. An error made by a human being can produce defects or faults in an application, which can cause the failure of an otherwise functional software application.

9. Can you tell the difference between static and dynamic testing?

Static testing is execution-free testing that uses software documentation rather than the actual code. While the test code has to be executable so that the dynamic testing can be performed.

10.  What type of testing would you apply for Web testing?

A smooth-running web application depends on thorough testing. Performing and security testing are mandatory. A web application is highly vulnerable to security issues including virus attacks because it works on the Internet and uses many kinds of software. Therefore, it’s important to test a web application with security testing procedures. 

Moreover, a web server can respond to many users at once. These users might be accessing the program from different computers all over the world, but to the machine, they all look alike. Therefore, load and stress testing are equally important to test the capability of handling traffic parameters, especially for web applications. Various tools are available in the market that is capable of testing the functional aspects by simulating user behaviors.

11. Can you elaborate the different test planning activities?

In the process of test planning, several steps are involved. Following are these steps:

• Firstly, we need to decide the purpose of testing, and also the scope of planned testing
• Secondly, we must know how to approach the testing, like defining both, the entry and and the exit criteria of testing
• Then, the feature of application which must be tested, and by what resource. Such decisions can be taken after finalizing the approach
• Once we finalize the resources,the schedule for the test design sessions can be discussed among testers
• After the test designing, we can choose the tools for the required testing feature
• Thereafter all testers who are responsible for their feature must report their current process of testing
• Finally, once testing is finished, the respective testers can produce the exit reports with their functionalities

12. What information do you find relevant to be included in a bug report?

The tester’s bug report is the culmination of all the efforts the tester put into his/her testing process. There are several points that should be included in the bug report:

• Firstly, the summary of the defect
• The time period when the defect was found and the issue was raised
• The reporter of the defect
• Also, the severity of the defect
• The component to which the defect is assigned
• Further, the description of the defect, along with steps to reproduce it
• Finally, any relevant screenshot to be attached, if necessary

13. Can you name the different categories of debugging?

There are five categories for debugging, namely:

• Brute force debugging
• Backtracking
• Cause elimination
• Program Slicing
• Fault tree analysis

14. Can you elaborate the three main categories of defects?

• Wrong: Occurs when the requirements are not correctly implemented
• Missing: Occurs when there is a variance from the original specification. It indicates that your product is not functioning as it was originally intended. 
• Extra: Any requirement that was not issued by the customer during the development stage but one which is, however, considered to be a defect because it did not meet the quality standard – its aim was not achieved.

15. Describe the testing techniques available? What are their individual purpose?

In its most basic form, testing techniques seek to address two points: reduce the number of test cases and identify defects.

• Equivalence partitioning: It is one of several useful techniques, which can help you to achieve your goals. Partitioning helps you reduce the number of test cases by identifying unique data sets and only executing the test cases that apply to those unique data sets.
• State Transition testing: It is a technique for verifying the behavior of a system. It uses input data to check if allowable states are reached, and if disallowed states are never present. The transitions from one state to another are also checked.
• Boundary value analysis: It is used to more clearly understand the behavior and capabilities of a system by placing boundaries on the data and then understanding the behavior that results.

16. What is the simplest way for testing the login feature of any web application?

A web application’s login feature can be tested in a variety of ways: 

• Firstly, by performing a sign-in with a valid login, and then signing-out and then again going back to the login page, and checking if you have been logged out of the system
• Secondly, signing in with a valid login, and then closing and reopening the browser and verifying if you are still logged in
• Another way is by signing in from one browser, and opening another browser window, and testing if signing in again is needed
• Last but not the least, by signing in with a valid login and changing the password, and logging out. Then checking if you can log in using the older password

17. How would you describe Adhoc Testing?

The term “ad hoc testing” is used in software development and systems engineering to describe the process of organizing resources to perform an unplanned test. It involves the quick creation of a procedure to test something, often based on what was learned during a previous test. They do not tend to go through documentation and are intended to be run only once unless a defect is discovered, in which case it would need to be re-run. Ad hoc tests are the least formal of all testing methods.

18. How would you explain Accessibility Testing?

Accessibility testing aims to remove the barriers between your users and the content or services you provide. Accessibility testing will make sure your website doesn’t exclude anyone. It’s about making sure your code is compatible with a variety of devices, browsers, and abilities. Further, all users should be able to enjoy your application. An easy way to do that is to ensure your app is accessible to all types of people with disabilities, such as vision impairment and hearing impairment.

19. Can you elaborate what is an Acceptance testing?

The purpose of acceptance testing is to validate that the system satisfies the business requirements and deliverables, finishing up with an acceptable product. It aims to evaluate regular operations like right interactions and data processing.

20. What is the Test-driven development method?

When you develop code, it’s important to have some way to check that your code does what the customer expects. Test-driven development is an approach where the test cases for a class or function are considered first before any implementation is done. Test-driven development is a software development practice that puts a big focus on testing. Essentially, it means building software by first writing automated tests. An important goal of test-driven development is to make the act of testing easy and fun.

21. What, in your knowledge, is an Automated Testing?

Automated testing is a process in which software is developed to test and validate other software. As organizations attempt more projects in a shorter amount of time, automated testing increases efficiency and reliability. 

22. Can you define Beta Testing?

Beta testing is a vital aspect of the software development lifecycle. It aims to ensure that the customers are happy with the product and it functions as per your requirements.

23. What is the Bottom Up Testing method?

Bottom-up testing is a type of integration testing where you start by integrating low-level modules to see if they work, and then you work your way up to higher-level modules until you have built the entire application.

24. Can you define Agile testing?

Agile Software Testing is a methodology that uses the best practices and techniques of Agile development. This type of software testing often happens concurrently with development, rather than in a step-by-step fashion.  By following Agile principles in testing, projects are able to deliver more quickly without sacrificing quality.

25. How will you distinguish  between the Test, and the Traceability matrix?

• Test Matrix: When planning, estimating and tracking software test projects, the test matrix is used to capture quality, effort, plan (resources, and time) for all testing phases.
• Traceability Matrix: For each test case, you map where it will be executed and whether it covers customer requirements. This is known as the traceability matrix.

26. How will you explain what desktop application testing is?

Desktop App Testing is a continuous testing practice that ensures the app works on all operating systems, browsers, and environments. It involves security, usability, and compatibility testing to ensure the highest quality and reliability of your app. Also, as part of the desktop app testing process, it is important to verify if a desktop application can be easily installed, or if any error occurs during the process.

27. What is the simplest way to verify the results of your search on the search results page?

• Firstly, we need to ensure the source of the data, whether it is coming from a database or from  some XML files from a third party website
• After, collecting the data source, we can start comparing the results displayed on the result page with the results from the source
• We can also use mocks for generating the data, for fully controlling what we see on the search results page

28. Can you tell what is the basic distinction between verification and validation?

Verification is an essential term in the software industry. This process helps us to evaluate a product according to the expectations we have set.  From quality control testing to manual code review and more, Verification by Synopsys helps you verify your software against requirements. 

Validation is the process of testing software after development has been completed, to verify that it meets customer requirements. The validation cycle involves establishing which requirement has been met by the software and what modifications need to be made to improve the software.

29. Can you mention one difference between Retesting and Data-Driven Testing?

Retesting: When you fix a bug, it is important to test whether it is fixed or not. This can be done by retesting the bug.

Data-Driven Testing (DDT): It is the process of executing a software module or application with varying input data and comparing actual outcomes to predicted outcomes.

28. What do you understand by Application Programming Interface (API)?

API is a set of tools that allows you to easily connect different services and send data between them. An API makes it easy to connect to and use our services. Using the platform, you can upload files, create boards, and write teams all from your own application.

Final Words

With the Advanced Level Test Manager (ATM-ISTQB) certification, you will become a recognized expert in software testing, with a solid foundation that will make you the go-to person on your team. So kick start your career in software testing by adding expertise to your testing management portfolio. 

It is natural that when you study for an exam, you will also look for practice tests in order to gain the right kind of knowledge as well as develop the required skills. In our effort to help you pass your Advanced Level Test Manager exam, we provide numerous practice tests for FREE!!

Go take the Advance Level Test Manager (ATM-ISTQB) practice tests, and get ready to crack the exam in the first go!