Current Designation: Lead Automation QA Engineer
Applied Through: Third-Party Recruiter - Naukri

Round 1 – Technical Interview

Duration: ~1 Hour

Panel:

• APE – QA

Experience

The interviewer joined late and appeared to still be looking for a room/place to take the interview from. The camera remained off throughout the session.

The discussion started with questions about the products and domains I had worked on. However, I found it difficult to explain my answers in detail because the interviewer frequently moved to the next question before I could complete my explanation or provide sufficient context.

A significant amount of time was spent on payment gateway testing. I clearly mentioned multiple times that I had not worked directly on testing payment gateway implementations. Despite this, the conversation repeatedly returned to the same topic, which consumed a considerable portion of the interview.

Another discussion point was around automation framework design and test strategy. One particular point that stood out was the interviewer's view that atomic tests are a bad practice. This was surprising to me, as it was the first time in my 7 years of experience that I had encountered such a strong stance against atomic test design.

Overall, the discussion felt more like a series of disconnected questions than a structured technical evaluation.

Topics Discussed

• Product Testing
• Domain Experience
• Payment Gateway Testing
• Automation Framework Design
• Test Strategy
• Atomic Tests

Coding Assessment

With approximately 5 minutes remaining in the interview, the interviewer shared the following LeetCode problem:

Coding Question

• Remove All Adjacent Duplicates in String II (LeetCode #1209)

Before starting, I asked whether a brute-force solution would be acceptable given the limited time remaining or if an optimized solution was expected.

I asked this question twice and did not receive a response.

Given that only a few minutes were left, I proceeded with a brute-force approach so that I could at least discuss the solution and trade-offs.

While I was coding, the interviewer appeared to be away from the discussion for part of the time. Near the end, he unmuted, asked me to scroll to the top of the code, briefly reviewed it, stated that the solution was incorrect, and then mentioned that he was done with the interview.

The interview ended immediately afterward without any further discussion regarding the approach, complexity, possible optimizations, or alternative solutions.

Verdict

❓ No Update Received

I never received any update from HR after the interview.

Based on the overall interview experience, I was not interested in pursuing the opportunity further and therefore did not follow up for feedback or status updates.

The interview had been arranged through a third-party recruiter, and I shared my experience with them after the interview.

I never received an official rejection or any further communication from the company.