Selenium Top 50 Automation Interview Questions and Answers (Basic to Advanced with Real-Time Examples) – Part-2

 


                                                    
26. How do you validate broken links using Selenium?

Answer:

• Collect all links using findElements(By.tagName("a")).
• Get href attribute.
• Send HTTP request with Java/HttpURLConnection.
• If response code >= 400 → Broken link.

Example:
List<WebElement> links = driver.findElements(By.tagName("a"));
for(WebElement link : links){
    String url = link.getAttribute("href");
    HttpURLConnection conn = (HttpURLConnection)new URL(url).openConnection();
    conn.setRequestMethod("HEAD");
    if(conn.getResponseCode() >= 400){
        System.out.println(url + " is broken");
    }
}

Real-time Use:
In a banking web app, I validated all "Help" and "FAQ" links to ensure no broken references before go-live.

27. What automation framework have you worked on? Can you explain its architecture?

Answer:
I worked on a Hybrid Selenium Framework (combination of Data-Driven + POM + TestNG).

📌 Components included:

• TestNG → Test execution & reports
• POM/Page Factory → Code reusability & readability
• Data Handling → Excel, JSON, Properties files
• Utilities → For waits, logging, screenshots
• Listeners → For capturing failures
• CI/CD → Integrated with Jenkins

Real-time Example:
In my telecom Salesforce project, we used this framework to automate order-to-billing workflows. The framework reduced execution time by 40% compared to manual regression.

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28. How do you integrate Selenium with TestNG/JUnit?
Answer:

• Write test classes with @Test annotation.
  
• Use @BeforeMethod and @AfterMethod for setup/teardown.
  
• Run via TestNG XML file or JUnit runner.

Example (TestNG):

@Test

public void loginTest(){
   driver.get("https://app.com");
   Assert.assertEquals(driver.getTitle(), "Home");

}

Real-time Use:
We ran TestNG suites in Jenkins with parallel execution enabled, saving regression execution time.

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29. What are the advantages of TestNG over JUnit in Selenium?
Answer:

• TestNG XML → Better test configuration & grouping.
• Parallel Execution supported.
• Flexible Annotations (before/after suite, groups).
• Inbuilt Reporting.
• Data Provider for parameterization.

Real-time Example:
In my project, I grouped smoke and regression tests in TestNG XML and executed them separately during releases.

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30. How do you generate reports in Selenium?
Answer:

Options:

• TestNG default reports
• Extent Reports / Allure Reports (for rich HTML reports with screenshots)
  
• Jenkins plugin reports

Real-time Use:
I implemented Extent Reports in my framework. Each failed step captured a screenshot and was embedded in the HTML report for defect tracking.

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31. Have you integrated Selenium with CI/CD tools like Jenkins or GitLab? Explain.
Answer:

Yes. Steps:

• Push code to GitHub.
• Configure Jenkins Job → pull code via Git.
• Add build step → mvn test or TestNG suite.
• Configure email/slack notification for test results.

Real-time Example:
Our nightly regression suite ran in Jenkins at 2 AM. In the morning, the team received a mail with pass/fail summary + report link.

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32. How do you handle test data in your framework (Excel, JSON, DB, Properties file)?
Answer:

✅ Methods I used:

• Excel (Apache POI) → Large data sets.
  
• JSON → Structured test data.
  
• Properties File → Environment configs (URLs, credentials).
  
• Database Connection → Directly query DB for validation.

Real-time Example:
In a Salesforce integration project, customer data was stored in Excel. I used Apache POI to drive data-driven tests.

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33. What is Data Driven vs Keyword Driven vs Hybrid Framework? Which one have you implemented?
Answer:

• Data-Driven → Test data separated from scripts (Excel, CSV, DB).
  
• Keyword-Driven → Uses keywords (Login, Click, Verify) stored in Excel; scripts read and execute them.
  
• Hybrid → Combination of both + POM.

Real-time Example:
I implemented a Hybrid framework using POM + Data Driven + TestNG. It supported multiple environments and was scalable.

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34. How do you manage reusable components in your framework?
Answer:

• Create Utility classes for common methods like waits, dropdown selection, screenshots.
• Create Base class for driver setup & teardown.
• Store Locators in POM classes.

Example:

public class WaitUtils {
   public static void waitForVisible(WebDriver driver, By locator) {
    new WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(ExpectedConditions.visibilityOfElementLocated(locator));
  }
}

Real-time Use:
This reduced code duplication by 30% in my regression suite.

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35. How do you handle logging in Selenium? Have you used log4j or other tools?
Answer:
Yes, I implemented Log4j/SLF4J for logging.

• Info logs → Test steps
• Error logs → Failures
• Debug logs → For troubleshooting

Example:

private static Logger log = LogManager.getLogger(LoginTest.class);
log.info("Navigating to login page");
log.error("Login failed due to invalid credentials");

Real-time Use:
Logs helped developers reproduce failures quickly without running the script again.

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36. How do you handle parallel execution in Selenium?
Answer:

• TestNG → parallel="tests" or parallel="methods" in XML.
• Grid / Selenium Grid / Docker → Run tests across multiple machines/browsers.
• Cloud platforms → BrowserStack, SauceLabs.

Real-time Example:
I executed regression suite on BrowserStack across Chrome, Firefox, and Safari in parallel, which reduced test cycle time from 4 hours to 1.5 hours.

37. If your script is failing randomly, how will you debug and fix it?

Answer:

Steps I follow:

• Check waits → Often caused by synchronization issues.
  
• Review locators → Might be dynamic or incorrect.
  
• heck test data → Data may have changed.
  
• Check environment → Sometimes staging/QA environments are unstable.
  
• Add logging & screenshots → To see exact failure point.

Real-time Example:
My checkout script in an e-commerce app failed randomly. I found that the “Place Order” button loaded late due to AJAX. Fixed it with Explicit Wait and it became stable.

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38. How do you verify that an element is visible and clickable?
Answer:

•    Use isDisplayed() to check visibility.
•     Use ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable().

Example:

WebDriverWait wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, 10);
wait.until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.id("submitBtn")));

Real-time Use:
In Salesforce, “Save” button was disabled until mandatory fields were filled. I used this check before clicking.

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39. How do you automate dropdowns (single-select & multi-select)?
Answer:

Use Select class.

Select dropdown = new Select(driver.findElement(By.id("country")));
dropdown.selectByVisibleText("India");   // Single-select
dropdown.selectByIndex(2);               // Multi-select

Real-time Example:
In a telecom app, I automated country and plan selection dropdowns. For multi-select, I validated all selected options using getAllSelectedOptions().

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40. How do you handle tooltips in Selenium?
Answer:

Tooltips are usually in title attribute.

String tooltip = driver.findElement(By.id("help")).getAttribute("title");
If it’s a custom tooltip (hover), use Actions class.
Actions action = new Actions(driver);
action.moveToElement(element).perform();

Real-time Example:
I validated tooltip messages in Salesforce help icons using attribute extraction.

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41. How do you scroll down/up using Selenium?
Answer:

Use JavaScriptExecutor.

((JavascriptExecutor)driver).executeScript("window.scrollBy(0,500)");
Or scroll to an element:((JavascriptExecutor)driver).executeScript("arguments[0].scrollIntoView(true);", element);

Real-time Example:
In my project, error messages appeared at the bottom of the form. I scrolled into view before capturing screenshots.

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42. How do you drag and drop an element?
Answer:
Use Actions class.

Actions action = new Actions(driver);
action.dragAndDrop(source, target).build().perform();

Real-time Example:
In a Kanban board application, I tested dragging tasks from “To Do” to “In Progress” column.

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43. How to handle calendars/date pickers in Selenium?
Answer:

• If it’s a text field → Directly sendKeys("2025-09-07").
• If it’s a UI date picker → Loop through months/days until desired date is found.

Example:

while(!driver.findElement(By.className("ui-datepicker-month")).getText().equals("September")) {

    driver.findElement(By.xpath("//a[@title='Next']")).click();

}

driver.findElement(By.xpath("//a[text()='7']")).click();

Real-time Example:
In a booking app, I automated selecting a journey date 3 months ahead by navigating the calendar widget.

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44. How do you assert page title and page URL?
Answer:

Use TestNG/JUnit assertions.

Assert.assertEquals(driver.getTitle(), "Dashboard");
Assert.assertTrue(driver.getCurrentUrl().contains("dashboard"));

Real-time Example:
In Salesforce, after login, I validated that the title contained “Home | Salesforce” to confirm login success.

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45. How do you validate text present on a webpage?
Answer:

• Locate element and get text → getText().
• Use assertion.

Example:

String msg = driver.findElement(By.id("successMsg")).getText();
Assert.assertEquals(msg, "Order placed successfully");

Real-time Example:
I validated success/error messages after order submission in a telecom application.

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46. What steps do you take when your test suite execution time is too high?
Answer:

• Run tests in parallel.
• Identify redundant test cases and remove duplicates.
• Use headless browsers for faster execution.
• Optimize locators & waits.
• Categorize tests (Smoke, Sanity, Regression).

Real-time Example:
Our regression suite initially took 6 hours. After parallelizing on Selenium Grid, execution time reduced to 2 hours.

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47. How do you handle test cases that fail only in CI but pass locally?

Answer:

This usually happens due to environment differences. Steps I take

• Check browser/driver versions in CI vs local.   
  
• Check browser/driver versions in CI vs local.
  
• Add waits – CI is slower due to shared resources.
  
• Check resolution settings – CI may run in headless or lower resolution.
  
• Review test data – Sometimes test data is missing in CI DB.
  
• Review logs & screenshots from CI run.

Real-time Example:
In Jenkins, my login test failed but worked locally. I discovered the issue was due to headless Chrome not handling animations well. Fixed it by adding --disable-gpu in ChromeOptions.

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48. What challenges have you faced in Selenium automation, and how did you overcome them?
Answer:

Some common challenges I faced:

• Dynamic elements → Solved with robust XPaths and waits.
  
• Captcha/OTP → Handled via API/DB fetch instead of UI.
  
• Stale Element Exceptions → Solved with re-locating elements.
  
• CI/CD failures → Fixed with headless browser configs and retries.

Real-time Example:
In Salesforce Lightning UI, elements often refreshed dynamically. I overcame this by writing a custom wait utility for visibility + clickability checks, which improved stability by 25%.

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49. How do you decide what to automate and what not to automate?
Answer:
Criteria I use:
✅ Automate when →

• Test is repetitive & stable
• Test has large data sets
• Test is critical for regression
• Test needs multiple environment runs

❌ Avoid automating when →

• Feature is still evolving
• Validation requires visual/manual judgment
• Scenarios involve Captcha, handwriting, biometric inputs

Real-time Example:
In telecom CRM, I automated order processing, billing, and reporting but left Captcha verification for login as manual.

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50. Have you worked with APIs in your automation framework? How did you integrate them with Selenium?
Answer:

Yes, I integrated REST Assured with Selenium.

• Used Selenium for UI validations.
• Used REST Assured for backend data validation.

Example:

Response res = given().get("https://api.myapp.com/orders/123");
Assert.assertEquals(res.getStatusCode(), 200);

Real-time Example:
When placing an order, I used Selenium to submit the form, then used API validation to confirm the order was actually created in the backend before asserting UI.

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51. How do you ensure your test cases are maintainable and scalable?
Answer:

Best practices I follow:

• Implement POM + Page Factory for reusable locators.
• Maintain test data externally (Excel/JSON/DB).
• Use utility/helper classes for common actions.
• Apply naming conventions and proper folder structure.
• Regular refactoring to remove duplicates.
• Run parallel tests with TestNG/Selenium Grid.

Real-time Example:
In my Salesforce project, new features were added frequently. By following POM + modular design, only locator files needed updates, not the whole scripts — saving huge effort.

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