Assume an environment or steps gap rather than a disagreement. Reproduce it again yourself and capture everything: exact build, environment, account state, data, browser, timestamps, network trace, video, and logs. Reduce it to the minimum reliable steps, then reopen with that evidence or pair with the developer directly. If it is intermittent, say so and give the actual frequency.
Why interviewers ask this
Interviewers use this to see how you handle friction with engineering, since a tester who escalates rather than investigating creates constant drag on a team. They want evidence gathering first and collaboration second. Mentioning that you would state the reproduction rate honestly for an intermittent issue, instead of insisting it always happens, signals professional credibility they can rely on.
How to structure your answer
- Treat it as an information gap, not a conflict.
- Reproduce again and capture full environment detail.
- Reduce to minimal reliable steps.
- Offer to pair or demonstrate directly.
- Be honest about intermittency and frequency.
Example answer
My first assumption is that we are looking at different things, not that anyone is wrong. So I reproduce it myself again, and this time capture everything: exact build number, environment, the account and its state, the data involved, browser and version, a screen recording, the network trace, and the timestamp so we can line it up with server logs. Then I strip the steps down to the smallest sequence that still triggers it, because a fifteen step reproduction often hides which step actually matters, and reducing it usually teaches me something. Very often that process reveals the real dependency, like it only happens for an account created before a migration, or only on the second submission within a session, and that detail is exactly what the developer needed. Then I reopen with the evidence attached, or better, I go and show them on my machine, which resolves it in five minutes far more often than a comment thread does. If it is genuinely intermittent I say that plainly, so it happened four times in twenty attempts, rather than claiming it always happens, because overstating it once costs credibility for a long time.
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See how it worksFollow-up questions to expect
- What would you do if it only reproduces in production?
- How would you handle a developer who repeatedly closes your bugs?
- How do you decide when an intermittent bug is worth chasing further?
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