How to Test a Pencil for QA Interview: 11 crazy ways

If you&#;re applying for a QA position, you&#;ll likely be asked how you&#;d test specific items to ensure quality products. One of the items you might be asked to test is a pencil. In this article, we&#;ll get inside a hiring manager&#;s mind to give tips on how to test a pencil in an interview. The hiring manager will look for your ability to think critically and come up with solutions to problems, such as how to check that the pencil lead is sharp enough or whether there are any cracks in the wood. So, what are the most common ways to test a pencil? 

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1. Figure out if the pencil is made of wood, plastic, graphite, or something else

The first step is to determine the material of the pencil. Is it wood, plastic, graphite, or something else? To do this, you&#;ll need to look at the material composition of the pencil. If it&#;s made of wood, you&#;ll want to check that the wood is good quality and that there aren&#;t any splinters. If it&#;s made of plastic, you&#;ll want to check that the plastic is good quality and that there aren&#;t any cracks. If it&#;s made of graphite, you&#;ll want to check that the graphite is good quality and that there aren&#;t any breakages. Next, you&#;ll want to sharpen the pencil. Does it sharpen easily without much effort? If so, the company must make quality pencils. After sharpening, does the point get worn down quickly? Or does it stay pointed for a long time? These are all tests you can perform or describe to a hiring manager! And we&#;re just getting started. Keep reading as we dive deeper! 

2. Check the hardness

Once your pencil is sharp, you can perform this test to check its hardness. Take the pencil and press it into your skin. If the pencil leaves a mark, it&#;s too soft and won&#;t write well. If the pencil does not leave a mark, it&#;s too hard and will break easily. The perfect pencil will leave a light mark on your skin. Next, test the lead. When testing a pencil&#;s lead, you should draw a line using light pressure. If the lead wears down with just one or two strokes, it&#;s too soft and will not provide enough writing material. On the other hand, if the point is still very sharp after one or two strokes, it&#;s too hard and may cause paper tears due to its brittle quality.

3. Look at the lead under different light sources

One of the most important aspects of quality assurance is ensuring that products are consistent and meet customer expectations. To test a pencil for quality assurance, you&#;ll want to inspect the lead under different light sources. Inspecting your pencil in different lighting will help you identify any inconsistencies in the lead and make sure your pencil meets customer expectations for length of use and reliability. What if this is the only pencil the user expects to own for the next five years? You can consider this case too! If there&#;s no consistency, then the pencil may not be worth buying or using because it won&#;t be reliable. 

4. Test it on various surfaces

One of the most important things you can do when testing a pencil is to see how the pencil functions on different materials. Try writing with your pencil on paper, sandpaper, ice, wood, plastic, and glass. Each surface will provide different feedback that can be helpful in your Quality Assurance job interview. Of course, the pencil will not work well on glass, but you should check your requirements and confirm. Testing the pencil on different surfaces is an essential part of any functional test suite. 

5. Sketch with it

For this test, get yourself a pencil and some paper. Draw a simple picture with your pencil and paper. Once you have your drawing, take a piece of sandpaper and rub it over the entire drawing. Inspect the results closely. Next, take the pencil and draw on a piece of ice. Again, look at the results closely. Finally, test the pencil on different surfaces like wood, plastic, and glass. Pay attention to how well the lead transfers to each surface. This is important information to know when quality assuring a pencil in an interview setting! You may think, &#;Hey, I don&#;t usually bring ice and sandpaper to a job interview! How do I test it then?&#; You can simply describe these approaches to an interviewer. Descriptions like these will show your interviewer how creative you are as a tester! 

6. Compare it to another pencil

The pencil you use for your Quality Assurance job interview should be made of wood, have a good eraser, and have a standard lead. It should also be easy to sharpen. The best way to test a pencil&#;s quality is to compare it to another pencil. Not all pencils are made alike! For comparison, you can use a well-known pencil brand with a proven track record and plenty of users. You can see the length and thickness of this brand-name pencil. Compare both pencils by holding them in your hand, one at a time, and see which one you feel more comfortable using. These small things can help you determine whether your pencil will be able to compete on the market with similar pencils! 

7. Freeze it

Another way to test a pencil is to freeze it. After the pencil is frozen, take it out and try to use it on different surfaces like paper, sandpaper, ice, wood, plastic, and glass. If the pencil still works well on all of these surfaces, it passes the test!

8. Wet it

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How about a wet pencil? What if the user wants to write in the pouring rain? Will the pencil still work? A great way to test a pencil is by getting it wet! Get a piece of paper and wet it with some water. Then try drawing with the pencil on the wet paper. The lead should make a nice, dark line. If it doesn&#;t, the pencil is probably of poor quality and won&#;t serve its owner in all possible life events. 

9. Try different types of paper

When testing a pencil, you&#;ll want to try it out on different types of paper. This includes glossy, matte, photo, and standard printer paper. Doing this gives you a good idea of how the pencil performs under different conditions. Plus, it will give you a chance to see how the pencil feels in your hand while using these different types of paper. 

10. Microwave it

You can also test your pencil by microwaving it. Place the pencil on a sheet of paper and microwave it on high for two minutes. If the lead melts, it&#;s probably not the best quality. Try another pencil. Things happen, and your pencil should be durable to survive! 

11. How about washing the pencil in the washing machine? 

To test the pencil&#;s durability, try putting it in the washing machine. If the pencil can withstand being washed, it is probably durable enough for general use. If your pencil survives being washed, sharpen the pencil and try it on different types of paper. Is your pencil still performing well after that? Well, congratulations!

Summary 

While there are many ways to test anything&#;such as a pencil, toaster, elevator, or vending machine&#;you should always use the same approach to evaluate an item&#;s durability and reliability. You can be as creative as you want! The more you test, the better the result. However, do not hesitate to check the requirements during your test planning. The manufacturer might not plan for the pencil to be put in a blender and might not design it to survive such treatment. You may not want to spend the extra time testing something that is not (yet) supported. 

During your QA interview, your goal is to show that you can be a good end-user. You should come up with many different life situations that can impact your product when testing durability and quality. Work on your creativity so you can easily impress your hiring manager! 

Good luck with your pencil! 

ASTM D Uses and Factors to Consider

Evaluation of the film hardness by a pencil hardness test

The purpose of this test protocol is to determine the hardness of a coated film through the use of pencil hardness measurements. This method consists of evaluating the surface aesthetics of the coating following an attempt to scratch it with a pencil of known hardness at a 45o angle by applying a constant force. In fact, if the sample is sufficiently large and flat, it is possible to an apparatus such as the one shown in Figure 1 to accomplish this step. However, when the specimen is small and in 3D, it is necessary to perform this action manually. This process is repeated with a pencil that is lower on the hardness scale until the two endpoints are reached. The first is the hardest pencil that will leave the film uncut and the second is the hardness pencil that will not scratch the specimen. Lastly, this standard is employed as a tool to determine the level of curing of the coating and it may also be used for development and production control purposes.

The main factors that are to be considered when running this test are the film thickness and the type of pencil.

ASTM D Typical Experimental Parameters

The size of the sample has to be specified, but it needs to be sufficient to realize the experiment twice. Table 1 lists the typical test parameters.

Table I: Typical test conditions for ASTM D

The following video shows how the ASTM D Standard Test Method for Film Hardness by Pencil Test is performed. This test method is designed to evaluate the hardness of a coating through the use of pencils or drawing leads.

Other Test Methods Related to ASTM D

For additional related test methods, we invite you to read more about accelerated aging and the ASTM G155 test.

If you have any questions about the ASTM D test, we invite you to contact our material testing lab today. It will be our pleasure to answer your questions and help you with your custom material testing requirements.

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