Give a concrete example of catching a defect at the requirements or design stage. That one find saved more than a hundred test cases.
Strong answers go beyond the buzzword: participating in requirements reviews, providing testability feedback during design, pairing with developers on unit tests, reviewing code for testability, and embedding quality thinking throughout the team rather than gatekeeping at the end. Best candidates share specific examples of catching issues early.
Tests modern QA philosophy. Candidates who only test after development are operating in an outdated model. Look for evidence of proactive quality contribution throughout the development lifecycle.