Business Analyst Interview Questions

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1.How do you define the role of a BA in an organization?

A business analyst is a liaison between different stakeholders in an organization. He acts as a bridge, a connector and helps the complete project teamwork as a tightly integrated unit. Since stakeholders belong to different domains (e.g. finance, business, marketing) it’s very important for a business analyst to be able to sort and balance the needs of these stakeholders while fulfilling the business objectives at the same time.

2.What are the skills that a business analyst must possess?

A business analyst must possess fundamental skills such as elicitation skills, problem-solving skills, communication and management skills. Alongside, he must have knowledge of IT skills,

3. How do you deal with difficult stakeholders?

Stakeholders sometimes could be difficult to deal with but we could overcome this situation by:

• Patiently listening to them and being polite.
• Make them understand the situation from a perspective they understand.
• Show a commitment to working with them.
• Make them realize how their interests will be realized when they are more open and collaborative.
• Engage them and make them realize that their contribution is valued.

4.What is the importance of a flow chart?

Simply, the flow chart explains the flow of a process through symbols and text. It is important because of it:

• It displays information graphically which is both clearer and easy to grasp.
• Helps in process documentation.
• Helps programmers to write the logic.

5. What are some of the common tools that a business Analyst uses?

MS Visio, Enterprise Architect, Rational Requisite Pro, MS PowerPoint, MS Word, MS Excel, DOORS.

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6. What documents a Business Analyst should deliver?

• Use case documents
• Process/business flow documents
• Requirement traceability matrix document (RTM)
• Functionality matrix (FM)
• Functional requirement specification document (FRS)
• System requirement specification document (SRS)
• Activity/sequence diagrams
• Business requirement document (BRD)

7. What can you tell us about BPMN?

BPMN stands for Business Process Model and Notation. It’s a global standard for graphically representing the business process in the form of a diagram. BPMN contains a set of graphic elements which

are used by business users and developers to create activity flows and processes. BPMN's four basic element categories are:

• Flow objects: Events, activities, gateways
• Connecting objects: Sequence flow, message flow, association
• Swim lanes: Pool, lane
• Artefacts: Data object, group, annotation

8.Explain the difference between a task and an activity with respect to BPMN

Activity is a generic term that is used to denote a process/subprocess and is a collection of a task or group of tasks whereas a task is a self-contained piece of work

9.What are the different testing techniques you use?

The aim of testing is to verify and validate the quality of a developed functionality according to the project requirements. A BA does various types of testing, which are:

Black box testing: This is functional testing where a BA validates that the output generated by the system is as per the requirements/use case

Unit Testing: A BA does unit testing on a developer’s machine to make sure the requested functionality is being achieved.

Integration Testing: This type of testing is done when more than one piece of code are integrated to realize functionality. A BA does integration testing to make sure than the system is performing as expected after different modules are integrated.

Functional Testing: A BA is expected to conduct functional testing to validate that the system is achieving the functionality specified in the use case/functional requirement specification document (FRS).

Acceptance Testing: A BA along with the client, does the acceptance testing to validate that the system is performing as per the business requirements and the product’s acceptance criteria.

Regression Testing: Regression testing is done after a modification has been made to the existing system. Its aim is to make sure that all the system functionalities are working as expected.

Beta Testing: A BA along with the testing team, does the beta testing and it is done on a preproduction version of the product. This testing is done to make sure that the functional and nonfunctional requirements of the system are met.

10.What problems a Business Analyst could face during requirements gathering?

Some of the problems faced by a BA during requirements gathering are:

• Lack of Clarity in the Scope of the Business requirements
• Misalignment of the requirements with the business case of the project
• Ill management of Business Requirements
• Constantly changing requirements
• Unavailability of the key stakeholders

11.What are different diagrams that a BA should know about?

There are a couple of different diagrams about which a BA should have concrete knowledge. They are:

• Entity-relationship diagram
• data flow diagram
• use case diagram
• class diagram
• activity diagram
• sequence diagram
• collaboration diagram
• component diagrams
• deployment diagram

12.What are the main responsibilities of a BA?

A business analyst is expected to visualize the ‘big picture’ and his responsibilities extends towards both the business side as well as the technology side of the project. The major responsibilities that he is expected to fulfill are:

• Ascertain the feasibility of the solution/project/product.
• Analyze, organize and document requirements.
• Liaise and enhance communications with stakeholders.
• Clarify doubts, concerns regarding the solution to be developed.
• Conduct unit testing and verify the development is as per the requirements
• Gain acceptance/approval of the deliverables from the client.
• Document and prioritize change requests from the client.
• Create final product documentations, achieve records and document project lessons learned.

13.What are the different analysis techniques employed by a BA?

The major business analysis techniques used by a BA are: interview, SWOT analysis, facilitated workshop, brainstorming, observation, prototyping and root cause analysis.

14. What do you know about 8-omega?

8 Omega is a business change framework to improve existing business processes. Based on its name, this framework consists of 8 lifecycle phases namely;

• Discover
• Analyze
• Design
• Integrate
• Implement
• Manage
• Control
• Improve

Also, it addresses 4 key perspectives of business i.e. Strategy, People, Process and Technology.

15. What is FMEA and why it’s used?

FMEA stands for ‘Failure Mode and Effects Analysis’ and it is used for failure analysis, risk analysis and quality engineering. It involves reviewing components, systems and subsystems on parameters like functional, design and process to identify failure models. The resulting data is then used for risk management and mitigation.

16. What is business analysis? 

One should not restrict the BA role to only being a link between Non-It and IT or only for development projects. BA is someone who is able to bring in improvements, changes(technology, process, people etc.) in an efficient manner. So a BA could be part of the marketing team who helps the marketing team in providing estimates/high-level solutions for a said project which is under the process of procurement. Or he could be someone involved during the Requirement gathering/analysis once the project is initiated. Or he could be someone who brings profit to the company by performing process improvement activities ROIs at the process level. Last but not least BAs could be domain-specific as well.

17. What is the educational qualification required for a business analyst?

There is no specific qualification for a business analyst. Well, if you are a management graduate it is an added advantage since you have they have better communication skills. One important thing a BA needs to have is domain knowledge or business knowledge. Unless he/she understands the client's business process thoroughly they cannot draft the requirements properly.

18. Mention some of the important points a business analyst must take care while preparing a business plan?

While Creating Business Document, Make sure you start from small problems. Don’t jump to big problems right way. Keep the Business sponsors and IT folks in the loop. Make sure your document clearly state Exceptions, Assumptions and Limitations. Sometime you need to keep in mind the legal issues. Business document should be well written for usability and for future projects.

19. Why is a business analyst position vital in an organization?

The position is important because a BA is a people’s person when it comes to the users and an IT person when it comes to the developers. He can communicate with the users in jargon that they are comfortable with and is able to understand them in order to collect solid business requirements. Simultaneously he can effectively communicate these requirements and support them with documentation for a developers benefit.

20. Why excellent communication skill is essential for a business analyst?

A BA is one who sits with the client understands it and then tells the IT people what needs to be done hence BA needs to have excellent communication skills What are the industry and professional standards followed by business analyst? Industry standards that have been set for the BAs to follow are OOAD principles and Unified Modeling Language (UML). This is a common language used by business analysts all around the world to draft the functional requirements.

21. Does the business analyst interact with clients directly? If so state the reason for the same?

It depends on the project to project it is not always the same that we do interact with the clients directly, sometime there will be a team whom might be interacting with the client and gives you the requirement and if have questions either we do talk with that team or our manager.

22. Mention the difference between business process improvement and business process reengineering?

Business process improvement implies changing a step sub step or any part of the process i.e. process is not completely changed In BPR we actually study the business and find out what is the best way I can carry out the process and change the whole way the process runs(business process redesign)

23. How is business plan evaluated?

A business plan is evaluated by checking the contents of the plan such as if the plan have based on the resource planning and envisioning phase of the project.

24.What are the problems Business Analyst could face during gathering Business requirements

The availability of the people (e.g. managers, supervisors and the end users) the BA wants to talk with for gathering business requirements. These people have regular daily works to do and their time to spend in the gathering sometimes hard to schedule and for this reason gathering business requirements is delay.

25. Briefly explain the use case model.

This is a model used by software engineers to describe the business environment of a given project. It encompasses of a series of workflow that are pertained to a particular actor.

26. What do understand by version control & configuration management?

Basically version control is a part of configuration management. Mainly it handles when the previous document changes. Whereas configuration management handles the individual component.

27. What are different software methodologies.?

SDLC, RUP, SEI-CMM, Six Sigma, SWOT, Cost-benefit analysis, Risk analysis, Gap analysis.

28.What is GAP analysis

Gap Analysis:

• The process of determining, documenting, and approving the variance between business requirements and system capabilities.
• The process of determining and evaluating the variance or distance between two items’ properties being compared.
• The study of the differences between two different systems or applications, often for the purpose of determining how to get from one state to a new state.
• A gap is sometimes spoken of as “the space between where we are and where we want to be.” Gap analysis is undertaken as a means of bridging that space.

29. Explain what a case model is?

a case diagram is used to give vivid details about the business environment. a case diagram is a number of events that are part of a process that is performed by an actor.

30. the difference between extends and includes when using in a use care.

As a business analyst, you should also know by now that extend means that a specific event has to take place. Include means that the event might or might not happen.

31. What are Typical process steps to Conduct Feasibility Study?

Based on the size and/or complexity of the situation, the study effort may be broken down into smaller, more manageable pieces and prioritized accordingly. The typical process steps to conducting a feasibility study include those outlined below. It must be noted that these steps are often be conducted concurrently, iteratively and, in fact, some steps may be omitted entirely, depending on the complexity and criticality of the effort.

Process steps include:

•  Determine requirements for the study
• Determine objectives, scope and approach, and plan the effort
• Conduct a current state assessment
•  Identify potential solutions
•  Determine the feasibility of each option

Document and communicate the results of the study, and obtain approval to develop the Business Case for the recommended solution.

32)Knowledge and Skills Needed for a Business Analyst to conduct Feasibility Analysis? Ideally individual(s) will have broad experience in business and IT, understand the concept of project value and what it may mean to their organization. In addition, the Business Analyst needs to understand

• Financial analysis to evaluate the viability of a potential solution
• The industry and the organizational vision, mission, and strategic goals, as well as organizational policies and procedures that may affect the study or be affected by the change initiative understudy
• A broad, not deep, understanding of the IT infrastructure that supports the business

Skills Due to the wide range of techniques that are used when conducting a major feasibility study, the Business Analyst may not possess all of the skills required to plan and execute the study. Therefore, the Business Analyst must enlist a team of experts to provide the skills required, including

Research and information analysis skills

Ability to plan and conduct the study, and document the results

• Technical writing skills
• Leadership and organizational skills
•  Change management skills

Communication skills (oral and written) in order to better facilitate, interview and communicate in a collaborative manner

Ability to work independently or in a team environment.

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