66 interview questions for analyst professionals to hire a pro

A business analyst must understand a company’s requirements and use technology to improve processes and systems. If you’re looking for a candidate to complete these duties, you must assess their experience and skills before you hire them. 

The recruitment process requires you to create a skill assessment for applicants that features a Business Analyst test and interview your applicants after you create a shortlist based on the test results.

To conduct useful interviews with analysts, you need a good list of interview questions for analyst professionals. But are the right questions to keep your applicants engaged?

We have gathered together the best questions for your hiring process in this article. Read on to find 66 interview questions for analyst professionals you can use during the interview process.

13 general interview questions for analyst professionals

Ask interviewees these 13 general interview questions for analyst professionals to learn about their experience.

1. Which qualities do successful analysts have? Explain why these qualities are crucial.

2. Which method do you use to ensure you consistently achieve your goals?

3. Describe a time you had a disagreement with a team member. How did you resolve it?

4. Explain how you have contributed to your current company.

5. Describe your current responsibilities as an analyst.

6. What encouraged you to apply for our analyst role?

7. Describe your spreadsheet and report preparation expertise.

8. Name three skills analysts should have.

9. Explain what the INVEST acronym means.

10. Explain what project deliverables are.

11. Do you have any methods to stay updated about business trends?

12. Name the five stages of business projects.

13. Is business analysis different from business analytics? Explain your answer.

5 sample answers to general interview questions for analyst professionals

Check out our sample answers to these basic interview questions for analyst professionals to help you evaluate your candidates’ responses.

1. Name three skills analysts should have.

Applicants must know the skills needed to enhance a company’s processes and systems. They could mention several skills, and each candidate will likely identify different examples, such as critical thinking, programming language knowledge, or report creation abilities. 

Listen out for responses that explain why these are important for analysts. For example, programming language skills help analysts analyze data faster and more efficiently. 

Visit our test library to find suitable Programming skill tests and check our Critical Thinking test to build your analyst assessment and test your candidates’ skills.

2. Which qualities do successful analysts have? Explain why these qualities are crucial.

Since analysts have specialized responsibilities in a company, it’s vital to check if their qualities match your company’s mission, values, and targets. Applicants should mention a few traits suitable for the role and explain why they’re important.

For example, analyst candidates should be detail-oriented, adept at solving problems, and able to focus on trends in data sets. These qualities help analysts complete projects efficiently and contribute to improving a business’s processes. 

3. Describe your current responsibilities as an analyst.

Any applicant with experience as an analyst should be able to describe their current responsibilities. The key to this question is to check if the candidate’s experience matches your role. If you understand your candidates’ familiarity with their duties, you will have no problems determining if they have the right experience for your vacancy.

Some duties applicants may be responsible for include:

• Interpreting data using statistical techniques

• Preparing operational results for stakeholders

• Evaluating key performance indicators and recommending updates to business plans

4. Do you have any methods to stay updated about business trends?

With this question, you can evaluate how your applicants’ motivations approach business analyst trends. The ideal answers show that your candidates want to enhance their professional development with this knowledge. 

It’s important to listen for responses explaining how their methods help applicants improve. For example, some applicants will read news articles or online content to follow new trends, watch videos to learn about formulas, or complete courses to stay updated. 

5.  Is business analysis different from business analytics? Explain your answer.

Candidates should mention that these roles are similar but have some differences. When responding to this question, they can give one key difference or explain the duties of each role. A business analyst’s work involves responsibilities that include:

• Identifying opportunities to enhance a business

• Working with business stakeholders

• Improving business processes

Business analytics professionals, on the other hand, have to:

• Analyze data

• Make decisions to help businesses based on the data

33 technical interview questions for analyst professionals

To test your analysts’ technical talent and knowledge, ask them some of these 33 interview questions for analyst professionals.

1. What does UML mean? Why do analysts use UML?

2. Explain what SRS means. Explain what it comprises.

3. Explain what BRD means. Name some differences between BRD and SRS.

4. Give us an explanation of business modeling.

5. What do you know about requirements and needs? How are they different?

6. Can you explain what a project lifecycle is?

7. Can you explain what gap analyses are?

8. Give us a definition of profit gaps.

9. Give us a definition of manpower gaps.

10. What does performance gap mean?

11. Can you explain what flowcharts are?

12. Can you explain what activity diagrams are?

13. Can you explain what use case diagrams are?

14. Can you explain what sequence diagrams are?

15. Can you explain what collaboration diagrams are?

16. What do you know about basic flow representations?

17. What do you know about alternate flow representations?

18. What do you know about exception flow representations?

19. Can you explain what personas are?

20. Can you give us a definition of analytical reporting?

21. Can you give us a definition of non-functional requirements?

22. What do you know about Pareto analysis? Could you define and explain it?

23. What do you know about BPMN?

24. Name the main elements of BPMN.

25. Can you give us a definition of Kano analysis? Could you define and explain it?

26. What do you know about benchmarking?

27. What do you know about process design? How does it help analysts?

28. Do you understand the Agile manifesto? Could you explain what it is?

29. Do you understand the Kanban system? Can you explain what it is?

30. What do you know about the requirement traceability matrix?

31. What does the SWOT technique involve? Explain why it’s useful.

32. What is a change request document? Explain why analysts should use them.

33. What is a functional requirement document?

5 sample answers to technical interview questions for analyst professionals

Refer to the five sample answers to these technical interview questions for analyst professionals to check their responses afterward.

1. What do you know about alternate flow representations?

Alternate flow in a use-case diagram shows activities other than basic flow (which shows the company’s operation of activities). Candidates should understand that it helps them achieve use-case goals using different methods.

2. What do you know about exception flow representations?

Exception flow in use-case diagrams shows actions or programming errors that cause the use-case to end in failure. These diagrams are ideal when information is missing in the system. They show the exception’s progression from when the analyst detects it to when they handle it. 

3. Can you explain what flowcharts are?

Flowcharts are diagrams that show all the steps followed sequentially in a company’s processes or operations. They are simple diagrams that analysts can create easily, while business analysts, stakeholders, and leaders can use them to assess the operations, even if they lack technical expertise.

4. Can you explain what activity diagrams are?

Your applicants’ responses to this question will show you if they understand these key documents for completing business analysis and why they are important. 

Candidates should know that this diagram shows the full range of activities that need to happen in the system and monitors their flow across each department. It ensures each department can visualize the business’s functional requirements.

5. Can you explain what collaboration diagrams are?

Collaboration or interaction diagrams show how software objects interact in a system. They show the same information as a sequence diagram but focus on the architecture of objects in the system, and analysts can use them with the unified modeling language (UML).

20 interview questions for analyst professionals about skills and processes

Select some of these interview questions for analyst professionals to include in your list and ask applicants to evaluate their skills.

1. Why is problem-solving a crucial skill for analysts?

2. How is analytical thinking vital for analysts?

3. Talk me through your typical method for handling a project.

4. Which requirement elicitation techniques do you use?

5. Are there any diagrams that you use for projects? Why are they useful?

6. In which situation would you use a persona?

7. What is your method for influencing multiple stakeholders?

8. How would you successfully manage post-implementation problems in a project?

9. How would you successfully manage pre-implementation problems in a project?

10. How would you handle a customer’s requirements for a system change?

11. Which techniques would you use for requirement prioritization?

12. Which documents would you use to capture non-functional requirements?

13. How does completing interviews help you gather requirements?

14. How does meeting with focus groups help you gather requirements?

15. Explain how surveys have helped you with requirement gathering.

16. Explain how document analysis methods helped you with requirement gathering.

17. Can you tell us the four phases of business development?

18. Have you ever had to change your client’s methods to achieve good results?

19. Name three phases you complete to design a use case.

20. Do you have SQL database skills? Explain why these are important for analysts.

5 sample answers to important interview questions for analyst professionals about skills and processes

Check out our five sample answers to the aboveinterview questions for analyst professionals to assess their responses on skills and processes.

1. Why is problem-solving a crucial skill for analysts?

Analysts need to find methods to handle complex situations and advise businesses – problem-solving can help them handle such responsibilities and use effective techniques to resolve issues.

There are many steps to solve problems efficiently in analyst work, including:

• Identifying the problem

• Gathering and analyzing data

• Identifying and defining resolutions

• Making and implementing a plan

• Testing and enhancing the strategy

Check if your applicants have the ideal problem-solving skills to handle these steps by using our Problem Solving skill test.

2. How is analytical thinking vital for analysts?

Since analysts must quickly understand a lot of information related to the business, applicants need analytical thinking to process the information. They can also use analytical thinking to determine the most important information and how to present it to stakeholders and business leaders.

3. Do you have SQL database skills? Explain why these are important for analysts.

Although applicants may not need advanced SQL skills to become your next analyst, they should understand why they are important. Check if your candidate can explain that SQL skills can help analysts:

• Work with structured data

• Write commands to manipulate data

• Access and analyze data

Applicants that do have SQL skills may be ones to watch. To ensure they can contribute to your company, use our SQL skill test to assess their abilities before you hire them.

4. How does completing interviews help you gather requirements?

With in-depth, open-ended discussions, analysts can gather requirements easily. This method helps them understand their stakeholders’ thoughts or experiences and use them to improve the business’s processes and systems. 

Applicants may complete interviews in person or over the phone, enabling them to ask follow-up questions about business processes and systems.

Check if your applicants understand that interviews have some drawbacks. They can be time-consuming if analysts need to talk to many stakeholders.  

5. How does meeting with focus groups help you gather requirements?

A focus group meeting is similar to an interview – the only difference is that a focus group includes a group of people. The process helps analysts gather stakeholders’ ideas and perspectives related to products and services. 

After meeting with a focus group, analysts can review the information they gather and make a plan to grow the business. 

5 DOs and DON’Ts for using interview questions for analyst professionals

You’re nearly ready to complete interviews with analyst professionals. But before you start the process, check these five dos and don’ts for using these analyst interview questions in the hiring process.

1. DO create an analyst skill assessment before you invite applicants to an interview

An analyst skill assessment will help you quickly create a shortlist of suitable candidates for your team. To create an assessment with TestGorilla, select five skill tests (including our IT Business Analyst test). 

You can add custom questions to the assessment to get an insight into your candidates’ knowledge or personality. HR professionals can also ask candidates to complete a one-way video to respond to custom questions in more depth.

2. DON’T waste time with resume screening processes

Using skill assessments means you don’t need to screen resumes. The assessments are a superior, data-driven tool created by our experts to help you avoid time-consuming hiring methods. Skip the resume screening and select candidates based on quantitative data.

3. DON’T forget the benefit of candidate comparison with skill assessments

Using skill assessment tools is the easiest way to choose between two skilled analysts. The results of these assessments will tell you everything you need to know about your candidates’ knowledge and provides a way to compare them. The data appears as a percentage and star rating, so you can instantly see which applicant performed the best.

4. DO write notes when applicants respond to questions

After all candidates have completed the analyst skill assessment, you can invite them to an interview and take notes on their answers. This technique is effective because it helps you remember your candidates’ responses. But remember that notetaking can make your interview strategy seem distant or aloof. 

The key to ensuring your interviewees’ do not get distracted is to tell your applicants that taking notes is just part of the interview. This technique is ideal for completing video and/or face-to-face interviews.

5. DO check all the candidate information you gather to hire the best analyst

This last tip can help you hire a professional that matches your expectations. Review their analyst skill assessment results and interview responses to confirm they have the right skills and knowledge for the role. Then compare their answers to other candidates to ensure you hire the ideal professional.

Hire the right analysts with our interview questions for analyst professionals

It won’t take long to find the ideal analyst for your business – you just need to run a skill assessment with our IT Business Analyst test and use these interview questions for analyst professionals to evaluate your candidates.

If you need more facts on our skill assessments or want to learn how they work, try TestGorilla for free. 

Find a suitable candidate for your business and take your company to the next level.