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Business Analyst jobs are in huge demand nowadays with each and every industry turning to
such professionals as to whether they can analyze the company’s business processes and guide
the organization towards it business and strategic objectives. So, with such a market open for
business analysts and jobs mushrooming all over the place, you as a business analyst should be
well prepared for landing the best job out there. To help you do so, we have here a collation of
interview questions which should be like a handbook interview guide to the business analysts out
there. There are several categories of the interview questions depending on the type of questions
I believe in turning my weaknesses into strengths, so I strive towards having a calm and
cool attitude. Also, I would like to at par with the latest technology in the market but it’s
not always possible.
I want to go for the professional Business Analysis certifications such as ISEB and in the
near future will be striving for the PRINCE 2 certification also, which will enable me to
grow in the Business Analyst career path
This is quite a well known company and its principles are in line with my principles. I
believe that the organization will give me the best available platform available with the
right amount of support and motivation
3. What is the motivating factor which you expect from your job?
Believing that the work done by me is contributing in the organizational growth and
success is my utmost motivation. It’s a feeling of knowing that the work done by me has
contributed towards the company’s good results, and being a part of that achievement,
howsoever small my part might have been gives me great pleasure. I know for sure that if
the company is performing well, then it will definitely down the line look after it main
resources – its employees and I would be a proud party to that!
There is currently no part of my job that I dislike, and I am glad that I have chosen this
career path.
What Made You Apply For This Job And Why Do You Want It?
I have the right mix of educational background; technical and functional skills. The job
role is as per my expectations and can be described as a best fit. I can add value to this
role and contribute towards the success of the organization.
There are various SDLC methodologies which are available and used by the majority of
the organizations for their software development projects. Some of these software
development methodologies are:
a) Waterfall method – this is one of the most widely used systems development process
b) Agile methodologies like RUP (Rational Unified process), RAD (Rapid Application
development), JAD (Joint Application development) .
c) Prototyping Model –involves the presentation of a simplified prototype of the system
based on the requirements
2. What are the various testing stages in a software project life cycle?
a) Unit Testing – this is usually done by the developers who have coded the unit
b) Integration testing – this is done by the QA team (quality assurance) and /or the
business analysts to test that the integration of the units is working fine
c) System testing – is done by the QA team or the Business Analysts to see whether
the system is working as a whole or not
d) Regression testing – is done to test whether the current parts and the new
development are synchronized and there is no impact on any other system. This
testing is done by the analysts.
e) User acceptance testing – is covered by the end users in order to test that the
requirements given for the system are in line with the developed application
f) Stress and/or Load Testing – is done by the technical team to test whether the
system can sustain heavy load and usage etc.
3. What are some of the challenges you have faced as a Business Analyst
As a business Analyst, one has to be an interface between the users and the technical team and
provide regular support. Some of the major challenges which a business analyst has to face in his
profile are:
· There should be clarity regarding the requirements as they lay the foundation of
the project. In case of any gaps, there can be huge repercussions.
· There are several software methodologies, technologies, documentation
standards in the market and they keep on evolving. The business analyst has to be
on top of such methodologies and trends to be successful in the profile.
What are the documentations which you have completed in your experience? Explain in
detail.
· Feasibility Study
· Functional specifications
o Main content
o UML Diagrams
2. What is UML? What are the tools which are generally used by business analysts
for UML diagrams?
Usually, business analysts use any of the following tools for UML diagrams:
· MS – Visio
· Rational Rose
1. What are the measures used to judge how successful I am in the role?
2. What can I expect from you in terms of development and support?
3. Where will the job fit into the team structure?
4. What is the main thing the organization expects from its employees?
5. Are there any plans for expansion?
Version control and configuration management are terms used widely in the business
industry, write short notes about the terms.
For a documentation system to be considered good, the following factors should be prevalent in
it: It should be made in such a way that it can accommodate future changes, including version
changes, bearing system security features such as providing access only to the allowed users, i.e.
have good authentication features. In general, one should take in data as well as information
security measures in place, putting in mind that the documentation should also be able to bend to
the changing needs of its users as well as the market conditions.
The term software methodology, software development methodology and software process mean
almost the same thing in computer software or system development, i.e. the activities carried out
by computer system engineers or computer software engineers in an attempt to procure particular
computer software that servers a certain function or purpose. This includes the framework
adopted, structure, plan as well as the control of the resources engaged in the software or system
development process.
There are so many software methodologies and the choice as to which one to adopt is usually
dependant on so many other factors such as the purpose of the given software, the prevailing
conditions regarding the software development environment and the will of the company or the
client procuring or intending to use the final software as some clients even look into the software
or system engineers’ methodology to as one of the factors determining whether to contract him
or not.
Regarding the purpose of the software, lets look at the following, example is a situation of a
safety critical system such as an aircraft navigation system and a business system, one would
find that in a business system, one can have its prototype done and users start using it as they
identify its weaknesses and tell the engineers to rectify whereas in an aircraft navigation system,
no weakness would be allowed at all for it can cause huge loss of property and life thus all the
possible identifiable weaknesses are eliminated first before that system comes into operation.
Much stories and arguments apart, the following are the available software methodologies:
ii) The RUP – The Rational Unified Process, which when looked into intuitively is
an iterative software development process framework that was created by the
Rational Software Corporation in the US which is a division of the IBM
(International Business Machine). However, this process is usually not considered as
a single prescriptive framework yet as an adaptable process which can be tailored by
the development team or organization selectively in order to end up with their
respective results depending on the needs prevailing either on the client’s side, the
industry standards or even the development constraints which involve time, scope as
well as the budget, Intuitively, this process has characteristics overlapping with other
development processes and methodology as will be seen when considering the other
methodologies below.
iii) The iterative process
vii) The ISO 9000 methodology – provided by the International Standards Organization
viii) The ISO 15504 model – also provided by the International Standards organization
ix) The Capability Maturing Model Integration (CMMI) which replaced the former
Capability Maturing Model (CMM)
The term OOAD is an abbreviation of the phrase Object Oriented Analysis and Design. Contrary
to the traditional programming, also called procedural programming whereby the entire code of a
given program is written line by line, from scratch. There is a new more powerful approach to
software development or simply programming referred to as the Object Technology where
predefined objects pertaining to particular situations are pre-designed by experienced software
engineers and then the programmers just call them into their code in order to implement a given
function in their code.
Just the way experienced civil engineers design building blocks for particular situations in a
particular house so that the inexperienced mason just lays them appropriately in order to end up
with a nice house is the way experienced software engineers make these objects. This helps even
novice programmers to use the objects to build nice computer software or a program. It is the
analysis and design of these objects with intention to make good software that is referred to as
Object Oriented Analysis and Design, the OOAD. Programming languages that use the Object
Technology include C++, JAVA, and the PHP among others.
By definition, the term data mapping is the process by which a system developer creates data
element mappings that relates two models of data (databases) in order to assist in data
integration. This usually assists in the following manner:
i) Data mediation or transformation between the source and the destination of data
Black box testing is the type of testing whereby the entire unit is tested as a whole without
considering the contents or even how the inner components of the unit under test work, the
tester’s only consideration is to enter a known input signal and check whether the output
behavior is the one expected out of that unit given his input signal.
It is easier to interpret as it is graphical in nature and thus all persons involved in the project
development can understand it with ease.
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.
The term UML is an abbreviation of the term Unified Modeling Language which is the standard
language used in construction of as well as visualization and documentation of varied system
components. It has a collection of graphical notation techniques used in the development of
abstract models for certain specific systems.
This is the diagram used in a business system to show the workflow involved, activities
happening as well as the completed actions. In a company comprising of several departments e.g.
the medical department, accounting department, and even the human resource department,
usually each department has its own peculiar privileges to the system, for instance the medical
department can only be allowed to access the screens related to their activities such as medical
records while the human resource department will be allowed to view only the screens which are
relevant to them too, thus these activity diagrams assist in showing the relationship between
particular activities with their relevant and related departments so that during coding, the coders
may refer to them to implement the discrepancies accordingly. Designers too can be guided by
these activity diagrams.
How many types of diagrams do you know and what do you know about them?
Am aware of two types of diagrams namely the use case diagram and the collaboration diagram,
the use case diagram has been discussed above and as a result I will only talk about the
collaboration diagram here, these are diagrams put into being by modeling the objects of a given
systems and then representing the prevalent associations between the objects in questions with
the use of links.
Describe your understanding regarding the so called alternate flow in use case.
These are the contingent flows that arise when a system fails to curb an encountered situation
and thus the system doesn’t result in the expected results. When the system resorts to the
alternate flow under this circumstance, it may still end up yielding the expected results.
This is generally unpredicted situation that may lead to undesired result under normal
circumstance in a system; several methodologies called exception handlers are available to help
control such situation
Describe the meaning of the following words as used in the use case scenario:
i) Extends
ii) Includes
In the use case scenario, the term extends is used to imply that a certain action needs to have
taken place in order for the other to take place too whereas includes implies that it is not
important, as in the action may take place or as well may fail to take place but the other will still
take place.
It is the data model, which is not actually physical and describes how data is physically stored in
the given database.
Describe your understanding regarding high level and low level use cases.
The high level use case usually refers to the entire business process whereas when it is divided
into smaller units, the outcome or the sub units are what are then referred to as the low level use
case
This is the abbreviation of the term System Design Document; it acts as the mediator between
business users and the system developers so as the system developers may understand the
business requirements of the system they are developing in order to know where to put emphasis
and end up with a quality and objective based system.
i) URS
ii) FS
The URS is the User Requirement Specification whilst the FS is the Functional Specification;
traceability matrix is usually used to keep track of these requirements. TEST DIRECTOR can be
used to do the traceability of the given requirements during the testing phase.
As a Business Analyst, I would participate by reviewing the test cases to ensure that all the
stipulated requirements have been met by the system in question.
There are several qualities regarding a good requirement but the most outstanding ones include
the:
Understandable – the requirements should be put in a manner easy to understand by users of all
levels.
Consistent – the requirement should be such that it doesn’t contradict itself, it is important noting
that during system development, all users need to be consulted, including the managers as well
as the junior staff, one would find that the managers would like a wider control of the system so
as to monitor the junior staff to the date whereas the junior staff are objecting these view, hence a
contradiction. When this issue is not considered carefully, usually through consultation or
negotiation either the managers or junior staff may resent the system thus by this, once the users
resent the system, obviously it will not be exploited to the maximum thus lowering the benefits
the organization derives from it thus consistency must always be considered in the system
development requirements.
Verifiable – The requirements of a given system should always be verifiable as in they should be
put in a manner that can be checked across in future so as one can clearly identify whether the
particular requirement has been met or not, it is usually advised that the requirements are put in a
manner that during verification, the answer is either true or false and nothing vague as it is
during this stage that legal action can be taken by the either the contractor or client if at all the
answer is no and always with the law, matters of doubt are generally not recommended.
Describe the diagrams which should be known by the Business Analyst (BA).
The Business Analyst (BA) is expected to be conversant with the following diagrams:
i) Use case Diagram: this is the diagram which gives the details concerning the given
business environment, this entails the series of action usually performed by given
actors such as analyzing the procurement portfolio, giving out an order to a certain
supplier, acknowledging the reception of the goods, processing them as appropriate,
doing the relevant marketing, handing the goods to the hands of a customer at a
profit, receiving payments, either by cheque or cash, printing a receipt, and entering
the transactions into relevant accounts, making payrolls, preparing final accounts
including the balance sheets as well as the profits and loss accounts.
ii) Activity Diagram: this is the diagram which is usually employed in early analysis
stages to describe the involved components.
iii) Sequence diagram: This is the type of diagram used to tell the way particular objects
interact with other objects in a manner arranged in both time and sequences. This is
usually very useful for system developers as well as the system testers as it enhances
the level at which a given system can be understood.
Explain where you would use the rational rose and the requisite pro.
In a situation whereby different modules of a given requirements have been created for varied
functions, then collected together and made into a single document, the requisite pro is the one
which comes in handy. The other one, the rational rose, is used to create the business model as a
visual representation. It is helpful in creating high level and low level use cases, activity
diagrams, state diagrams, collaboration diagrams, sequence diagrams etc.
Data model tells clear details about the data and how the data is stored physically in a database.
A broad view of a business process is called a high level use case. And if we divide the big view
into different small sub use cases, then it is called low level use case.
It is also called system design document. My role as a BA is just a mediator or a middle layer
between business users and developers and we make developers to understand the business
requirements.
I participate mainly in reviewing the test cases to see if all the requirements have been met.
The requirement should be good, clear, understandable, and consistent and should be easily
verifiable.
UML is basically Unified Modeling Language. This is the standard language used in the system
to understand, document, construct different components in the system.
Use case diagram: basically explains the business environment. Series of all related actions
performed by actor.
Activity diagram: Used in the early stage of analysis and designing level. It describes each
individual component.
Sequence diagram: It tells the objects interactions with each others arranged in time sequence.
Very useful for developers and testers to understand the system better.
When we created different modules of requirements for different functions, and finally collected
all together and made a single requirement document, we used requisite pro to do this.
And we used rational rose to create the business model as a visual representation.
• Activity diagrams
• State diagrams
• Collaboration diagrams
• Sequence diagrams
Basically version control is a part of configuration management. Mainly it handles when the
previous document changes. Where as configuration management handles the individual
component.
SDLC, RUP, SEI-CMM, Six sigma, SWOT, Cost benefit analysis, Risk analysis, Gap analysis.
What is OOAD ?
Object oriented analysis and designing. Used in coding od object oriented languages like c++,
Java, and SAP Badis etc.
What is UAT ?
It is completely a functional testing. i.e the tester need not know how it works technically. He
only bothers what input he is giving and what output he is getting.
What is bug?
It is a development process that is used to build applications in smaller periods like 50-70 days
i.e with some compromises.
What is ETL ?
Types of testing ?
Why is winrunner ?
Winrunner is used For regression testing.
Have to examine all sources of risk from perspective of stakeholders by brainstorming flow
charting, system design review, system analysis and a proper judgement.
SDLC
Development : coding
RUP
Construction : System code, QA test cases / test scripts, A test plan., use cases
Advtgs:
• Requirement validations.
• Filling communication gap between developers and business users.
• Demonstrating a working system.
• User training
• Testing the final system
• Lower development cost
• Easy maintenance
Performance Business.
System
Global business
Discuss the business requirements and get feed back from them.
BRD tells what is required for the product. And FRD explains BRD in detail.
I would like to think that my weaknesses are like my stepping stones towards success. At
present I would like to fine tune my technical abilities to the constantly changing
As a business analyst, we not only have to gather the requirements but also provide
What is the difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control and how are they
related to the Business Analyst profile ?
Quality Assurance focuses on the process: is the method chosen able to produce the product or is
the deliverable free from errors and/or defects. Quality Control speaks about the products or
deliverables themselves: the final examination of the product or deliverable to ensure they stand
to the specifications and they’re free from error of defect.
A business analyst has to take care of Quality Assurance as well as control is in place in the final
product which is delivered.
What are the challenges which you would face as a business analyst?
A balance between technology constraints and business needs should be maintained at all times.
Technology is used to help fulfilling business need, so it’s usually close to the need. You also
have to keep an open mind as to how a process works effectively and accurately produce the
required product. Then, you must make sure that the written specifications are written properly to
avoid misinterpretations.
I know that even if I think a requirement was not feasible, I have a responsibility to
explain why it was not feasible to the business representatives. So first I’d clarify the
requirement, what was the true requirement there. Then, I’d explain the technical
limitations in non-technical language to them as to why the requirements couldn’t be
accommodated at the same time. Most of the times, the reason was not feasible because
it’s not affordable. After I present the business representatives with the estimated cost,
they would decide whether or not the requirement was really needed. Whichever the
outcome was, the business representatives would feel that they’re in command and
they’re involved in the decision making process.