Top Business Analyst Interview Questions & Answers

1) What is a flowchart and why it is important?

Flowchart shows complete flow of system through symbols and diagrams. It is important,
because it makes the system easy to understand for developers and all concerned people.

2) Define Use Case Model?

Use case model shows sequence of events and stream of actions regarding any process
performed by an actor.

3) What does UML stand for?

It stands for Unified Modeling Language.

4) Do you think Activity Diagram is important and how?

As the name implies, activity diagram is all about system activities. Main purpose of activity
diagram is to show various activities taking place in an organization in different departments.

5) Can you name the two types of diagrams heavily used in your field?

The two diagrams are Use Case Diagram and Collaboration Diagram

6) Do you know what is meant by an alternate flow in a use case?

It is the alternative solution or activity in a use case that should be followed in case of any failure
in the system.

7) What are exceptions?

These are the unexpected situations or results in an application.

8) What are extends?

Extends are actions that must take place in a use case.

9) Name the two documents related to a use case?

The two documents are FRD (Functional Requirement Document) and SDD (System Design
Document).

10) What is the difference between Business Analyst and Business Analysis?

Business Analysis is the process performed by the Business Analyst.

11) As a business analyst, what tools, you think are more helpful?
There are many but I mostly use, Rational Tools, MS Visio, MS Word, MS Excel, Power Point,
MS Project.

12) In your previous experience, what kind of documents you have created?

I have worked on, Functional Specification Documents, Technical Specification Documents,

Business Requirements Documents, Use Case Diagram etc.

13) What INVEST stands for?

INVEST means Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Sized Appropriately, Testable. It

can assist project managers and technical team to deliver quality products/services.

14) Define SaaS?

SaaS means Software as a Service. It is related to cloud computing. It is different from other
software as you don't need this type of software to be installed on your machine. All you need is
an Internet connection and a Web Browser to use it.

15) What steps are required to develop a product from an idea?

You have to perform, Market Analysis, Competitor Analysis, SWOT Analysis, Personas,
Strategic Vision and Feature Set, Prioritize Features, Use Cases, SDLC, Storyboards, Test Cases,
Monitoring, Scalability.

16) What do you think is better, the Waterfall Model or Spiral Model?

It all depends on the type and scope of the project. Also a life cycle model is selected on the
basis of organizational culture and various other scenarios to develop the system.

17) How can you explain the user centered design methodology?

It all depends on the end users. In such scenario, we develop the system with a user's point of
view. Who are the end users, what they require etc. Personas are basically social roles,
performed by any actor or character. It is derived from a Latin word meaning character. In
marketing terminology, it represents group of customers/end users.

18) How do you define Personas?

Personas are used instead of real users that assist developers and technical team to judge the user
behavior in different scenarios, more clearly. Personas are basically social roles, performed by
any actor or character. It is derived from a Latin word meaning character. In marketing
terminology, it represents group of customers/end users.

19) Define Application Usability?

Application usability is actually the quality of the system that makes the system useful for its end
users. System's usability is good if it is capable of achieving users' goals. Personas are basically
social roles, performed by any actor or character. It is derived from a Latin word meaning
character. In marketing terminology, it represents group of customers/end users.

20) Explain in your words, what is database transaction?

When we perform any activity in a database, such as addition, deletion, modification, searching
etc. is said to be a database transaction.

21) Define OLTP Systems?

OLPT stands for On-Line Transaction Processing; such systems are capable to perform database
transactions and are meant to provide good speed for database transactions. These systems are
mainly used for data entry and retrieving data from the database.

22) Do you have any idea about Pugh Matrix?

Pugh Matrix is used to decide about the most optimal and alternate solutions. This technique is
now a standard part of Six Sigma technique. It is also known as problem or design matrix.

23) What FMEA stands for?

It means Failure Mode and Effects Analysis. It is a failure analysis, that is used mainly in
product development, system engineering and operations management. This analysis is
performed to figure out various failure modes and their severity in any system.

24) What is a 100-point method?

This method is used to assign priority to different steps in a process. Each group member is
supposed to assign points to different steps. In the end all the points for each step are calculated.
The step having the highest points has the highest priority.

25) Do you know what 8-omega is?

It is a business framework that is mainly being adopted by firms and organizations for the
betterment of their business. Its key factors are Strategy, People, Process, Technology.

26) Can you define mis-use case?

It is a term derived from use-case. Unlike use case, a mis-use case is something that shows -what
kind of malicious activities can be performed by an actor that may result in system failure.

27) What is SQUARE stands for?

SQUARE stands for Security Quality Requirements Engineering. It is one of the software
engineering steps that mainly focus on documenting the security requirements of the system.

28) What is Pareto Analysis?

It is a decision making technique, also known as 80/20 rule. It is used for quality control and
defect resolution. It explains few factors that can be responsible for big problems. It is named as
80/20 rule, because as per this rule, 80 % effects in the system, arises from 20 % causes.

29) Do you have any idea about Agile Manifesto?

Agile Manifesto is a guide for software developers about the development principles to ensure
iterative solutions.

30) What BPMN stands for?

It is Business Process Model and Notation. It is a graphical representation of business processes.

31) Define BPMN Gateway?

BPMN Gateway is a processing modeling component that is used to control flow of interaction,
sequence of processes.

32) Name the five basic elements' categories in BPMN?

They are Flow Objects, Data, Connecting Objects, Swimlanes and Artifacts.

33) Have you ever used Kano Analysis in your previous jobs and how do you define it?

Yes, I have used Kano Analysis in one of my previous jobs. Kano Analysis is used to analyze a
system in terms of its requirements to identify its impact on customers' satisfaction.

34) How many key areas are there in a Kano Analysis?

They are three in number, namely as Unexpected Delighters, Performance Attributes and Must
Have Attributes.

35) Define Pair-Choice Technique?

The pair-Choice Technique is used to give priority to various items in a process. It is mainly used
when distinctive stakeholders are involved in the project. This technique asks from the group to
compare each item with the other and select the one having highest priority.

36) Do you have suggestions to make an effective use-case model?

Yes, I would suggest making two separate diagrams. One serves as a use-case and the other
serves as an actor diagram. So that we can highlight all the possible activities in a use case & in
actor diagram and then we can merge both the diagrams to get an effective use-case diagram.

37) How many types of actor can be there in a Use-Case?

There are primary and secondary actors. Primary actors start the process and secondary actors
assist them. Moreover, actors can be of four types such as Human, System, Hardware and Timer.

38) Define BCG Matrix?

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix is developed to analyze several of business
processes and new product offerings from companies. It is a useful tool that can be used in
portfolio analysis, strategic management, product management, and brand marketing.

39) How can you differentiate between pool and swimlane?

A swimlane is related to group activities on an activity diagram while a pool is dedicated activity
to a single person.

40) Differentiate between Fish Model and V Model?

Fish model is comparatively very costly and time consuming, while, V model requires less time
and cost. Moreover, Fish model is used when there were no ambiguities in the customers'
requirements. Otherwise, other model is preferred.

41) How do you manage frequently changing customers' requirements while developing
any system?

As a business analyst, I would develop a document stating clearly that no change will be
accepted after a certain period of time and get it signed by the user.

42) Define Use Case points?

Use Case points are used to evaluate the cost of work done to develop the system.

43) What does PEST stand for?

It means Political, Economic, Social, and Technological. It is used to analyze business

environment, in which it has to be operated.

44) Name the four key phases of business development?

They are Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing.

45) Define Benchmarking?

Benchmarking is about measuring performance of an organization to compete in the industry. In

this process a company may measure its policies, performance, rules and other measures.

46) What do we mean by SWEBOK?

It means Software Engineering Body of Knowledge.

47) What do you know about GAP Analysis?

It is a process of comparing and determining the difference between two things or processes.

48) Define Agile?

Agile is basically a technique that uses several light-weight methodologies such as Rapid
Application Development (RAD), Extreme Programming (XP) and SCRUM. All these
methodologies focus on the development of iterative solutions.

49) Define Scrum Method?

It is one of the agile methods, used to develop iterative information systems. In this method a
small team works on the assigned tasks for a time period of 30 days usually.

50) What does JAD stand for?

It means Joint Application Development.

51. Define relationship selling and how you implement it in your job?
The most important aspect of a business development manager role is managing your
relationships. Business success is much more sustainable with referrals and repeat
business. That success starts with your biz dev manager and the way they can implement
relationship selling in their role.

52. What is more important to you: maintaining clients or growing the business?
This is not contrary to the last question. Maintaining clients matters above all, but you
might be in a situation where your company is trying to expand. That is when a business
development manager focused on growth is more appropriate.

53. Besides cost-reduction, how would you go about raising our profits?
Cost reduction is more of an operations perspective. Give the candidate the opportunity to
give reasonable measures to increase profits from the sales side.

54. What do you think is the managers role in closing deals?

This will vary from company to company, and person to person. But by now, your
company no doubt has its model for the manager. See if there is any contradiction.

55. Name a time that you lost a client and why.

Force the applicant to give a low point. We all have lost clients. The important part is if
they identify the root cause.
56. What is your strategy for converting a no into a yes?
The interviewee will give an explicit response to their sales strategy, and how they adapt
to situations.

57. Take an item from the room and sell it to me.

Test their most basic selling techniques. Look for focus on differentiation and value.

58. How do you qualify leads and decide which deals are the most strategic to
pursue?
Pursuing the right leads is something that is hard to learn. But too often salespeople
waste time chasing down a more affluent deal, even if there are too many signs that it
wont work.

59. What does your ideal customer look like?

Asking for the respondent to personify the model of a customer will gi ve you their
priorities for how they search for clients. It will also reveal the way they want their
customers to react to their proposals.

60. As a business development manager, how do you utilize all the various
departments in an organization to spur success?

This is the overarching business development manager interview question that truly
identifies their company-wide perception. Sales teams forget that each department props
up the whole. A great manager will answer with their interpretation of group strategy.

The goal is to ask questions that force an applicant to think about their wider role of
managing the relationships that the company has. This means clients, partners, and their
team. Keep these types of business development manager interview ques tions diverse. A
great business development manager will have already shown the capacity to grasp their
corporate relationships. Then as long as they can show cognizance of how a team should
operate, they are a great option for the role.