Business Analysis Jobs - Interview Questions - Part Two - Your Resume

Business Analysis Jobs - Interview Questions

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One of the most common questions I've seen on social media, from aspiring Business Analysts, is - "Can anybody send me a link to a list of BA job interview questions?".

For any job interview, preparation is a key to success.

The problem is that it is difficult to predict exactly what questions you may be asked in a given job interview. This uncertainty is one of the reasons why most people feel somewhat nervous in this situation.

Lists of generic questions are of limited use.
Much depends on the specific job that you are applying for.

So - how to prepare as best you can? This blog aims to help you.

A possible answer is - a Business Analysis approach!

Interviewers, if are doing their job properly, will not ask you questions at random. They will prepare for the interview, set some objectives and formulate some questions to ask. Three of the possible factors that they will consider are:

• Your Resume.
• The Organisation.
• The Job.

Applying a Business Analysis approach would give you these steps:

• Fact finding - your resume.
• Fact finding – the organisation.
• Fact finding – the job.
• Analysis – of requirements.
• Identification – of potential questions.

This post focuses on the first of these - your resume.

It may seem odd to say "fact finding" here, after all you should know what's in it. But - it is worth reviewing your resume and considering what interview questions might arise.

So to start - simply sit down and read it through - bearing in mind the job that you have applied for.

Here are three possible sources of questions to bear in mind - your:

• Personal interests.
• Qualifications.
• Work experience.

The next suggested step is to focus on the particular job that you are applying for.

Read through and review:

• Your job application
• The job description.
• The candidate description.

A tip here - if you apply for a job always file and keep copies of the original job advertisement - plus any additional material that you might be sent by the employer, such as the above. Also keep a copy of your completed application form.

This is particularly important if you are applying for several jobs at the same time.

In the light of the above - return to your resume, re-read and review it. Try to anticipate possible questions and take a note of them.

Some examples:

Your resume - personal interests.

If the job / candidate description mentions the need for "building relationships with stakeholders at all levels in the organisation" - consider how any of the things that you have included might be relevant. Perhaps you've worked for a community project where you helped to bring together people to work towards a common aim. Maybe one way that you achieved this was by talking to people at levels and building an understanding of their requirements.

Your resume - qualifications.

If the job / candidate description mentions "understanding business processes and identifying areas for improvement" - consider which of your qualifications and which part of the syllabus helped you to learn how to do this. For example, you may hold the British Computer Society Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis. In that case the Modelling Business Processes part of the qualification will have equipped you with some relevant skills and techniques.

Your resume - work experience.

If the job / candidate description mentions the need for "a basic understanding of Business Strategy and how this influences requirements and priorities" - think about how you might meet this. In a previous job you might have worked on aligning a project with strategic aims - or at least seen how this was done.

These are just some examples - obviously you need to apply this to your own resume and the specific BA job that you are seeking.

But having done that you will have a start point for considering possible questions for your own job interview and can formulate some convincing answers.

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I'll be covering more about BA jobs and job interviews in future posts.

For now - to sum up - if you are looking for a Business Analysis job - why not apply your skills as a Business Analyst to help you to prepare and increase your chances of success!

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You can learn more about BA Interviews in this video on my Business Analysis YouTube channel:
Business Analysis Jobs - The Interview - Part 1 - Introduction

My online course on Udemy covers the fundamentals of Business Analysis - including a session on Business Analysis Jobs. Learn more here -
Course - Getting Started In Business Analysis