Business Analysis interview questions
BA interviews — requirements, stakeholders, process modelling, and the evidence that a change was worth making.
22 questions, and for 7 of them what a good answer has to cover. This is the bank Answers Ready practises you against — the same questions, marked on the same points.
introduction
Tell me about yourself.
What a good answer covers
- A shape, not a history: what they analyse now, one thing they are good at, why this role.
- Under two minutes.
- Ends pointed at the job rather than trailing off.
the role
What does a business analyst actually do?
What a good answer covers
- Bridges a business problem and a delivered change — not 'writes documents'.
- Names the two directions: understanding the need, and making it buildable.
- Distinguishes the BA from the product owner and the project manager rather than blurring them.
elicitation
How do you gather requirements?
What a good answer covers
- Names more than one technique: interviews, workshops, observation, document analysis, prototyping.
- Chooses between them for a situation rather than reciting all of them.
- Mentions going to watch the work happen, not only asking people about it — the gap between what people say they do and what they do is the point.
A stakeholder tells you exactly what they want built. How do you handle it?
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
requirements
What is the difference between a functional and a non-functional requirement?
What a good answer covers
- Functional is what it must do; non-functional is how well — performance, security, availability, accessibility.
- A concrete non-functional example, since this is where vague answers show.
- Non-functionals are the ones that get missed and the ones that sink a release.
How do you write a good user story?
What a good answer covers
- Role, goal, reason — and that the reason is the part that carries the value.
- Acceptance criteria that are testable, not restatements of the story.
- INVEST, or the substance of it: small, independent, valuable, verifiable.
- A story is a placeholder for a conversation, not a specification handed over.
How do you prioritise requirements?
What a good answer covers
- Names a method — MoSCoW, weighted scoring, cost of delay — and that the method matters less than the conversation it forces.
- Prioritisation is a business decision the BA facilitates, not one the BA makes alone.
- The failure mode: everything is a Must. How they handle that.
What is requirements traceability and why would you bother?
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
stakeholders
Two stakeholders want incompatible things and both are senior. What do you do?
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
The sponsor keeps adding to the scope. How do you handle it?
Senior. Marked against your own answer in the app.
Tell me about a stakeholder who would not engage.
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
modelling
Walk me through how you would map an as-is process.
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
When would you use BPMN rather than a simpler flowchart?
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
analysis
How do you carry out a gap analysis?
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
What goes into a business case?
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
How do you decide what goes in an MVP?
Senior. Marked against your own answer in the app.
delivery
Tell me about a time a requirement was missed and what happened.
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
How do you support UAT?
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
How do you know a change actually delivered the benefit?
Senior. Marked against your own answer in the app.
agile
What is the BA's role on an agile team?
What a good answer covers
- Refinement: making stories ready, which is most of the job.
- Works with the product owner rather than replacing them — and can say what the difference is.
- Present through delivery, not finished when the story is written: questions arrive mid-sprint.
- Avoids the answer that agile means no documentation.
data
How comfortable are you with SQL, and what do you use it for?
Mid-level. Marked against your own answer in the app.
A report says the change worked. You think the numbers do not support that. What do you do?
Senior. Marked against your own answer in the app.