BA Intervie Questions Online Source

8/18/2019 BA Intervie Questions Online Source

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General Management Skills

1.What do you think are your strengths as a Business Analyst?

I think that I have following strengths in my past prole as a business analyst:

• The right mix of functional and technical knowledge

• Ability to communicate eectively between the development whether internal or

third party vendors! team and the end users"

• #trong levels of persistency and $uick learning capability

• Adaptability to the work environment as desired"

2.What do you think are your weaknesses as a Business Analyst?

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"

3.What can you do for us that other rosecti!e candidates cannot?

I am condent on being the best t for this role as my principles are I believe to be

in line with the company vision and mission" I will bring to the organi'ation my

technical know(how as well as my functional expertise% striving to achieve success

for the company

".What are your goals?

I want to go for the professional )usiness Analysis certications such as I#*) and in

the near future will be striving for the +,I-.* / certication also% which will enable

me to grow in the )usiness Analyst career path

#.Why do you want to work here?

This is $uite a well known company and its principles are in line with my principles" I

believe that the organi'ation will give me the best available platform available with

the right amount of support and motivation

$.What is the moti!ating factor which you e%ect from your &o'?

)elieving that the work done by me is contributing in the organi'ational 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 denitely down the


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line look after it main resources 0 its employees and I would be a proud party to

that1

(.What )art of *our +o' ,o you like -he Most?

The ability to analy'e and research the various aspects and arriving at the solution

or way forward so as to benet the organi'ation or at least at the pro2ect level gives

me great satisfaction"

.What )art /f *our +o' ,o *ou ,islike -he Most?

There is currently no part of my 2ob that I dislike% and I am glad that I have chosen

this career path

0.What Made *ou Aly or -his +o' And Why ,o *ou Want t?

I have the right mix of educational background3 technical and functional skills" The

2ob role is as per my expectations and can be described as a best t" I can add valueto this role and contribute towards the success of the organi'ation

1.What do you consider is your greatest strength as a Business Analyst?

I think the biggest strength is the domain and the technical experience that I have

had over the years as a business analyst" I have the right communication and

leadership skills re$uired to excel in this role"

11.What do you consider is your 'iggest weakness as a Business Analyst?

I would like to think that my weaknesses are like my stepping stones towards

success" At present I would like to ne tune my technical abilities to the constantlychanging technologies available in the market"

12.What are the methods you use for gathering re4uirements ?

As a business analyst% we not only have to gather the re$uirements but also provide

solutions often with the help of the technical team

•,e$uirement gathering with 4achman framework ( 5se the famous 67 8 9

formula 7ho 0 7hat 0 7hen 0 7here 0 7hy 8 ow!" ;eep asking about the

problem with this formula to nd the principle re$uirements

•Implicit re$uirements 0 we should not forget about these as they can make or

break the whole pro2ect

•+rototyping and process


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13.What is the di5erence 'etween 6uality Assurance and 6uality 7ontrol

and how are they related to the Business Analyst ro8le ?

=uality Assurance focuses on the process: is the method chosen able to produce the

product or is the deliverable free from errors and>or defects" =uality .ontrol speaks

about the products or deliverables themselves: the nal examination of the productor deliverable to ensure they stand to the specications and they&re free from error

of defect"

A business analyst has to take care of =uality Assurance as well as control is in

place in the nal product which is delivered"

1".What are the challenges which you would face as a 'usiness analyst?

A balance between technology constraints and business needs should be

maintained at all times" Technology is used to help fullling business need% so it&s

usually close to the need" ?ou also have to keep an open mind as to how a process

works eectively and accurately produce the re$uired product" Then% you must

make sure that the written specications are written properly to avoid

misinterpretations"

1#.9ow did you handle a re4uirement:enhancement that was not feasi'le?

I know that even if I think a re$uirement was not feasible% I have a responsibility to

explain why it was not feasible to the business representatives" #o rst I&d clarify

the re$uirement% what was the true re$uirement there" Then% I&d explain the

technical limitations in non(technical language to them as to why the re$uirements

couldn&t be

accommodated at the same time" @ost of the times% the reason was not feasible

because it&s not aordable" After I present the business representatives with the

estimated cost% they would decide whether or not the re$uirement was really

needed" 7hichever the outcome was% the business representatives would feel that

they&re in command and they&re involved in the decision making process"


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Business Analyst ;elated 6uestions

1.Are you aware of the !arious software methodologies? or Boad Testing 0 is done by the technical team to test whether the

system can sustain heavy load and usage etc"


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3.What are some of the challenges you ha!e 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" #ome of the ma2or challenges which a

business analyst has to face in his prole are:

•There should be clarity regarding the re$uirements as they lay the foundation of

the pro2ect" 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 prole"

•The business analyst Is regarded as the knowledge house regarding domain

knowledge and has to keep on updating himself with the industry and company

know(how to keep himself at par

".What are the documentations which you ha!e comleted in youre%erience? =%lain in detail.

A business analyst is expected to document the following:

• Deasibility #tudy

• #cope of the pro2ect

• )usiness ,e$uirement ocumentation

• Dunctional specications

o @ain content

o 5@B iagrams

o +rototypesin T@B>*xcel etc!

• -on Dunctional specications

• Test plan% scenarios and cases

".What is >M? What are the tools which are generally used 'y 'usiness

analysts for >M diagrams?

5@B is 5nied @odeling Banguage and is a worldwide standard for diagram(based

ob2ect(oriented modeling" .lass diagrams% 5se case diagrams and Activity diagrams

are usually used by business analysts during their functional documentation and

re$uirements analysis process"

5sually% business analysts use any of the following tools for 5@B diagrams:


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• @# 0 Eisio

• ,ational ,ose

• #parx #ystems 0 *nterprise Architect

#.What are non functional re4uirements?

-on Dunctional re$uirements include the following:

• +erformance .haracteristics of the system 0 speed% response time% capacity

constraints

• *rror and exception handling 0 systems logs% error logging

• *xternal Interfaces F Integration 0 data integration% data feed schedules"

• #ecurity of the system 0 user proles% administrator% privileges

• isaster ,ecovery F )usiness .ontinuity +lan 0 system back ups

• 5ser and Training re$uirements 0 for users and technical team

$.@ersion control and con8guration management are terms used widely in

the 'usiness industry write short notes a'out the terms.

)y denition% version control is essentially a subset of conguration management" It

is usually concerned with the handling changes arising in previous documents as

opposed to conguration management which essentially handles the individual

components"

(.Good documentation management systems are highly recommended in

system de!eloment 'rieCy descri'e the factors that contri'ute to a good

documentation management system.

Dor 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 inplace% 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"

.State the di5erent software methodologies.

The term software methodology% software development methodology and software

process mean almost the same thing in computer software or system development%


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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 nal 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"

,egarding 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 nd 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

identiable weaknesses are eliminated rst before that system comes into

operation" @uch stories and arguments apart% the following are the available

software methodologies:

i!#B.( #oftware evelopment Bife .ycle% also understood as #ystem evelopment

Bife .ycle which encompasses activities such as Analysis% esign% Implementation%

Testing% Inauguration and @aintenance in that order and then back to Analysis% notethat it is a cycle hence once we get to the last stage% i"e" the maintenance we still

go back to the analysis stage and move along to the maintenance once more

iteratively

ii!The ,5+ 0 The ,ational 5nied +rocess% which when looked into intuitively is an

iterative software development process framework that was created by the ,ational

#oftware .orporation in the 5# which is a division of the I)@ International )usiness

@achine!" owever% 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 organi'ation selectively in order to end up with their respective results

depending on the needs prevailing either on the client&s side% the industry standardsor 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


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iv!The waterfall model

v!The agile software development methodology

vi!The G+ *xtreme programming!

vii!The I#H JJJ methodology 0 provided by the International #tandardsHrgani'ation

viii!The I#H 966JK model 0 also provided by the International #tandards

organi'ation

ix!The .apability @aturing @odel Integration .@@I! which replaced the former

.apability @aturing @odel .@@!

x!The #ix #igma methodology

xi!The Test riven evelopment T!

0.,escri'e the a''re!iation //A, as used in /'&ect /riented

)rogramming.

The term HHA is an abbreviation of the phrase Hb2ect Hriented Analysis and

esign" .ontrary 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 orsimply programming referred to as the Hb2ect Technology where predened ob2ects

pertaining to particular situations are pre(designed by experienced software

engineers and then the programmers 2ust call them into their code in order to

implement a given function in their code"

Cust the way experienced civil engineers design building blocks for particular

situations in a particular house so that the inexperienced mason 2ust lays them

appropriately in order to end up with a nice house is the way experienced software

engineers make these ob2ects" This helps even novice programmers to use the

ob2ects to build nice computer software or a program" It is the analysis and design

of these ob2ects with intention to make good software that is referred to as Hb2ectHriented Analysis and esign% the HHA" +rogramming languages that use the

Hb2ect Technology include .88% CAEA% and the ++ among others"

1.,escri'e the meaning of the term data maing.


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)y denition% 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!ata mediation or transformation between the source and the destination of data

ii!Assisting in data lineage analysis by identifying the data relationships

iii!Assists in data masking by discovering sensitive data

iv!Assists in data de(identication process

v!Assists in consolidating multiple databases into one thus identication of

redundant columns and advising the developers for consideration or even

elimination"

11.,escri'e the term 'lack 'o% testing.

)lack 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"

12.Gi!e the imortance of using a Cowchart.

It is easier to interpret as it is graphical in nature and thus all persons involved in

the pro2ect development can understand it with ease"

13.BrieCy e%lain the use case model.

This is a model used by software engineers to describe the business environment of

a given pro2ect" It encompasses of a series of work


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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 therelationship between particular activities with their relevant and related

departments so that during coding% the coders may refer to them to implement the

discrepancies accordingly" esigners too can be guided by these activity diagrams"

1$.9ow many tyes of diagrams do you know and what do you know a'out

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 ob2ects of a given systems and then representing theprevalent associations between the ob2ects in $uestions with the use of links"

1(.,escri'e your understanding regarding the so called alternate Cow in

use case.

These are the contingent


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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"

2.What are the documents related to the use case?

There are two documents related% namely the D, Dunctional ,e$uirement

ocument! and the ## #ystem esign ocument! or the T,# Technical

,e$uirement #pecications!"

21.,escri'e your understanding regarding logical data model.

It is the data model% which is not actually physical and describes how data is

physically stored in the given database"

22.,escri'e your understanding regarding high le!el and low le!el use

cases.

The high level use case usually refers to the entire business process whereas whenit is divided into smaller units% the outcome or the sub units are what are then

referred to as the low level use case

23.,escri'e your understanding regarding the S,,.

This is the abbreviation of the term #ystem esign ocument3 it acts as the

mediator between business users and the system developers so as the system

developers may understand the business re$uirements of the system they are

developing in order to know where to put emphasis and end up with a $uality and

ob2ective based system"

2".,escri'e your understanding regarding the following terms

i!5,#

ii!D#

The 5,# is the 5ser ,e$uirement #pecication whilst the D# is the Dunctional

#pecication3 traceability matrix is usually used to keep track of these

re$uirements" T*#T I,*.TH, can be used to do the traceability of the given

re$uirements during the testing phase"

2#.9ow is use case reared?

It is prepared using drawing application software such as the @icrosoft Eisio and the

also the ,ational rose"

2$.,escri'e how you would articiate in testing as a BA EBusiness

AnalystF.


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As a )usiness Analyst% I would participate by reviewing the test cases to ensure that

all the stipulated re$uirements have been met by the system in $uestion"

2(.,escri'e the main 4ualities of a good re4uirement.

There are several $ualities regarding a good re$uirement but the most outstanding

ones include the:

.larity 0 the re$uirement should be clear enough to be understood by its users"

5nderstandable 0 the re$uirements should be put in a manner easy to understand

by users of all levels"

.onsistent 0 the re$uirement 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 2unior sta% one would nd that the managers

would like a wider control of the system so as to monitor the 2unior sta to the date

whereas the 2unior sta are ob2ecting these view% hence a contradiction" 7hen thisissue is not considered carefully% usually through consultation or negotiation either

the managers or 2unior sta 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 benets the organi'ation derives from it thus consistency must always be

considered in the system development re$uirements"

Eeriable 0 The re$uirements of a given system should always be veriable 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 re$uirement has been met or not% it is usually

advised that the re$uirements are put in a manner that during verication% 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"

2.What is the meaning of the word >M?

This usually is the abbreviation of the 5nied @odeling Banguage% a standard

language in the system development used to implement the understanding%

documentation and construction of varied system components

20.,escri'e the diagrams which should 'e known 'y the Business Analyst

EBAF.

The )usiness Analyst )A! is expected to be conversant with the following diagrams:

i!5se case iagram: 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 analy'ing the procurement portfolio% giving out an order to a certain

supplier% acknowledging the reception of the goods% processing them as


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appropriate% doing the relevant marketing% handing the goods to the hands of a

customer at a prot% receiving payments% either by che$ue or cash% printing a

receipt% and entering the transactions into relevant accounts% making payrolls%

preparing nal accounts including the balance sheets as well as the prots and loss

accounts"

ii!Activity iagram: this is the diagram which is usually employed in early analysis

stages to describe the involved components"

iii!#e$uence diagram: This is the type of diagram used to tell the way particular

ob2ects interact with other ob2ects in a manner arranged in both time and

se$uences" 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"

3.=%lain where you would use the rational rose and the re4uisite ro.

In a situation whereby dierent modules of a given re$uirements have been created

for varied functions% then collected together and made into a single document% the

re$uisite 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% se$uence diagrams etc"

31.What is mean 'y logical data model?

ata model tells clear details about the data and how the data is stored physically

in a database"

32.What do u mean 'y high le!el low le!el use case?

A broad view of a business process is called a high level use case" And if we divide

the big view into dierent small sub use cases% then it is called low level use case"

33.What do you know a'out S,, ?

It is also called system design document" @y role as a )A is 2ust a mediator or a

middle layer between business users and developers and we make developers to

understand the business re$uirements"

3".What do understand 'y >;S S ?

5ser re$uirement specications and Dunctional specications" To keep track of

these re$uirements% we generally use Traceability matrix"

)y using Test director we can do traceability of re$uirements n testing phase"

3#.9ow do you reare use cases?

)? using @# Eisio and ,ational rose"


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3$.9ow do you articiate in testing as a BA?

I participate mainly in reviewing the test cases to see if all the re$uirements have

been met"

3(.What is the main 4uality of a good re4uirement?

The re$uirement should be good% clear% understandable% and consistent and should

be easily veriable"

3.What do u understand 'y >M ?

5@B is basically 5nied @odeling Banguage" This is the standard language used in

the system to understand% document% construct dierent components in the system"

30.What are di5erent diagrams to 'e known 'y a BA?

*ntity relationship diagram% data


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)asically version control is a part of conguration management" @ainly it handles

when the previous document changes" 7here as conguration management

handles the individual component"

"2.What is meant 'y good documentation management system ?

#hould allow to make any changes if re$uired"

"3.Good security features.

#hould be able to change versions"

Authori'ations to only re$uired people" renditioning capability!

ide imp information from others" redaction capable!

"".What are di5erent software methodologies.?

#B.% ,5+% #*I(.@@% #ix sigma% #7HT% .ost benet analysis% ,isk analysis% Mapanalysis"

"#.What is //A, ?

Hb2ect oriented analysis and designing" 5sed in coding od ob2ect oriented languages

like c88% Cava% and #A+ )adis etc"

"$.What is >A- ?

5ser acceptance testing"

If the 5AT fails% )A did not understand the re$uirements properly"

"(.What do u mean 'y ,ata maing ?

It is the mapping of data from source system to a destination system"

".What is 'lack 'o% testing?

It is completely a functional testing" i"e the tester need not know how it works

technically" e only bothers what input he is giving and what output he is getting"

"0.What do u mean 'y white 'o% testing?

It re$uires slight programming knowledge to examine the outputs"

#.What is 'ug?

@ainly used to see the performance issues and system hangs"

#1.9ow do u measure the 4uality of a roduct?


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7e do it by seeing min bugs in the product according to standards maintained by

company"

#2.What is ;A, ?

It is called as rapid application development"

It is a development process that is used to build applications in smaller periods like

6J(NJ days i"e with some compromises"

#3.What is =- ?

*xtraction Transformation and loading" 5sed mainly in data warehousing"

#".-yes of testing ?

5nit testing: by developer

)lack box testing: Dunctional and module level"

Ad hoc testing: ,andom testing""no particular pocess"

7hite box testing: Eery detailed""into the code"

*xploratory: ad hoc testing with some purpose> goal"

Dront end: for web based applications"

)ack end: database level

,egression: Testing again and again the same application"

5AT: 5ser acceptamce testing

Integration: testing the interaction of / or more than / modules at a time"

#ystem testing: Testing all the modules together

##.Why is winrunner ?

7inrunner is used Dor regression testing"

#$.Why is load runner ?

Boadrunner is used for +erformance testing

#(.What is a 'usiness rocess?

It&s a collection of related structural activities in a system"

#.9ow to identify risks in any 'usiness rocess?


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ave to examine all sources of risk from perspective of stakeholders by

brainstorming test scripts% A test plan"% use cases

Transition: +roduct delivery% +ro2ect documentation"% data base integrity

$.>ser interfacing ? its uses ? ur e%erience?

@ostly done while prototyping"

Advtgs:

O ,e$uirement validations"

O Dilling communication gap between developers and business users"

O emonstrating a working system"

O 5ser training

O Testing the nal system

O Bower development cost

O *asy maintenance

$1.9ow to categoriHe the re4uirements?


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+erformance )usiness"

#ystem

Mlobal business

Dunctional > non functional

$2.9ow to analyHe the re4uirements?

Interview" ocument analysis " prototyping% usecases"

$3.;ole of SA ,BA )M.?

iscuss the business re$uirements and get feed back from them"

$".*our ;ole after imlementation ?

Integration testing% acceptance and maintenance"

$#.=%lain B;, ;, ?

), tells what is re$uired for the product" And D, explains ), in detail


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6uestions which can 'e asked to the inter!iewer 'y the candidateI

9" 7hat are the measures used to 2udge how successful I am in the roleP

/" 7hat can I expect from you in terms of development and supportP

Q" 7here will the 2ob t into the team structureP

K" 7hat is the main thing the organi'ation expects from its employeesP

6" Are there any plans for expansionP

Documents

BA Intervie Questions Online Source