100 BA Interview Questions

100 Business Analysis Interview Questions 2022
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© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 2 of 26

Preface and Introduction

One may love or hate interviews, but one can’t
avoid interviews in the corporate world.
We kept receiving requests from our customers

asking if we could help them in their BA interviews.
However, it is hard to find a good compilation of
interview questions that any professional can
utilize.
This book is an outcome of significant efforts from

a team of business analysts at Adaptive US.
Key features of the book:
A Sample set of 100 BA Interview Questions and

their Answers.
We hope you will enjoy the book. We will be glad

and thankful if you can share your feedback and
suggestions on the book. Please provide your
feedback and suggestions to
Info@AdaptiveUS.com.

About Adaptive US Inc.

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Table of contents
Sl No. Chapter Page No.
1. Planning 6
2. Elicitation 7
3. Requirements Life-Cycle Management 8
4. Strategy Analysis 9
5. Solution Evaluation 10
6. Requirements Modeling 11
7. Vocabulary Comparison 12
8. BA Techniques 14
9. Requirements Analysis Case-Based Questions 15
10. Scenario-based Questions 17
11. Agile 19
12. Testing 21
13. Contemporary Questions 23
14. HR Questions 24

1. Planning
1 What is a change team?
A A Change team is a cross-functional group of individuals who are mandated
to implement a change.
2 What are the different levels of changes in any organization?
A Changes can be at a system, process, or strategy level.
3 Define organization knowledge.
A Organization knowledge is an understanding of the organization’s operations.
4 What is the RACI matrix?
A RACI matrix is a responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed matrix
5 What is the role of a project manager?
A The project manager is responsible for managing the work required to deliver
a solution.
6 What is creative thinking?
A Creative thinking is to come up with new ideas, approaches, and alternatives.
7 What does a requirements management plan contain?
A Requirements management plan contains tools, activities, and roles and
responsibilities used on the initiative to manage the requirements.

2. Elicitation
1 What are transition requirements?
A Transition requirements are conditions the solution must meet to facilitate
the transition from the current state to the future state.
2 What is a business process?
A A business process is an end-to-end set of activities.
3 Explain stakeholder requirement.
A A stakeholder requirement is a description of the needs of a particular
stakeholder or class of stakeholders.
4 Explain solution requirement.
A Solution requirement is the capability or quality of a solution that meets the
stakeholder requirements.
5 What do you mean by industry knowledge?
A Industry knowledge is an understanding of an industry’s current practices and
activities.
6 What is a focus group?
A A Focus group is formed to elicit ideas and attitudes about a specific product,
service, or opportunity.
7 What is a behavioral business rule?
A A behavioral business rule is related to conduct, action, practice, or procedure
for stakeholders.

3. Requirements Life-Cycle
Management
1 What is the lessons learned process?
A Lessons learned is a process improvement technique used to learn about and
improve the process.
2 What is a requirements management tool?
A The requirements management tool is a tool to manage requirements.
3 What is ‘lessons learned’?
A ‘Lessons learned’ is also known as retrospective.
4 What is stability?
A Stability is the maturity of a requirement.
5 Define requirements management.
A Requirements management is planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling
any or all of the work associated with requirements.
6 What is negotiation and conflict resolution?
A Negotiation and conflict resolution skills involve mediating discussions
between stakeholders and team members to resolve the difference of opinions
arising from different points of view and help them arrive at a common
consensus.
7 Describe the governance process (change).
A The governance process (change) is how appropriate decision-makers use
relevant information to make decisions regarding a change or solution,
including the means for obtaining approvals and priorities.

4. Strategy Analysis
1 What is a market analysis?
A Market analysis involves researching customers to determine the products and
services.
2 What do you mean by architecture?
A Architecture is the current and future states’ design, structure, and behavior.
3 What are ‘expected benefits’?

A Benefits expected by undergoing the change.
4 Define evaluation.
A Evaluation is a systematic and objective assessment of a solution.
5 What is a feasibility study?
A A feasibility study determines if they are technically, organizationally, and
economically possible within the constraints of the enterprise and whether
they will deliver the desired benefits to the enterprise.
6 Define business architecture.
A Business architecture is the design, structure, and behavior of an enterprise’s
current and future states.
7 What is a business case?
A A business case justifies a course of action based on the benefits and costs.

5. Solution Evaluation
1 What is a request for proposal (RFP)?
A A request for proposal (RFP) is a requirements document issued when an
organization seeks a formal proposal from vendors.
2 What is COTS?
A COTS is commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
3 Define requirements defect.
A Requirements defect is a problem or error in a requirement.
4 What is force field analysis?
A Force field analysis is a graphical method for depicting the forces supporting
and opposing a change.
5 What is a fishbone diagram?
A Fishbone diagrams (also known as Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagrams) are
to identify and organize possible causes of a problem.
6 What do you mean by the user acceptance test (UAT)?

A The user acceptance test (UAT) assesses whether the delivered solution meets
the stakeholder group’s needs that will be using the solution. The assessment
is validated against identified acceptance criteria.
7 Define suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and customers (SIPOC).
A Suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and customers (SIPOC) is a tool used to
describe relevant high-level elements of a process. It may be used in
conjunction with process mapping and ‘in/out of scope’ tools to provide
additional detail.

6. Requirements Modeling
1 What is a vertical prototype?
A A vertical prototype is used to drill down into a proposed solution.
2 What are state models?
A State models refer to how an entity changes from one state to another.
3 What is a walkthrough?
A A walkthrough is a review in which participants step through an artifact or set
of artifacts.
4 What are support vector machines?
A Support vector machines are supervised learning models with associated
learning algorithms.
5 What do you understand by asynchronous calls?
A An asynchronous call allows the object to continue with its own processing
after sending the signal.
6 What is a concept model?
A A concept model is an analysis model that develops the meaning of core
concepts for a domain.
7 What is requirements verification?
A Requirements verification is work done to evaluate requirements to ensure
they are defined correctly.

7. Vocabulary Comparisons
1 How active listening differs from passive listening?
A Active listening involves giving the speaker complete attention and
interpreting and responding appropriately to what the speaker is trying to
communicate. Includes summarizing and repeating what was stated to ensure
commonality in understanding. Passive observation is just listening to what the
speaker is speaking about.
2 How active observation differs from passive observation?
A During active observation, the observer asks questions during the process. It
may interrupt the workflow but helps in gaining a quick understanding. During
passive observation, the observer just observes, does not ask any questions.
3 How does the activity diagram differ from the process diagram?
A The activity diagram uses swim lanes to show responsibilities, synchronization
bars to show parallel processing, and multiple exit decision points. Process
diagram is typically at a higher level.
4 How does the adaptive approach differ from the predictive approach?
A In an adaptive approach, the solution evolves based on a cycle of learning and
discovery, with feedback loops that encourage making decisions as late as
possible. In the predictive approach, planning and baselines are established
early in the life cycle of the initiative in order to maximize control and minimize
risk.
5 How does an asynchronous call differ from a synchronous call?
A In a synchronous call, the sender waits for a reply from the receiver. In the
asynchronous call, the sender does not wait for a reply from the receiver

6 How bottom-up estimation differs from top down?

A The bottom-up estimation uses the WBS technique to estimate deliverables,
activities, tasks, and estimates from all the involved stakeholders. Then, it rolls
them up to get a total for all the activities and tasks. In the top-down
approach, the given resource is distributed among components.
7 How does burn-down differ from burn-up?
A Burn-down shows the remaining effort. Burn-up shows the expended effort.

8. BA Techniques
1 How do Collaborative games differ from Focus groups?
A In collaborative games, we apply visual and activity-oriented techniques to
elicit requirements. Focus groups are moderated discussions to get
requirements.
2 How do Focus groups differ from Brainstorming?
A The primary intent of brainstorming is to get as many ideas as possible. It may
or may not be moderated. The Focus Group intends to discuss a particular
idea. Focus groups are usually moderated.
3 How do Collaborative games differ from Workshops?
A In collaborative games, we apply visual and activity-oriented techniques to
elicit requirements. Workshops are moderated discussions to get
requirements. They are also less activity-oriented.
4 How do Interviews differ from Workshops?
A Interviews are conducted with one or two stakeholders and usually for a
shorter duration of between 1 - 2 hrs. Workshops are usually conducted with
more number of stakeholders for a considerably longer period, maybe 16 - 24
hrs.
5 What is the main advantage of a Survey or Questionnaire?
A The main advantage of a Survey or Questionnaire is the ability to reach out to
a large number of stakeholders in a shorter duration and with less effort.
6 What kind of observations can be conducted during business analysis?
A Two types of observations are conducted during business analysis- passive
observation and active observation. The BA is a mute spectator in passive
observation and does not ask questions. In an active observation, the BA can
ask questions as the stakeholder performs the process.
7 What are the main advantages of Document analysis?
A The main advantage of document analysis is to reuse available information.
This does not require any involvement from the stakeholders.

9. Requirements Analysis Case-Based

Questions
A is a Nashville, TN-based healthcare-focused technology services and solutions
organization. Since 1999, it has been working to make healthcare accessible and
affordable through its work in the healthcare domain and proven technology
competence. A would like to automate its requirements management process.
The following diagram models the overview of the planned system. Answer the
questions based on the diagram.
1 As per the diagram, who can add requirements?

A Requirements engineer can add requirements. As one can see from the
diagram, there is an association between the actor’ requirements engineer’
and the use case ‘add requirements.’
2 As per the diagram, are all the use cases named correctly?
A No. The use case ‘traceability matrix’ is not named correctly as use cases
should follow the ‘verb + noun’ naming convention. Calling it a ‘develop
traceability’ matrix would be correct.
3 As per the diagram, which users have the privilege to delete requirements?
A Only the lead requirements engineer can delete requirements. As one can
see, there’s an association only between lead requirements engineer and add
requirements use case. As per UML use case diagram notation, the lead
requirements engineer is a special case of requirements engineer. Therefore,
he has access to additional features compared to other actors.
4 Is the log-off function mandatory?
A No, it is not mandatory. As one can see, there’s an extended relationship
between login and log-off use cases which means the user does not have to
log off every time he logs in.
5 As per the diagram, can the developer view the requirements?
A The developer is a type of user and hence can perform all the activities
carried out by the user.

10. Scenario-based Questions

1 Organization A is embarking on a plan to automate all its practices. One of the
key stakeholders insists that the project complete all detailed requirements
before embarking on the solution. Business analyst B estimates that the
requirements gathering phase itself may take more than a year. What should
business analyst B do in such a situation?
A Business analyst B should explain the challenges faced in long-duration
waterfall projects. Long waterfalls have generally been unable to meet
changing customer requirements.
2 Business analyst B uses hierarchical decomposition to break down the business
analysis deliverables into activities and tasks. B then adds the hours needed
and can give an accurate estimate of the time needed to complete BA work.
What type of estimation has B used?
A B has used a work breakdown structure. This helps in bottom-up estimation.
3 Business analyst B says there is no need to formally document anything as the
project operates in agile methodology, and the developers can develop code
with verbal instructions from the BA. How would you respond in this situation?
A Explain to the BA that requirements documentation can have value beyond
current project development.
4 Business analyst C did not invite stakeholders from organizational unit p as p
has a past reputation of adding too many requirements. What is the danger C
can face?
A Not considering stakeholders can result in last-minute changes.
5 B is a business analyst for project Q. One of B’s stakeholders has proposed a

requirement that the system should support an off-line mode of operation.
However, B’s technical team has indicated that it will take a lot of effort to
implement this particular feature. What can B do in this situation?
A B can explore critical features which can be supported in offline mode. This
approach will be acceptable to both the Domain SME and the implementation
team.

6 Z is a business analyst for project R. One of Z’s stakeholders has good

familiarity with the traceability matrix. He insists that the project follows that
approach. How should Z respond in this situation?
A Explain that there are many ways to maintain traceability. All activities in
business analysis can be carried out in multiple ways, and there is no unique
best way.
7 A is a business analyst for project P. A discovered an important new feature
that would significantly improve the solution but would affect the projected
deadline if included. What should a do?
A Recommend a course of action and let the sponsor decide. This is a good
approach as the sponsor is accountable for the solution scope.

11. Agile
1 What is agile methodology?
A The agile methodology encourages flexible and rapid response to change,
leading to better results.
2 What do daily stand-up meetings entail?
A Each day, at the same time and same place (in front of the task board), the
team meets to give updates about their tasks and tickets resolved for the day.
This meeting addresses scrum’s three questions listed below.
-what have you completed since the last meeting?
-what do you plan to complete by the next meeting?
-what is getting in your way?
3 what is a release candidate?

A A release candidate is a build or version of the software that can be released
to production. Further, testing such as UAT may be performed on this product
version.
4 What are the most important components of agile?

A The key feature of agile are:
- daily stand-up meetings.
- time-boxed task boards.
- TDD (test-driven development), continuous integration, regular code reviews,
pair programming, automated builds, continuous deployment and delivery,
etc.
-iteration planning meetings and iterative development.
5 What project management tools are used in agile?
A Agile has a new breed of PM tools, including rally software, version one and
xplanner, etc.

6 How can a storyboard be defined in agile?

A A storyboard is a visual representation of a software project’s progress. There
are generally four columns ‘to do,’‘in progress,’ ‘test,’ and ‘done.’ Different
colored post-it notes are placed in each column indicating the progress of
individual development items. A storyboard is typically used in agile
development.
7 How does the BA approach differ from waterfall projects?
A In agile-based projects, requirements are elaborated progressively, unlike in
waterfall projects.

12. Testing
1 What is a bug?
A A software bug is a fault or problem causing a program to crash or perform in
an unintended or unanticipated manner. The problem is caused by insufficient
or erroneous logic.
2 What is a defect?
A If a software misses some feature or function from what is there in the
requirement, it is called a defect. Testers often start looking for defects by
reading a requirements document, then examining the software to determine
whether it meets the requirements.
3 What is debugging?
A The process of finding and removing causes of software failures or code errors
in a computer program is called debugging. It is an integral part of the
software testing process.
4 what do you understand by alpha testing?
A Alpha testing is a type of testing conducted by a team of highly skilled testers
at the development site. It is not open to the market or the public and is done
before launching a software product into the market. It may be conducted in
virtual environments.
5 What is the difference between a pilot and beta testing?
A Pilot testing is when a select group of end-users try the system under test,
before deployment, to provide feedback about the product. Pilot testing is
carried out in the development environment. Beta testing is done by
customers or end-users in the user environment. This is done after pilot testing
is successful and the defects found in the case of pilot testing are fixed.

6 What is white box testing?

A White box testing is a software testing method in which internal structure is
known to the tester who is going to test the software. This testing examines
the program structure and derives test data from the program logic/code. It is
also known as code-based testing or structural testing.
7 What is the test approach?
A The test approach refers to the commencement of various project activities
such as planning the testing process, selecting the designs, defining the entry
and exit criteria, etc.

13. Contemporary questions

1 What is IoT?
A IoT stands for the internet of things. It is an ecosystem of connected physical
objects accessible through the internet.
2 How can IoT help businesses?
A IoT helps in changing the way businesses operate. Businesses can extract
valuable insights to improve virtually every aspect of their operations and
enable innovative, new business models.
3 What are the key risks of deploying IoT?
A Physical risks, technological risks, legal risks, risks involved in the complexity of
the IoT, and IT security risks are the k`12ey risks for deploying IoT.
4 What are the emerging trends for IoT?
A IoT can get into bodywear, footwear, driverless cars, smart homes, etc.
5 How is IoT different from embedded systems?
A Old embedded systems were not connected to the internet. However, IoT is
connected to the internet.
6 How are IoT applications different from traditional business applications?
A IoT systems are mostly signal-based systems. Traditional business applications
were typically for data-driven systems. IoT systems have a strong influence on
hardware.
7 What is DevOps?
A DevOps (a clipped compound of “development” and “operations”) is a
software engineering practice that aims at unifying software development
(Dev) and software operation (Ops).

14. HR questions
1 Tell me about yourself.
A 1. Cover your accomplishment/achievement in your answer
2. Talk about previous projects
3. Mention about your career to date
4. Don’t frame any questions for the interviewer
5. Don’t narrate anything personal
6. Don’t talk about what is already mentioned in your resume.
2 What are your key strengths?

A Research about the role and frame your reply around it. Good strengths to
discuss will be people handling and communication skills for BA. Do not talk
much about your personal life.
3 What is one thing which you want to improve about yourself?

A Talk more about how you strive to learn from every experience and improve
yourself from your current state. Do not talk about any negative trait of yours.
4 What are your weaknesses?
A 1. Offer your strength as a weakness; e.g., my friends often accuse me of being
too conscious about the time to do everything, but it is discipline and
punctuality for me. 2. Choose a weakness that is acceptable for the job at
hand, do not show a work-related weakness
5 Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
A 1. Analyze a reasonable career path, keeping in mind the position you are
applying
2. Try to emphasize on your interest and goals

3. Talk in terms of responsibilities and achievements

4. Talk about your long term interest in the position
5. Don’t mention personal goals
6. Don’t be hesitant or repeat yourself
7. Don’t portray yourself to be over-ambitious.

6 Have you been in some challenging situations? Explain how you handled it?
A Explain with the help of an example from your experience; do not make up an
imaginary situation.
7 Why should we hire you?
A 1. Emphasize on your uniqueness but keep it concise
2. Highlight your strengths and weakness
3. Focus on what can you do for the company rather than what they can do for
you
4. Do not compare your skills with others

8 What value addition will we get by hiring you?
A Highlight and let them know about your strengths and determination to learn
quickly and do your best don’t boast about your capabilities.
9 What is success to you?
A Sample answers:
1. Success is improving in all fields
2. Success is when my role models become my competitor
3. Success is a journey and not a destination

10 What are your career goals?

A Talk about your short-term goal (e.g., getting a job in a reputed company) and
long-term goal (e.g., rising to the top management positions). Do not talk
about personal goals, e.g., getting married, going for a world tour, etc.
11 Why do you want to join our organization?

A 1. Research about the organization and its top executive
2. Demonstrate how you believe in the organization’s products/ services and

goals 3. Talk about your eagerness to work for the company.
4. Do not talk about your personal monetary goals
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All trademarks or copyrights mentioned herein are

We make no claim of ownership by the mention of

Contents of this document should not be disclosed

This document may not, in whole or in part, be

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 2 of 26

Preface and Introduction

We kept receiving requests from our customers

This book is an outcome of significant efforts from

Key features of the book:

A Sample set of 100 BA Interview Questions and

We hope you will enjoy the book. We will be glad

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 3 of 26

About Adaptive US Inc.

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 4 of 26

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 5 of 26

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 6 of 26

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 7 of 26

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 8 of 26

3 What are ‘expected benefits’?

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 9 of 26

6 What do you mean by the user acceptance test (UAT)?

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 10 of 26

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 11 of 26

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 12 of 26

6 How bottom-up estimation differs from top down?

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 13 of 26

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 14 of 26

9. Requirements Analysis Case-Based

1 As per the diagram, who can add requirements?

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 15 of 26

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 16 of 26

10. Scenario-based Questions

5 B is a business analyst for project Q. One of B’s stakeholders has proposed a

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 17 of 26

6 Z is a business analyst for project R. One of Z’s stakeholders has good

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 18 of 26

3 what is a release candidate?

4 What are the most important components of agile?

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 19 of 26

6 How can a storyboard be defined in agile?

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 20 of 26

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 21 of 26

6 What is white box testing?

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 22 of 26

13. Contemporary questions

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 23 of 26

2. Talk about previous projects

3. Mention about your career to date

4. Don’t frame any questions for the interviewer

5. Don’t narrate anything personal

6. Don’t talk about what is already mentioned in your resume.

2 What are your key strengths?

3 What is one thing which you want to improve about yourself?

© Adaptive US Inc. Think BA. Think Adaptive. Page 24 of 26

3. Talk in terms of responsibilities and achievements

5. Don’t mention personal goals

6. Don’t be hesitant or repeat yourself

7. Don’t portray yourself to be over-ambitious.

2. Highlight your strengths and weakness

4. Do not compare your skills with others

1. Success is improving in all fields

2. Success is when my role models become my competitor