Business Analyst Community & Resources | Modern Analyst

What is BPMN?

Chris Adams — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 01:37:00 GMT

BPMN stands for Business Process Model and Notation, it is an industry standard that provides businesses with the capability of visualizing and communicating their internal business processes and their external business to business processes in a standard manner. Beyond the obvious use of modeling business processes, BPMN has been created with the key goal of creating a bridge between the business process modeling notation (BPMN) and IT-oriented execution languages that will implement the modeled business processes within a business process management system.

This is done by maintaining and supporting a strict internal model that maps the rich set of graphical objects and object attributes of BPMN to executable languages such as the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) or Business Process Modeling Language (BPML) to support immediate execution of modeled buiness processes.

Key features and concepts of BPMN include:

Symbols and Notation - BPMN utilizes a set of standardized symbols and graphical elements to represent various elements of a business process, such as tasks, events, gateways, and flows. These symbols are intuitive and can be easily understood by both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Process Modeling - BPMN allows for the modeling of end-to-end business processes, capturing their flow, activities, decisions, and interactions. It enables the representation of complex processes, including parallel and sequential flows, loops, and conditional paths.
Collaboration and Choreography - BPMN supports the modeling of collaborative processes involving multiple participants or organizations. It allows for the representation of interactions, message flows, and responsibilities between different process participants in the BPMN collaboration diagram.
Event-driven Modeling - BPMN includes specific symbols and constructs to represent events that trigger or result from certain activities or states in a process. It enables the modeling of event-driven behavior, such as timers, message events, and error events.
Process Governance and Analysis - BPMN provides a foundation for process governance, documentation, and analysis. It enables stakeholders to document and communicate process requirements, analyze process performance, identify bottlenecks, and optimize process flows.

By leveraging BPMN, business and systems analysts can effectively analyze, communicate, and optimize business processes, collaborate with stakeholders, facilitate requirements elicitation, simulate process behavior, support system integration, and ensure compliance with regulations.

Portfolios, Programs, and Projects—what’s the difference?

Chris Adams — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 23:29:00 GMT

The term portfolio is used to refer to a collection of programs and projects. These programs and projects are initiated, prioritized, and managed by a company to meet the goals of the business. The term program is used to refer to a single strategic business initiative and groups of one or more related projects that support the business initiative. So one or many related projects can make up a program and one or many programs can comprise a portfolio. There are times when there is no need for all three levels - an organization's list of unrelated projects could simply be called the organization's portfolio.

As a business analyst, understanding each of these three concepts (portfolio, program, and project) and how your project fits into the greater program and ultimately portfolio of projects can help you understand many of the decision made by executives. If you know that your project has a high priority within the portfolio, your requests for additional resources have a much higher likelihood of being approved compared to a request from a low priority project. Similarly, if your project has a low priority, resources could be pulled to support higher priority projects or your project may be cancelled altogether, even if it was on track and on budget.

Understanding other projects in the portfolio and their relation to your own can also help the business analyst make better decisions. Instead of making decisions based strictly on a myopic view of your own project, a good business analyst will consider the pros and cons that each decision may have on other projects belonging to the same program. In this way, the business analyst is ensuring that they are delivering the optimum solution for the project and the company as a whole.

What is MoSCoW and how is it beneficial for prioritizing requirements?

Chris Adams — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 03:52:00 GMT

MoSCoW is a method used to prioritize functional and non-functional software requirements. Developed by Dai Clegg, the MosCoW method was first used as part of RAD (Rapid Application Development) then gained traction as part of the more agile Dynamic Systems Development Method. MoSCoW is an acronym which stands for:

M – Must Have

S – Should Have

C – Could Have

W – Won’t Have but Would Like in the Future

While requirements are often categorized numerically on a 3, 4, or 5 point scale, the MoSCoW method provides the added benefit of providing a pneumonic that qualitatively describes HOW requirements should be classified into each level of priority.

Must Have describes requirements that have to be implemented to have a successful system. There are no workarounds if the functionality is missing. So, if even a single “Must Have” requirement is not implemented the system is a failure.

Should Have describes requirements that if missing would significantly affect the usability of the system but for which a workaround exists. It’s not necessarily pretty or ideal but if you leave a “Should Have” requirement out the user can still manage to use the system, even if their productivity is reduced.

Could Have describes requirements that if missing do not have a dramatic impact on the usability of the system. They are nice to haves. They are still desired because they result in moderate improvement in usability and improve user satisfaction.

Won’t Have but Would Like in the Future describes requirements that are known to be outside of the current scope of the project. These may be nice to have requirements but could also be very significant requirements that merely cannot or will not be included in the current release. This category is used as a parking lot to organize future requirements.

Can the MoSCoW method be used in Agile?

Absolutely, yes! The MoSCoW method works really well within agile as it helps the practitioner identify the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) by considering all the must-have requirements. Once the project team completed all the must-have requirements, they can focus on the the next level, the should-have. Of course, the team should re-prioritize using MoSCoW after each iteration or program increment as could-have and even't won't have requirements may become must-haves.

MoSCoW is one of the core practices of the Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM).

Does the MoSCoW method only work for requirements?

Definitely, not! Anything which needs to be prioritized can be prioritized using the MoSCoW method. Here are some examples of prioritization using MoSCoW:

Prioritizing initiatives or projects within a larger program
Prioritizing training courses being considered for a development team

What factors can be used to determine the category of an item using MoSCoW?

When prioritizing requirements (or anything else) it is best to identify the factors which are important to the organization and which should be used when determining the relative priority using the MoSCoW method. Each factor can be given a score and weight which, when added together, can be used to more objectively differentiate between the requirements.

Some factors to consider when determining the priority of a requirement:

cost to develop the requirement
expected benefits of implementing the requirement
regulatory demands
team's ability (skills) to implement

What is Scope Creep and how do you manage it?

Chris Adams — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 17:30:00 GMT

Scope creep occurs when additional features are slipped into a project after the project scope is defined and the project has started. The intent is generally good with the hope of making the delivered product better, but these changes can lead to the project running over time and/or over budget. How you manage scope creep depends on the type of project.

What is a Use Case Diagram?

Chris Adams — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 23:21:00 GMT

[Be the first to post an answer to this question!]

What is Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and when should it be used?

Chris Adams — Sun, 14 Aug 2022 14:05:00 GMT

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) describes a risk analysis method for identifying and documenting all of the possible ways that a system or process can fail, the likelihood of the failure occurring, and the effects that such a failure would have on customers or the business. It is often used as part of Six Sigma and other methodologies.

Agile: User Stories versus Epics, what's the difference?

Chris Adams — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 16:00:00 GMT

User Stories and Epics make up the essential building blocks of agile planning and development. They are closely related and, therefore, the differences are often misunderstood.

What is the difference between IIBA BABOK tasks "Specify and Model Requirements" and "Define Solution Options", 2 of the 6 tasks covered within the “Requirements Analysis and Design Definition” knowledge area?

Chris Adams — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 21:13:00 GMT

The Specify and Model Requirements Task describes the “What”.

The Define Solution Options Task describes the “How”.

What is the difference between horizontal and vertical prototyping?

Chris Adams — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 16:07:00 GMT

Horizontal and vertical prototypes are sometimes used during the analysis and design phases of application development. They are useful for requirements elaboration and visualization, but can present some pitfalls. As long as analysts and teams are aware of the pitfalls to avoid, the pros of using prototypes generally far outweigh the cons. The type of prototype that should be used (horizontal prototype versus vertical prototype) depends on the specific goals of the team and the stage within the analysis and design process.

What is a database view and why should the business analyst understand it?

Chris Adams — Mon, 09 May 2022 16:00:00 GMT

While the business analyst usual works in the logical domain, understanding what a database view is and the advantages of using them can be helpful when the analyst is tasked with documenting requirements and creating specifications for reports and user interfaces that present data from database queries.

A database view is a stored query that returns data from one or more database tables. The stored query, or view, is a virtual table. Once you have defined a view, you can reference it just as you would any other table in a database. Since the view is the result of a stored query, it does not contain a copy of the data itself. Instead, it references the data in the underlying base tables.

Views provide a number of advantages:

A view can provide additional security. By creating a view and creating the necessarily privileges, you can ensure that the users are only able to retrieve and modify data that is exposed by that view. Users will not be able to see or access data in the underlying tables that is not exposed by the view.
Views can reduce query complexities. By creating and storing complex queries and exposing them in the form of a view, the data from the view can be extracted using much simpler queries.
Since a database view is a stored query, not a copy of the actual data, views consume very little space.

Some examples of the ways views are used are:

To combine data from multiple tables into a single virtual table that can be queried using basic statements.
To partition a complex table into multiple virtual tables that are simpler to query. For example, if a database table contains sales data from the past 10 years, views can be created and represented using tables names such as SalesData2020 or SalesData2021.
To aggregate data and perform calculations. The view (stored query) can request the database engine to sum or average data in underlying tables. These sums or averages can then be queried more easily.

What is the business case for using personas?

Chris Adams — Mon, 09 May 2022 14:23:00 GMT

Many organizations that lack experience with personas don't fully understand the value of them. Furthermore, personas can be difficult for the inexperience team member to properly create. Intuitively people tend to think that in order to satisfy the needs of a large audience or wide array of users they need to make the functionality of the product or application as broad as possible. This is wrong. When you try to design for everyone, you delight no one. You end up with a very mediocre product. If you focus on delighting your primary persona then those represented by your secondary persona(s) should also be satisfied due to overlap in needs. A good analogy to remember is this: widening your target doesn't improve your aim.

Cybersecurity and security risk are hot topics. What are some key security considerations that a business analyst needs to be aware of?

Chris Adams — Thu, 05 May 2022 16:52:00 GMT

Cybersecurity is a broad domain with many disciplines. There are several certifications such as the Security+ (Sec+) and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) that dive deep into security. The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) offers a certification for Business Analysts who want to specialize in cybersecurity called the IIBA-CCA. Not all business analysts need to be security professionals, but most business analysts will need to be familiar with at least some security principles for their role.

How might a business analyst use BPMN differently for Business Models than for Executable Models?

Chris Adams — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 16:20:00 GMT

The origins of BPMN began in the area of executable models. That is, it was created to be precisely interpreted by workflow engines or business process management systems in order to automatically orchestrate how information, documents, or other workflow items are directed through a system. The benefit of an executable model is that it can be changed and immediately re-executed to establish a new workflow. At least, that’s the idea.

Which is better, meeting your managers expectations with consistency or giving up some consistency in order to exceed expectations?

Chris Adams — Sun, 10 Apr 2022 14:15:00 GMT

Managers need consistent results that they can rely on. They also need exceptional performers who can solve the tough problems. Ideally, a manager wants someone who can do both, but that is a rare find.

What soft skills do you think are beneficial for the role of Business Analyst?

Chris Adams — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 20:38:00 GMT

During an interview, you are very likely to be asked a variation of this question. Most likely the question will be much more direct and personal such as:

What is your greatest strength?
What is your worst character trait?
How do you deal with difficult situations?
How do you resolve a conflict within your team?
Can you give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult? How did you handle the situation?

Do any of the above ring any bells? I bet you have heard these at least once. These targeted questions are usually wrapped as behavior questions, where the recruiter or interviewer will describe a situation and ask you for your behavior response. The aim of these questions is to get a glimpse of your character, personality and how skilled you are in emotional intelligence.

Describe the User Centered Design methodology

Chris Adams — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 17:42:00 GMT

The User Centered Design methodology focuses on the user's needs and goals throughout the entire product or application development lifecycle. This design approach places the user as the focal point of all phases of the development process from concept development to design, development, deployment, and finally to post-deployment assessment. It is an approach which emphasizes cognitive factors such as a user’s perception, emotion, and memory and how these cognitive factors participate in the interactive experience.

What is Platform as a Service (PaaS)?

Chris Adams — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 16:05:00 GMT

Platform as a Service describes when cloud providers offer a cloud computing platform that application developers can use to develop and run software in the cloud. This typically includes providing the web server, operating system, database, and a programming language runtime environment which executes the program. Platform as a Service means the developers can focus on creating applications without incurring the cost, time, and complexity associated with servers and setting up the programming environment.

Many people face burnout at some point in their career. What are some tools that you have used or could use to deal with it?

Chris Adams — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 21:28:00 GMT

This question isn't to imply that someone who has suffered from burnout is bad or weak. As a hiring manager, I understand that most people will face burnout during their career. This question is intended to see if people have healthy coping tools to help them through it.

Are You Stronger with Your Business Knowledge or Technical Knowledge?

Chris Adams — Tue, 08 Feb 2022 18:29:00 GMT

This is a universal interview question for Business Analysis professionals as it applies to entry-level jobs as well as senior-level roles. As a hiring manager, I want to know the strengths and weaknesses of a candidate’s knowledge so I can envision how well they will fit into my team.

Our profession is about communicating well between technical (or solution) resources and business resources. We need to understand both worlds to do our job well.

What are some of the questions a business analyst should ask to determine the most appropriate way to Measure Solution Performance (a key task in the BABOK Solution Evaluation knowledge area)?

Chris Adams — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 21:23:00 GMT

The following are the types of questions to ask when determining how to measure solution performance. These will provide the business analyst guidance on how to support Solution Evaluation.

Compare a user story versus a use case. What are the essential elements of each? When would you use one versus the other?

Chris Adams — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 22:08:00 GMT

The essential elements of a user story are:

The user
Statement of what the user needs to accomplish
Why the need to accomplish this

The essential elements of a use case are:

The Actor carrying out the use case
Summary of the use case
Success criteria
Scenario detailing the steps the Actor follows to achieve the success criteria.

What is a RAID log and how is it used?

Chris Adams — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 21:54:00 GMT

Business Analysts often pull double-duty as project managers. As a project progresses, risks, issues, and other events come up that impact the project. A RAID log is an effective tool for tracking items, and it provides people with a consistent place to look for answers.

What is a JAD Session and what is the Business Analyst's role in one?

Chris Adams — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 18:00:00 GMT

A JAD is a Joint Application Development (or Design) meeting. It is an opportunity for stakeholders with different points of view to come together to understand business requirements and brainstorm what the best technical approach might be for meeting the customer's needs.

As a business analyst, do you have a “results-oriented mindset”?

Chris Adams — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 17:43:00 GMT

Being results-oriented implies that you are focused on delivery. This mindset could be the delivery of whatever task you are hoping to complete to achieve the desired results. Results-oriented or delivery-focused individuals tend to focus on the outcome of tasks with a lesser emphasis on the actual process of achieving them. There is often a sense of urgency with resolving problems where teams have a result-oriented mindset.

What are some pros and cons of requirements reuse?

Chris Adams — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 17:28:00 GMT

Requirements reuse is when the same written requirement is used repeatedly within a single project, across a product line, or even across an enterprise. Requirement reuse can be as simple as an analyst copy/pasting requirements from a previous project, or it can be as sophisticated as having a central repository of requirements that documents link to.

What are the Business Analysis Knowledge Areas?

Chris Adams — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 20:56:00 GMT

This question is an easy way for a hiring manager or an HR professional to screen out candidates who may have under-invested in their career or may lack understanding of the business analysis profession. The 6 Knowledge Areas are:

Elicitation & Collaboration
Requirements Analysis & Design Definition
Solution Evaluation
Requirements Life Cycle Management
Business Analysis Planning & Monitoring
Strategy Analysis

How do you feel about peer reviews of your business analysis work?

Chris Adams — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 16:38:00 GMT

If you’re not familiar with peer reviews, it’s a process where Business Analysis team members review one person’s work and provide feedback on it. For example, a group of user stories are shared with the team for pre-reading before a peer review meeting. In the meeting, each user story is discussed with team members providing feedback. This is an opportunity for the author to get suggestions about ambiguous wording and structure. It’s also an opportunity to get input from peers based on their knowledge of the business that can be helpful in making the user stories more robust.

As a candidate being interviewed, this question is about aspects of your personality, working style, and understanding the value of peer reviews.

Describe in general terms how a Business Analyst supports Solution Evaluation.

Chris Adams — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 16:23:00 GMT

The interviewee should be familiar with how the Business Analyst supports Solution Evaluation. The IIBA BABOK Solution Evaluation knowledge area includes a number of tasks to evaluate a solution but is not the only source. The interviewee should demonstrate a good understanding of how the BA participates in Solution evaluation.

Measure Solution Performance, Analyze Performance Measures, Assess Solution Limitations, Assess Enterprise Limitations, Recommend Actions to Increase Solution Value

How would you handle a difficult or disruptive person in a group requirements gathering session?

Chris Adams — Mon, 08 Nov 2021 16:01:00 GMT

There are many reasons why people may come off as disruptive in requirements gathering sessions. These might include being resistant to change, being worried you will automate them out of a job, or having been through sessions like this before with no result, which leaves them feeling that the meeting is a waste of time.

Here are some tips to deal with disruptive team members:

Provide a high-level overview of a process you are familiar with, but assume your audience knows little about this process.

Chris Adams — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 18:05:00 GMT

Business analysts are often asked to provide a high-level overview of a process. This may be to executive stakeholders as part of a project update; this may be to the development team before the next round of software development begins. Often the audience knows very little about the process

How do you engage the right stakeholders for a business analysis activity such as a workshop?

Chris Adams — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 17:33:00 GMT

Business Analysts use powerful tools to get the right information from the relevant stakeholders, an example of a tool could be a workshop. To make the most of it, you need to select and engage the right stakeholders. But how do you know which stakeholders to select?

Why bother with identifying use cases? Why not jump straight to process flows?

Chris Adams — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 16:15:00 GMT

Whether documenting business processes or systems processes, use cases and process flows can both be valuable tools.

A use case description textually describes the main success scenarios of a process as well as the major alternate scenarios and exception scenarios. Process flows do the same thing, though in graphical form. A process flow documents the step by step activities of the main success scenario. Decision points (often shown as diamond shapes) show where the main scenario branches off into alternate scenarios.

What types of testing should be considered when developing an application?

Chris Adams — Sun, 12 Sep 2021 14:50:00 GMT

The most common types of testing used by a majority of projects are: Unit Testing (Component Testing), Integration Testing, User Acceptance Testing, Functional Testing (Black Box Testing), Usability Testing, Performance Testing (Load Testing, Stress Testing), Regression Testing

What is an Impact Map, what makes it robust, and why should an experienced BA know how to create one?

Chris Adams — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 20:45:00 GMT

Impact maps are a powerful tool in the agile BA toolkit. First introduced by Gojko Azdic, a Strategy Consultant, in 2012, Impact Maps (IM) are a fast and straightforward strategic planning tool. They provide a high-level graphic view of business goals and how they may be achieved. Several free and paid tools can be used for creating Impact Maps. It facilitates collaboration between technical teams and business stakeholders as well as being an enabler for getting all stakeholders aligned regarding goals and the strategies for achieving them.

What does it mean to be a strong meeting facilitator?

Chris Adams — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 15:22:00 GMT

When looking for Business Analyst roles, many job descriptions are now looking for people who, you guessed it, have excellent facilitation skills. So, in hopes of sparing you any surprises in an interview, I thought I'd give you my words of wisdom on the subject.

Fortunately, you've been practicing facilitation, like I have, without realizing it. So it won't be too hard to catch on…

Do you apply your project management skills outside of work?

Chris Adams — Sun, 11 Jul 2021 01:25:00 GMT

So how is this all relevant in an interview setting? First, it shows your passion for the job runs deep, that you’re all in. Second, it shows that you understand anything can be broken up into manageable pieces and completed on a short timeline. The skills you have are transferable and adaptable. Some benefits of using your project management skills in your personal life setting include:

Skills mastery
Gap filler. Resumes can’t account for most of your “off the clock” time, but an interview can. It is helpful when pivoting your career. In either case, you can show that you have what it takes.
With non-disclosures and proprietary property, you are very limited to the amount of work you can showcase. Performing some of the skills outside of the job helps. You can have a “portfolio” of your work accessible online, so the hiring manager has the opportunity to review it.
It shows a personal side. It is a way for the hiring manager to know you outside of work.

What is the Cone of Uncertainty?

Chris Adams — Sat, 10 Jul 2021 15:05:00 GMT

The Cone of Uncertainty is a term often used in project management to describe the phenomenon by which project unknowns decrease over time. As the project proceeds and more research and development is completed the amount of uncertainty decreases, eventually approaching zero. Project unknowns, or uncertainty, largely correlate to variances in project estimates. Plotting these variances over time creates a cone or funnel shape (variance percentages shown are only examples, values may vary).

What preparation should be completed by the BA prior to a Requirements Interview?

Chris Adams — Fri, 07 May 2021 16:40:00 GMT

The steps involved in preparing for a requirements interview are just as important (perhaps even more important) as the act of conducting the requirements interview itself. The quality of the requirements obtained during the interview is closely dependent upon the preparation done upfront. The business analyst should:

How do solve the problem of endless meetings with few results?

Chris Adams — Fri, 07 May 2021 16:10:00 GMT

There are a couple of ways you can ensure that your meetings are producing results rather than endless discussion. Here are two options that can work, each catering to a different organizational environment.

What is a Scrum of Scrums and what are its benefits?

Chris Adams — Mon, 03 May 2021 21:19:00 GMT

You manage a team of Project Managers and Business Analysts.They are all assigned different projects, but you come to realize they all intersect at one business application.

All teams conduct their meetings throughout the project to ensure it's going according to the project charter or their sprint goals. Some are using status meetings, and others are running daily scrums.

How do you ensure synchronization among the teams and that an accidental change does not compromise the business application? That there are no impacts or impediments to a smooth delivery? What is your approach?

What techniques do you use to plan and conduct requirements elicitation workshops?

Chris Adams — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 16:10:00 GMT

Prepare participants for the discussion by distributing supporting material prior to the workshop. Send out draft documents, straw model diagrams, or even just a list of questions designed to stimulate thoughts and ideas. Participants will be much more able to articulate their own ideas and respond to others when they’ve had some time to think about the workshop topics in advance.

What is Stakeholder Analysis and how does it benefit the business analyst?

Chris Adams — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 16:00:00 GMT

Stakeholder Analysis is the process of identifying project stakeholders, how their needs may impact the project, and the contributions that the stakeholders will make to the requirements elicitation process. Projects typically have a large number of stakeholders from many different areas of the organization. Based on each stakeholder’s position and responsibilities, the level of their involvement and their importance to the project will vary.

Is it a Defect or is it an Enhancement? How to manage the disagreements.

Chris Adams — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 19:25:00 GMT

“It is a defect, or an enhancement” is one of those arguments in software development that never seems to satisfy anyone when someone makes a decision. I’ve gone so far as to say it is a defectment. It’s really a combination of both. However, that doesn’t necessarily answer the question - nor provide guidance to a resolution.

Tell me about a time when you made a mistake. How did you handle it?

Chris Adams — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 18:52:00 GMT

This type of question is also looking to see not how big the problem was or how terrible an employee you’ll make, but that you are human. Everyone makes mistakes. It would be best not to say, “I don’t have anything to say. I haven’t made any mistakes at work. I have an A+ track record.” They will not believe you.

Describe some pros and cons of using templates that aid in creation of BA deliverables.

Chris Adams — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 17:53:00 GMT

Templates can be useful, but with many tools available to the business analyst they come with their pros and cons.

How do you ensure that your use case model is effective?

Chris Adams — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 17:38:00 GMT

Use case models include actors and use cases. An effective model must identify both comprehensively. Yet, analysts usually fail to identify all of the relevant actors.

To solve this problem, I like to recommend an approach that maintains a separate use case diagram and actor diagram. Then, the actors from the actor diagram can incrementally be added to the use case diagram as the use case diagram evolves.

How would you assess your value as a business analyst?

Chris Adams — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 18:00:00 GMT

This question is not intended to determine how much you are looking to make. If an interviewer asks you a question like this, they are likely looking for answers to a number of other unspoken questions such as:

Do you understand the real value a business analyst brings to an organization?

Do you ever think about the cost associated with employing you as a business analyst?

Do you have the skillset required to be a marketable business analyst?

Are your expectations of the value of a business analyst realistic?

How do you respond in an interview if you don't understand parts of the question?

Chris Adams — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 17:26:00 GMT

Imagine the interviewer has asked the following, "The CIO tells you to add SOA to the existing software architecture. What do you do?"

There are several ways you could approach this question. However, what should you do if you aren't familiar with SOA?

First, show that you're comfortable asking any and all questions. As Business Analysts, it’s our job to understand what our stakeholders are trying to accomplish.

What is a stakeholder needs assessment?

Chris Adams — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 15:27:00 GMT

Stakeholder analysis involves identification of individuals and organizations that have some form of stake or interest in the project outcomes, and assessing the particular needs of each stakeholder group. The stakeholder needs assessment is conducted early in the project, so that steps can be taken to effectively manage their interests and expectations throughout the project.

What strategies might a business analyst consider when planning for a company's growth?

Chris Adams — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 17:10:00 GMT

If a company is to ensure its growth, it needs to plan for it. There are a number of growth strategies that can be used. Deciding which is the right growth strategy for a company depends on it current success and position within the marketplace in which it operates. Four of these growth strategies are:

Market Penetration (Existing Products/Existing Markets)
Market Development (Existing Products/New Market)
Product Development (New Products/Existing Market)
Diversification (New Products/New Market)