← All roles
Interview practice

Business Analyst

2–5 years · Mid — Requirements · SQL · Stakeholder management · Documentation · Excel · Process mapping

0–2 years 2–5 years 5–8 years 8+ years
scenario Requirements Gathering 1 of 6
A stakeholder is unhappy with the delivered feature because it does not meet their expectations. How do you address their concerns in the first thirty minutes?
What a strong answer covers

Listens to the stakeholder's feedback carefully; clarifies their expectations against the specification; identifies where the misunderstanding occurred; documents specific examples of the discrepancies; proposes a follow-up session to align on requirements.

The follow-up you would get

The stakeholder insists on immediate changes. How do you negotiate a compromise while managing their expectations?

Could you have answered that?
scenario Stakeholder Management 2 of 6
During a project, a key stakeholder changes their requirements last minute, impacting the timeline. How do you react in the first few minutes?
What a strong answer covers

Acknowledges the change and its potential impact on the project; assesses the feasibility of implementing the change within the current timeline; communicates with the project team to gauge the implications; prioritises requirements based on business value; schedules a meeting to discuss with the stakeholders.

The follow-up you would get

If the new requirements conflict with previously agreed-upon features, how do you handle that situation?

Could you have answered that?
technical Requirements Gathering 3 of 6
A stakeholder requests a feature that requires data from three different systems, but one system's API is down. How do you handle this situation to ensure project progression?
What a strong answer covers

Maps out system dependencies; communicates the impact of the outage to stakeholders; explores alternative data sources or manual data extraction; documents the temporary workaround and updates project timelines.

The follow-up you would get

If the downtime extends, how would you reassess the project priorities?

Could you have answered that?
ownership Stakeholder Management 4 of 6
Share an experience where you owned a project from inception to delivery. What would you do differently if you had the chance?
What a strong answer covers

Engaged stakeholders from the start, tracked progress through regular updates, addressed feedback promptly, documented lessons learned, would improve communication channels.

The follow-up you would get

What specific feedback did you receive from stakeholders after the project was completed?

Could you have answered that?
ownership Handling stakeholder feedback 5 of 6
Describe a time you received critical feedback from a stakeholder regarding a feature you delivered. How did you respond?
What a strong answer covers

Mentions the specific feedback received and the stakeholder's concerns; details the steps taken to address the feedback; discusses any changes made to the feature and the dialogue with the stakeholder; reflects on lessons learned for future interactions.

The follow-up you would get

What could have been done to prevent that feedback?

Could you have answered that?
technical SQL 6 of 6
Can you discuss a time when you had to optimise a SQL query for a large dataset? What approaches did you use?
What a strong answer covers

Analysed query execution plans, indexed relevant columns, reduced data volume with WHERE clauses, used joins instead of subqueries, monitored performance post-optimisation.

The follow-up you would get

What was the impact of your optimisation on the overall system performance?

Could you have answered that?
That is this set.

Load six more — you will get questions you have not seen first.

Give me six more →

Say your answer out loud before revealing. Reading the answer first feels like learning and is not.