These are few typical questions from which I prepare for my BA interviews. I hope it helps.
1. Tell me about yourself.
It seems like an easy interview question. Its open ended. I can talk about whatever I want from the birth canal forward. Right?
Wrong. What the hiring manager really wants is a quick, two- to three-minute snapshot of who you are and why you are the best candidate for this position.
So as you answer this question, talk about what you’ve done to prepare yourself to be the very best candidate for the position. Use an example or two to back it up. Then ask if they would like more details. If they do, keep giving them example after example of your background and experience. Always point back to an example when you have the opportunity.
Tell me about yourself does not mean tell me everything. Just tell me what makes you the best.
2. Why should I hire you?
The easy answer is that you are the best person for the job. And dont be afraid to say so. But then back it up with what specifically differentiates you.
For example: You should hire me because Im the best person for the job. I realize that there are likely other candidates who also have the ability to do this job. Yet I bring an additional quality that makes me the best person for the job–my passion for excellence. I am passionately committed to producing truly world class results. For example . . .
Are you the best person for the job? Show it by your passionate examples.
3. What is your long-range objective?
Make my job easy for me. Make me want to hire you.
The key is to focus on your achievable objectives and what you are doing to reach those objectives.
For example: Within five years, I would like to become the very best accountant your company has on staff. I want to work toward becoming the expert that others rely upon. And in doing so, I feel Ill be fully prepared to take on any greater responsibilities which might be presented in the long term. For example, here is what Im presently doing to prepare myself . . .
Gap Analysis is the process of comparing two things in order to determine the difference or gap that exists between them. Once the gap is understood, the steps required to bridge the gap can be determined.
Gap Analysis
Most often gap analysis is used to compare two different states of something; the current state and the future state.
Gap analysis can be conducted on:
A system features that exist in the system now versus the features that need to exist in the future
A system interface data that a system provides to an interface now versus data that will need to be provided in the future
A business process activities and steps of a current business process versus the activities and steps that will be supported by the business process in the future
Business goals and metrics how well a business meets certain goals and metrics now versus the targeted goals and metrics at some point in the future.
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:
-2. Market Development (Existing Products/New Market)
-3. Product Development (New Products/Existing Market)
-4. Diversification (New Products/New Market)
What strategies might a business analyst consider when planning for a company's growth?
Market Penetration
The strategy is to focus on getting more out of the current markets serviced by an organization while offering the same products. New products and new markets can mean additional unknowns which, in turn, increase risk and chances of failure. For this reason, a company may choose to select a growth strategy of market penetration. The goal of market penetration is to increase the percentage of market share that the organization possesses through pricing, marketing, loyalty programs, incentives, advertising, etc.
Market Development
Is used to describe the growth strategy of an organization which chooses to venture into new markets or new customer segments with their existing products.Their existing products are likely proven which provides a degree of stability, but moving into new markets increases risk.This may still be viewed by some organizations as a fairly conservative strategy and is often adopted by companies as they feel their current markets getting squeezed tighter and tighter by competition. Entrance into new markets often requires skilled marketing professionals to ensure a company receives the attention it is looking for.
The Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) designation is an award from the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) made to experienced Business Analysts who have demonstrated sufficient breadth and depth of knowledge by sitting and passing a three-hour exam of 150 questions based on the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK).
Certified Business Analysis Professional CBAP
Initially launched in North America, the CBAP was a written exam typically run in parallel with the Business Analysis World Symposium. Today it is possible to take this exam electronically, although still in a controlled environment.
As of March 9, 2010, there were 873 individuals who had been designated Certified Business Analysis Professionals.
Eligibility :
Before applying for the CBAP a Business Analyst must meet the following eligibility criteria:
Experience
Given the number of topics covered by the BABOK, the exam is only open to experienced Business Analysts, which IIBA deems to be those with at least five years professional experience in a BA role.
Education and Training
Candidates must have achieved a minimum of a high-school qualification, and have had a least twenty-one hours of professional development in areas related to Business Analysis in the last four years.
There is no defined way to become a Business Analyst ( BA ). Often the BA has a technical background, whether having worked as a programmer or engineer, or completing a Computer Science degree. Others may move into a BA role from a business role – their status as a subject matter expert and their analytical skills make them suitable for the role. Business analysts may overlap into roles such as project manager or consultant. When focused on specific systems, the term Business Systems Analyst may be used.
Business Analysts Life cycle
A BA does not always work in IT-related projects, as BA skills are often required in marketing and financial roles as well.
The International Institute of Business Analysis provides a certification program for business analysts (Certified Business Analyst Professional or CBAP), as well as providing a body of knowledge for the field (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge or BABOK).
A few consulting companies provide BA training courses and there are some consulting books on the market (UML, workshop facilitation, consultancy, communication skills). Some helpful text books are:
1. Customer-Centered Products by Ivy F. Hooks and Kristin A. Farry (Amazon, USA, 2001).
2. UML for the IT Business Analyst: A Practical Guide to Object-Oriented Requirements Gathering by Howard Podeswa
3. Writing Effective Use Cases by Alistair Cockburn
4. Discovering Real Business Requirements for Software Project Success by Robin F. Goldsmith.
5. Business Modeling with UML by Eriksson & Penker
6. Software Requirements, 2nd Edition by Karl E. Wiegers (Microsoft Press, 2003)
I found this video on Microsoft Access 2007.This tutorial is only for beginning Microsoft Access users or beginning users to database software in general. This tutorial shows how to open a new database, set the tables for the database, enter data into the table, and save the database.Most of the content I have covered in my previous posts.So this might be helpful for understanding it in a better way now.
Imagine you create a list of students. The list can be started with names as follows: Amanda,Ali and Tim. This type of list is considered one-dimensional because all of its items fit in one category. In order to create a more detailed list, you may want to include these people’s Last Name , Gender and probably other related information. If you include these additional pieces of information in the same category, the list may become confusing. To arrange the list, you would divide it in categories. Here is an example:
Fig 1.1 ( Click on the image to enlarge )
Fig 1.1 shows the initial stage of table creation where we create the categories/field name and the datatype. For datatype we select values from the drop down box and save the table ( CTRL+S).
So by this time we have created the frame of the table and defined the fields and the datatype .
After this we need to enter the values into the table and for that we double click on the table ( at the left side ) and start entering the values as shown below:
Fig 1.2 ( Click on the image to enlarge )
This type of display allows you to refer to a piece of information by its category. This is the basis of a table. A table is a two-dimensional list of items so that the items are arranged by categories. A complete or incomplete series of items that represent each category is called a record. Therefore, a table can be represented as follows:
In database development, a category is represented as a column. Sometimes it is also called a field. A record is represented as a row.In database development, a category is represented as a column. Sometimes it is also called a field. A record is represented as a row.
Here are some quick information on handling tables:
Opening a Table
The most regular operations you will perform on a table require that you open it first. To open a table, first locate it in the Navigation Pane then:
* — You can double-click the table
* — You can right-click the table and click Open
Any of these actions causes the table to display in Datasheet View in the central area of the screen. In the same way, you can open as many tables as necessary.
Closing a Table
After using a table, you can close it. Before closing a table, first select its tab. Then, to close a table:
* — You can click the close button Close on the right side of the tabs
* — You can press Ctrl + Shift + F4
Selecting a Table
In order to use a table, some operations require that you (or rather the user) first select(s) it:
* — To select a table in the Navigation Pane, simply click it
* — If you had opened many tables and they are displaying in the main area of the screen, to select one, click its tab or its title bar
* — If you have many tables displaying in the main area of the screen, you can press Ctrl + F6 continuously to switch from one table to the next until the desired one displays
Renaming a Table
We saw that, when or after creating a table, you must save it to make it part of your database. When saving it for the first time, you must give it a name. If the name of a table is not appropriate, you can change it. To rename a table, in the Navigation Pane, you can right-click the name of the table and click Rename.
In my last tutorial I explained about creating MS Access database. Today I will be explaining about creating Blank Database.
We create database to store information in it.The information is stored in form of Tables.In databases either be MS Access or it be MySQL , we always keep/ maintain data in a form of tables consisting of rows and columns.We name a Table and the columns as per our requirement and enter the data or the value in the rows.
Creating a Blank Database :
— Start Microsoft Access
– To start a new database, in the main section and under New Blank Database, click Blank Database
– In the right section, set the File Name as per your requirement eg Studentdb.accdb . Note – We use the .accdb extension here.
– Click Create to create the new database file
We can also use the samples available as they have the field names preset.
It is really important for Business Analyst to know Database as we have to analyze and create reports for 95% of the time. I will be posting a sequence of Microsoft Office Access tutorials.And trust me it will start on from the basic ( from non-technical point view too ). The first is to see whether you have MS Access database in your system ( duh ).
– Click on start button and click on RUN. Type msaccess and click ok. After this the following screen ( shown below) will appear.
— Here I clicked on Blank Database. After that on the right side you name the database with .accdb extension.
– You can even choose the file from the folder too. After that click on create button.
– You will see the following screen shot.
– So this screen represents the tables in the ms access database. In next post I will explain how to create table.
