Program analyst Interview Questions
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Program Analyst interview questions shared by candidates
Scenario: You have 8 golf balls and 1 is heavier than the 7 others. All you have is a balance used in chemistry classes. What is the shortest number of times you could measure the golf balls to find the heaviest ball?
6 Answers↳
2 steps. 1. Put 3 balls on each side of the scale measure( [123], [456] ) If each group of 3 is equal: 2. Place the remaining two balls on the scale - measure( [7], [8] ) If each group of 3 is not equal: assuming [123] is heavier than [456] 2. Take 2 balls from the heavier group from step 1 and place them on the scale. measure( [1], [2] ) If they are equal then [3] is the heaviest Less
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i would say three. you could put 4 balls on each side and then take the heavier side. split that group into two balls on each side. then lastly split that group to have one ball on each side. Less
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i would say three. you could put 4 balls on each side and then take the heavier side. split that group into two balls on each side. then lastly split that group to have one ball on each side. Less

If we undertake a campaign to contact our 30 day overdue group of customers, what is our overall probability of success given the following probabilities: 50% chance of having their e-mail on file 20% chance of a customer paying their bill without us contacting them 30% chance of a customer reading the e-mail we send them 30% chance of a customer making a payment if they read the e-mail etc.
4 Answers↳
Use a decision tree.
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^That method won't work because it's possible that there are those on the email list that would respond without an email, so there would be some overlap, which means you can't just add the two together. Easiest way to approach it would be to draw some sort of Venn Diagram Less
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this is likely an applied probability question: My answer is to apply total probability formula here. Less

Scenario: If you were running late for a job interview and you had no lights on in your apartment. Let's say you went into your dresser drawer and had to pull out one pair of socks. All you had was black or brown socks. And there were 5 socks total, what is the least amount of pulls you could do?
4 Answers↳
You have to pull out three socks to be sure that you had at least two of one color. Less
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it's 2. You could be lucky and get 2 socks of the same color.
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it would have to be three socks because if you pulled just two, you could get one black and one brown. Less

What are the three main real estate valuation techniques and which one do you think a bank would be most likely to use?
1 Answers↳
Cost approach, sales comparison approach, and income approach. A bank is most likely to use the income approach because it shows what income is generated from the property that can be used to meet the obligations of the loan. Less

What is an EBITA and what doesn't go into it?
4 Answers↳
Earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization
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interest expense, taxes, amortization, depreciation
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interest expense, taxes, amortization, depreciation

What is EBITDA?
3 Answers↳
How did you answer this question? (Optional)
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Earnings Before Interest Tax Amortization
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Earning before interest, tax,amortization and depreciation

Find one heavier ball out of 8 exactly same looking balls using a scale.
3 Answers↳
do 3, 3 first. if wieght is diff then one of two left out. => twice usage of scale. if one side is heavier the other from 3,3 then other three and 2 left out are same. then put 1,1 and leave one out. => twice usage of scale. Less
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Well, why not take 4 and 4, weight it and pick the heavier scale, then break the 4 into 2 groups then take the heavier one, then break the 2 balls into 1 and 1 and you will get the heavier ball... the heavier ball is picked out. Less
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break the 8 balls into 4 groups of 2 each - weigh each group and pick the heaviest out of each - 4 weighings, then take the 4 heavy balls and break it into 2 groups .... weigh each group like before - 2 weighings, then take the 2 last balls and weigh to get the heaviest ball .... so in all 7 weighings Less


If you were writing a large commercial loan and could only look at one financial statement, which one would you choose?
2 Answers↳
Balance Sheet
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Cash flow.
