Analyst Interview Questions in United States
Analysts work in a variety of fields to break down complex problems and find solutions. When interviewing candidates, employers are looking for applicants who have strong analytical and problem-solving skills as well as in-depth knowledge of the field. For more information on the specific questions you'll be asked, try researching a particular role such as business analyst, financial analyst, programming analyst, or data analyst.
Top Analyst Interview Questions & How to Answer
Here are three of the top analyst interview questions and how to answer them:
Question #1: What do you think are the key strengths of an analyst?
How to answer: Compose a list highlighting both the behavioral and technical attributes that you're able to apply to the role. The job description should include specific skills an employer is looking for and abilities that are valued, which you should incorporate into your answer.
Question #2: How do you handle requirement changes?
How to answer: This question is meant to assess your logical thinking and problem-solving skills. It's important to discuss how you prioritize changes, evaluate their impact on projects and resources, and uncover new gaps the change is introducing to functional and technical designs.
Question #3: Which intelligence tools or systems have you worked with?
How to answer: List specific tools and systems and how you've used them; if you've used a system the interviewing company employs, it's important to highlight that. If you're unfamiliar with their technology, talk about how you plan to learn.
You have a birthday cake and have exactly 3 slices to cut it into 8 equal pieces. How do you do it?
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Assuming the cake is square: slice 1: cut horizontally to create 2 equal pieces slice 2: cut vertically to create 4 equal pieces slice 3: line up all 4 pieces of cake side by side and cut horizontally to create 8 equal pieces. don't stack, it will ruin the frosting. Less
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Cut each slice into 3 slices. Then eat one of them.
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Alina would be penalized for not being able to count past 6. But then, she could get a job at another company where they appreciate people who say someone's idea is wrong, then put forth the same idea and take credit for it. Less
50,000 shoppers with a 0.5% conversion rate for a chair that costs $250. Wayfair makes a 27% profit. Next, 50,000 shoppers will get a 10% discount. What is the conversion rate they must achieve to achieve the same profits as before?
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This is incorrect Old revenue = 50000*250*.005=250*250 New revenue with conversion rate r% = 50000*r*250*.9 = old revenue = 250*250 r = .55% Less
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July 9 is wrong because the profit margin changes(As sale price changes, but the cost doesn't change) Less
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The new conversion rate is 0.944, Profit from case 2 = $16,875 and the third part, if this scenario actually occurred I would give a 10% discount (with the new conversion rate .944%) because the overall profit margin would remain same i.e. $16,875 Less
Case interview: basic business problem (if product X costs Capital One $4.00 per unit, with a $800 sunk cost, and we charge X amount of dollars along with a $10 annual fee, how many do we need to sell to break even, etc). Followed by a longer discussion of more complex problems that the situation might entail.
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How is it possible to answer this without knowing the selling price per product? # of quantities to sell in order to breakeven depends on how much the selling price per product is? Since the selling price says X, you can sell it for $790 and breakeven by just selling 1 product ($790 per product + $10 annual fee (assuming it's per product)). But I may be misunderstanding the information provided. Any feedback? Less
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let's say we should sell y+1 units to break even 800 + 4.y = y*x + 10*y 800 = y(x + 10 - 4) 800/(x+6) = y so we should sell (800/(x+6)) + 1 units Less
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Actually, to correct the above response, if the selling price for 1 product is $794 (to cover the cost price of the product itself ($4) ), only 1 quantity needs to be sold. ($794 + $10) = ($800 + $4). Less
How would you deal with a stakeholder who was insisting that a complex process would be the ideal solution to an existing problem?
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nice!!
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Thank You!!!
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Try to present alternate possible process that you think is less complex. Patiently explain pros over the process insisted by stakeholder. Alternatively, try to make the stakeholder understand what would be the risk, challenges and cons of the process they are insisting. If they still do not agree, we will have to escalate or deal the discussion in presence of upper management. Less
How do you give about giving a presentation without preparation or knowledge of the subject?
6 Answers↳
Personally, I would say that this question isn't about giving presentations; it's about how you handle uncomfortable situations that can arise in business with little warning. How do you give a presentation on a subject you know little about? Don't give a speech, instead, utilize a roundtable discussion method to bring any knowledge the audience might have into the discussion in the hopes that the group's knowledge will help to make the presentation more fruitful and beneficial for everyone. Often, interview questions are not about specific job responsibilities, but rather about skills they are looking for in potential candidates. Less
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A basic template for presentation is responding to this set of questions: What, Why, Where, When, Who, and How? Some people add How much? Less
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To be honest , I would just play it off . I would use all my knowledge and understanding of the topic and say it . If I don’t know nothing , then I don’t say nothing . Easy you shouldn’t be forced to give a presentation with a lack of knowledge, that is plain dumb . Don’t play yourself . It’s better not to say nothing and just excuse your self : Less
If you have 10 bags of marbles with 10 marbles each and one bag has marbles that weigh differently than the others, how would you figure it out from one weighing
6 Answers↳
Assume all marbles are from 10g and the heavier one is 11g Take 1 marble from bag1 ,2 from bag2, 3 from bag3, 4 from bag4, 5 from bag5, 6 from bag6, 7 from bag7, 8 from bag8, 9 from bag9,10 from bag 10..and weigh them together Let it be W. So if bag5 contains the heavy marbles The total weight (W) will be 10+20+30+40+55+60+70+80+90+100 = 555. where as if all were of 10g it should have been 550. meaning the bag which is heavy will always be MeasuredWeight - 550 Mathematically if bag X is the one which is heavy, X can be found using one weighing of sample (W) - (N(N+1)/2) Less
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Terribly worded question; you never specified that we are given the normal and heavy weights. Without that information, the votes up solution here doesn’t work. Less
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Using a series sum [N(N+1)/2], will not work in this case, as we've not been provided with enough specifics (such as "whats the standard weight of the marbles?). In fact any solution dependent on summed weight will have overlapping solution space and fail. Consider if the standard weight is 10 ounce per marble, and bag 1 is the exception at 12 ounce per marble, for a total weight of 552. Now consider if bag 2 is the exception at 11 ounce per marble - also for a total weight of 552. There is no way to distinguish between the two cases. Given the setup, if appears the interviewer did expect the answer to use some variation of summed series, and I suspect the poster has paraphrased the question and missed some key language - and as best I can tell is not solvable as stated. Google will expect you to provide a generalized solution that can be automated, so the "add the bags one at a time", while simple and clever, would probably not be acceptable as a "weigh only once" solution, and if accepted would be a lesser answer as it does not provide a code-able business solution. Less
What's the best unbiased estimator for a series random variables?
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It is the OLS estimator (with Gauss-Markov approximations and normality), by Fisher's theorem on Maximum Likelihood Estimators. Less
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It didn't mention linear. if it's linear, then ols. if not, CEF, conditional expectation function. Less
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It didn't mention linear. if it's linear, then ols. if not, CEF, conditional expectation function. Less
If you have a 5*5*5 cubic, what is the outside surface area?
3 Answers↳
Its surface area...not volume .So answer should be 6*(5*5)
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Looking at the first answer makes me doubtful about what a cubic means. If its a cube only, then the answer should be 6*(5*5), as mentioned above. Less
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The simplest answer will be 5*5*5-3*3*3=98
decompose the CAPM model and discuss limitations
3 Answers↳
Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) consists of E(r) = Rf + B(Rm-Rf) Rf1 = Risk free rate which usually consists of Beta = company's stock performance against stock market Rm = Expected return from market CAPM ASSUMPTIONS Investors hold diversified portfolios This assumption means that investors will only require a return for the systematic risk of their portfolios, since unsystematic risk has been removed and can be ignored. Single-period transaction horizon A standardised holding period is assumed by the CAPM in order to make comparable the returns on different securities. A return over six months, for example, cannot be compared to a return over 12 months. A holding period of one year is usually used. Investors can borrow and lend at the risk-free rate of return This is an assumption made by portfolio theory, from which the CAPM was developed, and provides a minimum level of return required by investors. Less
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The CAPM which is E(r) = Rf + Beta *(Rm A model that describes the relationship between risk and expected return and that is used in the pricing of risky securities. Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) The general idea behind CAPM is that investors need to be compensated in two ways: time value of money and risk. The time value of money is represented by the risk-free (rf) rate in the formula and compensates the investors for placing money in any investment over a period of time. The other half of the formula represents risk and calculates the amount of compensation the investor needs for taking on additional risk. This is calculated by taking a risk measure (beta) that compares the returns of the asset to the market over a period of time and to the market premium (Rm-rf). Less
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small company premium, international premium, etc