Practical Work Sample Exercises for Hiring Top Business Analysts

Business Analysts serve as crucial bridges between business needs and technical solutions, making their hiring process particularly important for organizational success. The right BA can transform operations, drive efficiency, and ensure technology investments deliver maximum value. However, traditional interviews often fail to reveal a candidate's true capabilities in requirements gathering, process analysis, and solution design.

Work sample exercises provide a window into how candidates actually perform the core functions of a Business Analyst role. By observing candidates tackle realistic scenarios, hiring managers can assess analytical thinking, communication skills, and problem-solving approaches in action. These exercises reveal competencies that might otherwise remain hidden in standard question-and-answer formats.

For Business Analysts specifically, practical exercises help evaluate how candidates translate complex business problems into clear requirements, how they approach process improvement, and how effectively they communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders. These skills are fundamental to BA success but difficult to assess through resume screening or behavioral interviews alone.

The following four work sample exercises are designed to evaluate the essential competencies of a Business Analyst: analytical thinking, effective communication, problem-solving, attention to detail, and adaptability. Each exercise simulates real-world scenarios that Business Analysts encounter regularly, providing authentic contexts for candidates to demonstrate their capabilities while giving hiring teams concrete examples of work quality and approach.

Activity #1: Process Analysis and Improvement Exercise

This exercise evaluates a candidate's ability to analyze existing business processes, identify inefficiencies, and propose practical improvements. Process analysis is a fundamental Business Analyst skill that requires both analytical thinking and creative problem-solving. This activity reveals how candidates approach complex workflows and their ability to translate analysis into actionable recommendations.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a simplified process flow diagram of an actual business process in your organization (with sensitive information removed) or create a fictional but realistic process with clear inefficiencies.
• Include 1-2 pages of supporting documentation explaining the process context, stakeholders involved, and current pain points.
• Provide the candidate with the materials 24 hours before the interview to allow for thoughtful analysis.
• Allocate 20-30 minutes for the candidate's presentation and 15 minutes for questions and feedback.
• Ensure the interviewer is familiar with the process or has notes on the intentional inefficiencies built into the exercise.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the provided process documentation and identify at least three inefficiencies or improvement opportunities.
• Prepare a brief presentation (5-7 slides) that:

1. Summarizes your understanding of the current process
2. Highlights the inefficiencies you've identified
3. Proposes specific improvements with expected benefits
4. Outlines implementation considerations and potential challenges

• Be prepared to explain your analytical approach and defend your recommendations.
• Consider both technical and non-technical solutions where appropriate.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the presentation, the interviewer should provide specific feedback on one strength (e.g., "Your identification of the redundant approval step was insightful") and one area for improvement (e.g., "Consider how your proposed solution might impact downstream systems").
• Give the candidate 5-7 minutes to respond to the improvement feedback by adjusting their recommendation or addressing the concern raised.
• Observe how receptive the candidate is to feedback and how effectively they incorporate it into their thinking.

Activity #2: Requirements Gathering Role Play

This exercise assesses a candidate's ability to elicit clear requirements from stakeholders through effective questioning and active listening. Requirements gathering is perhaps the most critical skill for Business Analysts, requiring strong communication abilities, stakeholder management, and the capacity to translate business needs into clear specifications.

Directions for the Company:

• Select an interviewer to play the role of a business stakeholder with a specific problem or need.
• Create a brief (1-page) stakeholder profile that includes their role, primary concerns, and the business context they operate in.
• Develop a scenario brief that outlines a business need but intentionally leaves details vague (e.g., "The marketing department needs a better way to track campaign performance").
• Prepare a list of important requirements that the candidate should ideally uncover during the conversation.
• The role-playing interviewer should be instructed to only provide information when specifically asked.

Directions for the Candidate:

• You will participate in a 20-minute requirements gathering session with a business stakeholder.
• Your goal is to understand their business need thoroughly enough to begin documenting requirements.
• Ask questions to clarify the business context, specific needs, constraints, and success criteria.
• Take notes during the conversation.
• After the role play, spend 10 minutes organizing your findings into a preliminary requirements list.
• Present your understanding of the requirements back to the "stakeholder" to confirm accuracy.

Feedback Mechanism:

• The interviewer should provide feedback on the effectiveness of the candidate's questioning technique, highlighting one strength (e.g., "You did an excellent job uncovering the underlying business need beyond the stated request") and one area for improvement (e.g., "You might have explored the reporting requirements in more depth").
• Allow the candidate 5 minutes to ask additional questions based on the feedback received.
• Assess how well the candidate incorporates the feedback to gather more complete requirements.

Activity #3: Documentation and User Story Creation

This exercise evaluates a candidate's ability to create clear, comprehensive documentation that bridges business needs and technical implementation. Effective documentation is essential for Business Analysts, requiring attention to detail, technical writing skills, and the ability to anticipate information needs of different audiences.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a brief business requirement description (1 paragraph) for a new feature or system enhancement.
• Include some ambiguity that requires the candidate to make reasonable assumptions or ask clarifying questions.
• Provide a template for user stories and acceptance criteria if your organization uses a specific format.
• Allocate 30-40 minutes for this exercise.
• Have a technical team member available to answer clarifying questions if needed.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the provided business requirement.
• Create 3-5 user stories that would fulfill this requirement, including acceptance criteria for each.
• Document any assumptions you make or questions you would normally ask stakeholders.
• Create a simple process flow diagram or wireframe that illustrates how the requirement would be implemented.
• Be prepared to explain your documentation approach and how it would help both business stakeholders and the development team.

Feedback Mechanism:

• The interviewer should review the documentation and provide feedback on one strength (e.g., "Your user stories clearly connect user needs to specific functionality") and one area for improvement (e.g., "The acceptance criteria could be more specific about validation requirements").
• Give the candidate 10 minutes to revise one user story based on the feedback.
• Evaluate how well the candidate incorporates the feedback and improves the documentation.

Activity #4: Data Analysis and Recommendation Exercise

This exercise assesses a candidate's ability to analyze data, identify patterns, and make data-driven recommendations. Business Analysts frequently need to work with data to support decision-making and validate process improvements, making this a crucial skill to evaluate during the hiring process.

Directions for the Company:

• Prepare a dataset in Excel (100-200 rows) related to a business process (e.g., customer service response times, sales cycle data, or project completion metrics).
• Include some obvious patterns and some more subtle insights that require deeper analysis.
• Create a business context document that explains what the data represents and poses 2-3 specific business questions to be answered.
• Provide access to Excel or similar tools during the exercise.
• Allocate 45-60 minutes for this activity.

Directions for the Candidate:

• Review the dataset and business context provided.
• Analyze the data to identify patterns, trends, or anomalies relevant to the business questions.
• Create at least one visualization (chart or graph) that effectively communicates your key findings.
• Prepare a brief (5-minute) presentation that:

1. Summarizes your analytical approach
2. Presents your key findings with supporting data
3. Offers specific recommendations based on your analysis
4. Suggests any additional data that would strengthen your analysis

• Be prepared to explain your analytical process and how you prioritized different insights.

Feedback Mechanism:

• After the presentation, the interviewer should provide feedback on one strength (e.g., "Your pivot table approach effectively highlighted the seasonal pattern") and one area for improvement (e.g., "Consider how you might normalize the data to account for team size differences").
• Give the candidate 10 minutes to refine one aspect of their analysis or visualization based on the feedback.
• Assess how well the candidate incorporates analytical feedback and whether they can quickly adapt their approach.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should we allocate for these work sample exercises?

Each exercise typically requires 30-60 minutes to complete, plus time for feedback and discussion. For remote interviews, consider sending the preparation materials 24-48 hours in advance. For on-site interviews, you might select just 1-2 exercises rather than attempting all four.

Should we use real company data for these exercises?

While using real business contexts makes the exercise more relevant, always sanitize any sensitive data. Creating fictional but realistic scenarios based on actual company challenges offers the best balance of relevance and confidentiality.

How should we evaluate candidates who have experience with different tools than we use?

Focus on the analytical approach and problem-solving process rather than proficiency with specific tools. A strong Business Analyst can quickly adapt to new tools if they have solid foundational skills. Consider allowing candidates to use tools they're comfortable with during the exercise.

Can these exercises be conducted remotely?

Yes, all four exercises can be adapted for remote interviews using screen sharing, collaborative documents, and video conferencing. For the requirements gathering role play, ensure both parties have stable internet connections and consider recording the session (with permission) for later review.

How do we ensure these exercises don't disadvantage candidates from different industry backgrounds?

Provide sufficient context about your industry and business model in the preparation materials. Focus exercises on universal BA skills rather than industry-specific knowledge. When evaluating responses, recognize that different industries may use different approaches to similar problems.

Should we compensate candidates for completing these exercises?

For exercises completed outside the interview process that require significant time investment (more than 1-2 hours), consider offering compensation. For exercises completed during interviews, ensure the time commitment is reasonable and clearly communicated in advance.

Implementing these work sample exercises will significantly improve your ability to identify Business Analysts who can truly drive process improvements and bridge the gap between business needs and technical solutions. By observing candidates tackle realistic challenges, you'll gain insights into their analytical thinking, communication skills, and problem-solving approaches that traditional interviews simply cannot reveal.

For more resources to enhance your hiring process, check out Yardstick's AI Job Description Generator, AI Interview Question Generator, and AI Interview Guide Generator. You can also find more information about Business Analyst roles in our comprehensive job description guide.

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