The main thing to confirm with an IT business analyst is that they have turned what users said into requirements a technical team could build from, and have handled the disagreements that come with that. You can cover this in 15 to 20 minutes if you ask for the document or decision behind each story.
What does an IT business analyst do?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't list business analyst as its own occupation. The closest is computer systems analysts, who "study an organization's current computer systems and procedures and design improvements to them." On most IT teams, the business analyst sits between the people who use a system and the team that builds or configures it. They find out what users need, write it down as requirements or user stories, and check that what gets delivered matches.
Which skills should you check at each level?
| Level | What they should be able to talk about |
|---|---|
| Junior (0 to 2 years) | Taking notes in requirements meetings, writing user stories with acceptance criteria, simple process maps, Jira or Azure DevOps, Excel, helping with user acceptance testing (UAT) |
| Mid-level (2 to 5 years) | Leading workshops, process modeling, data mapping, basic SQL, managing scope changes, writing test scenarios, working in Scrum or waterfall projects |
| Senior (5+ years) | Requirements for large programs, settling stakeholder conflicts, business cases, gap analysis for packaged software such as Salesforce, SAP or ServiceNow, mentoring analysts |
Ask the hiring manager which domain matters. A business analyst from banking can learn healthcare, but some clients want someone who already knows the rules of their industry.
What screening questions should you ask a business analyst?
These questions were written for this page.
Tell me about the last requirement you wrote. Who asked for it, and how did you know it was right?
Strong answer: names the stakeholder and the problem, explains how they confirmed it (a walkthrough, a mock-up, acceptance criteria, sign-off) and what changed after review.
Weak answer: "I wrote down what the business asked for."
Two stakeholders want opposite things. What do you do?
Every business analyst runs into this, and the answer shows judgment.
Strong answer: brings both into one conversation, ties the choice back to the business goal, lays out the cost of each option and takes it to whoever owns the decision. They write down what was decided.
Weak answer: "I go with whoever is more senior," or "I find a compromise," with no example.
Write me a user story, out loud, for a password reset feature.
It's a quick test of a skill the role uses every day.
Strong answer: something like "As a registered user, I want to reset my password by email, so that I can get back into my account," followed by acceptance criteria you could test, such as the link expiring after a set time and the old password no longer working.
Weak answer: no acceptance criteria, or criteria nobody could test, like "should be easy to use."
How do you map how a process works today?
Strong answer: interviews the people who do the work, watches it if possible, draws the current flow with swimlanes in a tool such as Visio, Lucidchart or Miro, and marks the handoffs and delays before proposing the future version.
Weak answer: "I ask the manager how it works."
How do you use data in your analysis? Do you write SQL?
Check the job description first: some business analyst roles need SQL, others only Excel.
Strong answer: describes a real query, such as joining two tables to count orders by status, and what it told them. An honest "I use Excel pivot tables, and my SQL is basic" is fine for many roles.
Weak answer: claims SQL and can't describe a single query.
Halfway through a project, a stakeholder asks for a new feature. What do you do with the request?
Strong answer: writes it up with the business reason, works out which existing requirements and test cases it touches, helps the team estimate the effect on time and cost, and takes it to the product owner or change board before anything changes.
Weak answer: adds it quietly to keep the stakeholder happy.
How do you support testing?
Strong answer: writes test scenarios from the acceptance criteria, organizes user acceptance testing, and sorts reported problems into defects and new requests.
Weak answer: "QA handles testing."
What red flags should you note?
- Every answer is about meetings, and they can't name a document they produced.
- Describes solutions as requirements ("the requirement is a dropdown").
- Lists both Agile and waterfall but can't say how either worked on their last project.
- Claims SQL or data skills but can't describe a query.
- The work described is mostly project coordination or manual testing. That suits some roles, but note it.
Treat these as questions for your own call, not verdicts. If you think someone else is answering, see how to spot a proxy interview.
How do you run this screen with Simplehire?
Create the role with the required skills the client confirmed, for example requirements gathering, user stories, process mapping, SQL, user acceptance testing and stakeholder management, and send the candidate the interview link. They talk with our AI interviewer in the browser, and you read the screening report before deciding whether to submit them.
| Tier | Price and length | Business analyst roles it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $2 per screen, about 15 minutes | Junior analysts and first screens |
| Adaptive | $3 per screen, about 20 minutes | Most client submissions. Follow-up questions dig deeper into the candidate's answers, and each answer gets an AI assessment |
| Advanced | $5 per screen, about 30 minutes | Lead and senior analysts on large programs |
Business analysis is hard to judge from keywords, so read the Screen summary and Areas to probe closely before your own call. You choose who moves forward. Enforced full-screen mode, restricted or flagged copy and paste, and timestamped tab-switch records apply to every screen, and a person reviews every alert. You can add a paired second device for remote roles.
Sign-up needs no credit card, and 25 Basic screens a month are free; see pricing. For related roles, see the IT project manager, scrum master and data analyst questions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a business analyst and a project manager?
A business analyst works out what should be built: they gather needs from users, write requirements and check that the result matches. A project manager owns how and when it gets delivered: schedule, budget, people and risks. On small projects one person sometimes does both.
Does an IT business analyst need to know SQL?
Some roles do. Basic SQL, enough to count, filter and join data, helps a business analyst check a requirement or a defect. Confirm with the hiring manager, and if SQL is required, ask the candidate to describe a query they wrote and what it showed them.
Which Simplehire tier fits a business analyst screen?
Business analyst answers often sound fine until a follow-up question digs into them, so we'd use Adaptive ($3 per screen, about 20 minutes) for most submissions. Lead and senior analysts on large programs suit Advanced ($5, about 30 minutes), and Basic ($2, about 15 minutes) covers junior first screens.
