Top 30 Business Intelligence Interview Questions
Business Intelligence
Analysts and experts have emerged as IT professionals whose demand is
increasing by leaps and bounds. This has been more so because in the face of
data explosion, it has become an operational necessity for business enterprises
to indulge in optimum exploitation of data in order to derive actionable
insights from the same. So, if you too
happen to be someone who is looking to make through a Business Intelligence
Interview; this list of top 30 Business Intelligence Interview Questions, will
certainly be of huge help.
In this blog, we shall
look at some of the most important Business Intelligence Analyst Interview
Questions. Additionally, we shall also look at the Amazon Business Intelligence
Engineer Interview Questions as well as SQL Interview Questions for Business
Intelligence Analyst.
Business
Intelligence Interview Questions: Basic Level
Business
Intelligence Analyst Interview Questions
SQL
Interview Questions for Business Intelligence Analyst
Amazon
Business Intelligence Engineer Interview Questions
BI
Interview Questions: Advanced Level
Conclusion
Business
Intelligence Interview Questions: Basic Level
- . What is Business Intelligence?
The
objective of Business Intelligence is to evaluate and transform crude data and
information into actionable insights. These insights have a positive impact on
the different kinds of business decisions of the organization. It is an
amalgamation of Data Analytics and the processes of data collection, data
storage and data management. In simplest terms, a Business Intelligence Course definition would refer to an umbrella which covers data tools, data
visualization, data mining, infrastructure, data analytics and so on, in order
to provide easy and understandable summaries which could help organizations to
take decisions which are data-driven.
- 2. Name some of the prominent Business Intelligence tools.
Some
of the popular BI tools include:
Ø Tableau
Ø Sisense
Ø QlikView
Ø Power
BI
Ø Pentaho
Ø Zoho
Analytics
Ø Dundas
BI
Ø SAS
Ø Jaspersoft
Ø Yellowfin
- 3. What is a universe in Business
Analytics?
Universe
can be understood as the semantic layer between the user interface and the
database. It is actually the interfacing layer between the client and the data
warehouse. It helps in defining the relationship between different tables in a
data warehouse.
- 4. What are the steps in a Business
Intelligence process?
The
first step involves the collection of raw data from all possible data sources.
The data is then stored in data warehouse or in smaller data marts.
Additionally, data lakes can also be used as storage facilities.
The
next step involves cleaning and consolidation of data by data quality
management and data integration tools. Data has to be converted into a state
where they become suitable for analysis. This is the data preparation stage.
After that, the Business Intelligence analysts and other professionals perform
data analytics by asking queries, requesting ad-hoc reports and so on. At the
end, the results obtained from the query are transformed into different forms
of Data Visualizations. This valuable insight which is now available in a
comprehensible form is then used by business executives for strategic planning
and decision making.
- 5. What is Data Warehousing?
Data
Warehousing can be understood as a repository system which is used to analyze
and report data from different heterogeneous sources. These data are
essentially available from the SQL Server, Excel Sheet, Oracle Database or
Postgres.
- 6. What are some the features of a
Data Warehouse?
Ø It
is a separate database with the responsibility for storage of information
records and is kept segregated from an operational database
Ø Analyzed
and processed data obtained from a data warehouse, helps decision makers take
tactical and strategic decisions
Ø Analyzing
data present in the warehouse helps business analysts in viewing existing
business trends
Ø It
is also responsible for consolidating historical data analysis
- 7. What are aggregates?
Aggregates
can be understood as a form of data which is found in the aggregate table. In
order to calculate these aggregates, different aggregate functions are used. These
include max, min, count average and so on.
- 8. What are some of the benefits of
Business Intelligence?
Ø Accelerating
the process of Decision Making
Ø Improving
the Decision Making Process
Ø Optimization
of the Internal Business Process
Ø Operational
Efficiency
Ø Provides for Competitive Edge
- 9. What do you mean by the following
terms: OLAP, DOLAP, MOLAP, HOLAP, ROLAP?
OLAP
It
stands for On-Line Analytical Processing. It refers to a category of
technologies and applications which provide for the collection, storage,
manipulation and reproduction of multidimensional data with the objective of
analyzing it. It helps in executing complex analytical calculations, along with
carrying our sophisticated data modelling.
DOLAP
It
stands for Desktop OLAP. These are small OLAP products for local
multidimensional analysis. Data is essentially stored in cubes on a desktop and
is designed for single, low-end departmental user.
MOLAP
It
stands for Multidimensional OLAP. It operates as a shared environment which is
targeted at groups of users. It provides for complex analysis of data wherein
data is stored in a server-based format.
ROLAP
It
stands for Relational OLAP. It facilitates multidimensional analysis of data
stored in relational databases.
HOLAP
It
stands for Hybridization of OLAP. It might include any of the above.
- 10. What is OLTP?
It
stands for Online Transaction Processing. These can be seen as an expansive
collection of small data transactions like delete, update, and insert. They
function as operational databases and help in producing quick processing of a
query. It is also the determinant of the consistency and integrity of data.
Business
Intelligence Analyst Interview Questions
- 11. What are the key responsibilities
of a Business Intelligence Analyst?
Ø Data
Acquisition: Business Intelligence Analysts are required to collect, process and
analyze data. They also play a role in deploying data to data warehouse.
Ø Data
Interpretation: A Business Intelligence Analyst plays an important role in
extracting meaningful insights from data by way of interpreting it. These
patterns, correlations and trends, so identified, help in preparing strategies
for business improvement.
Ø Data
Presentation: A BI Analyst is responsible for sharing data analytics findings
with clients, stakeholders and other teams.
Ø They
are responsible for comprehending the existing state of business and acting as
the vertical bridge by way of transmitting high value information to decision
makers.
Ø Business
Intelligence Analysts are expected to oversee the process of Big Data handling
and even have a say in framing intelligence gathering priorities in future
- 12. What are the different kinds of
documents used by Business Intelligence Analysts?
The
software development lifecycle involves a number of documents and some of the
most important ones which are of utility to BI Analysts, are:
Ø Business
Requirement Document
Ø Initiation
Document
Ø Requirements
Traceability Matrix
Ø System
Requirements Specifications Document
Ø Use
Case Specifications Document
Ø Functional
Requirement Document
Ø Gap
Analysis Document
Ø Change
Request Document
- 13. What do you mean by Gap Analysis?
What are the different types of gaps which can occur during an analysis?
Gap
analysis refers to the analysis of the difference between the functionalities
of an existing and targeted system. The
given difference which is the gap will hint at the changes which will be
required to achieve a proposed result.
Types
of gaps:
Ø Manpower
Gap
Ø Market
Gap
Ø Profit
Gap
Ø Performance
Gap
- 14. What are some of the skills that
Business Intelligence Analysts are expected to possess?
Ø Knowledge
of Coding and Programming Languages: As a Business Intelligence Analyst, you
might be required to build mechanisms which could help in the analysis of data.
Consequently, an understanding of coding languages like Java, Python, R and
others, become important.
Ø Knowledge
of Database Tools: It is important for these individuals to be proficient in
the handling and management of data. This requires knowledge of tools such as
SQL and Excel.
Ø Knowledge
of Data Visualization services: Business Intelligence Analysts need to have an
understanding of such services as Tableau, Power BI and others which help in
producing visually appealing Data Visualizations.
Ø Excellent
Communication and Problem-Solving Skills
Ø Knowledge
of Data Modeling Concepts, Data Mining Tools, Data Warehouse Architecture and
Data Analytics Process.
- 15. What do you mean by MoSCoW and
SWOT?
MoSCoW
stands Must or Should, Could or Would. This is a process of prioritizing the
framework requirements. A business analyst should be prudent enough to
understand whether a particular requirement or need is a must-have or a
should-have.
SWOT
stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. SWOT analysis is
quite a popular strategy which is used within organizations to decide upon the
allocation of resources. A business analyst should be aware of the strengths as
well as weaknesses, of impending threats as well as possible opportunities.
- 16. What is SRS? What are its key
elements?
SRS
stands for Software or System Requirements Specifications. It can be understood
as a set of documents which describes the features of a software system or
application. Some of the fundamental elements of an SRS are:
Ø Functional
and Non-functional requirements
Ø Scope
of Work
Ø Dependencies
Ø Acceptance
Criteria
Ø Data
Model
Ø Assumptions
and Constraints
SQL
Interview Questions for Business Intelligence Analyst
- 17. What is SQL?
SQL
stands for Structured Query Language and is essentially used to communicate
with relational databases. When you are working with relational databases, SQL
works as the standard language which can be used to update, retrieve, delete
and insert data.
- 18. What is Self JOIN, CROSS JOIN and
INNER JOIN?
Self
JOIN works as a query which helps in joining a table with itself. It helps in
comparing the values of a particular column with other values in the same
column of the same table.
CROSS
JOIN refers to a Cartesian product on the sets of records from two or more
joined tables. Here, the number of rows in the first table is multiplied by the
number of rows in the second table.
INNER
JOIN assists in returning all rows which are shared by two tables. It is
analogous to identifying the intersection or the overlap between two sets of
data.
- 19. What is a subquery? What are its
different types?
A
subquery refers to a query within a query. The outer query is the main query;
while the inner query is referred to as the subquery. The subquery is executed
first and then the result is passed on to the main query.
Types
of subqueries:
Ø Correlated:
It uses value from the outer query and is thus dependent on it.
Ø Uncorrelated:
This is an independent query whose output is substituted into the main query.
- 20. What is a primary key?
A
primary key is essentially a unique identifier for a particular record in a
table. It can’t be null. However, a primary key can be a single column or a
combination of columns in a table. Each of the table can contain only one
primary key.
Amazon
Business Intelligence Engineer Interview Questions
The responsibility of
drawing meaningful insights and deriving strategic conclusions through the
analysis of this data, rests in the hands of Business Intelligence Engineers at
Amazon. The process of recruitment might involve the following interview
stages:
Ø Phone
Screen/Initial Screen
The
focus here is to gauge whether or not a candidate will be a good fit for a
specific professional position. It generally involves basic questions focusing
on past work experience.
Ø Technical
Screen
This
round generally involves live technical screening for testing your fundamental
technical prerequisites. It involves questions on SQL, Data Visualization,
Python, along with those pertaining to Business Analytics. It can be conducted
through a live coding platform.
- 21. Write a query to identify the
manager with the biggest team size.
|
Employees
Table |
|
|
Column |
Type |
|
id |
integer |
|
first_name |
string |
|
last_name |
string |
|
salary |
integer |
|
department_id |
integer |
|
manager_id |
Integer |
|
Managers
Table |
|
|
Column |
Type |
|
id |
integer |
|
name |
string |
|
team |
string |
The
question can be solved in more than one way. In one way, you can resort to the
MAX function. Another route is to creating a sorted list grouped by the manager
name. If you go by the second choice, you will be able to make use of the basic
aspects of SQL.
Ø On-Site
Interview
This
stage involves 5-6 individual rounds with Data Scientists, BI Engineers and a Hiring
Manager. Each of the rounds usually lasts for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Candidates
can expect more in-depth questions which span across the length and breadth of
data science concepts, are scenario based and provide for more substantive
screening. Questions can involve those on qualifying requirements,
whiteboarding problems, checking edge cases and so on. There can also be
questions focused on real business problems faced by Amazon in the past as well
as those focused on Amazon’s Leadership Principles.
- 22. Tell us about a time when you made
a design decision where a lot of people had opposed you. Why did they oppose
you?
- 23. Tell us about a time when
everything was going well on a project, and still you worked on an improvement
which was not really asked by anyone. What was the improvement? Why did you
think it was needed? How would you measure success?
- 24. Tell us about a time when you had a
conflict and even had multiple ways of resolving it. How did you evaluate your
options? Which solution did you choose and why?
- 25. Elaborate on a situation when you
received a critical feedback from a customer.
BI
Interview Questions: Advanced Level
- 26. State the difference between OLAP
and OLTP.
|
OLAP |
OLTP |
|
Data in Consolidated
form which is derived from various OLTP databases |
Operation data. OLTP
operates as the original source of data |
|
The objective of data
is to assist in decision making, problem solving and future planning |
The objective of data
is to be utilized in any sort of current or fundamental business task |
|
The processing speed
depend upon the amount of data |
The processing speed
is usually very fast |
|
The storage space
required is large as it holds all historical data, along with aggregation
structures |
The storage space
required is relatively small |
|
As far as the
database architecture is concerned, tables in OLAP database are not
normalized |
Tables in OLTP
database are normalized |
|
It only needs backup
from time to time |
Backup is an
essential requirement in case of OLTP and the recovery process is religiously
maintained |
- 27. List the differences between a Data
Warehouse System and a Transactional System.
|
Data Warehouse |
Transactional System |
|
It is the strategy of
collecting and aggregating data from different sources into central
repository |
It involves
processing of day to day transaction data which keeps changing everyday |
|
It is subject
oriented as it entails the extraction of data from transactional systems and
subject it to analytical reporting which could guide the business decision
making process |
It is
process/application oriented/driven as it depends on the execution of a
specific business task |
|
Handles historical
data |
Handles current
transactional data |
|
Denormalized data is
present |
Normalized data is
present |
|
It helps in analyzing
the business |
It helps in running
the business |
- 28. Explain the difference between a
Snowflake Schema and a Star Scheme.
|
Star Schema |
Snowflake Schema |
|
The structure
resembles a star where the center is occupied by a fact table surrounded by
associated dimension tables |
The structure
resembles a snowflake where the dimension tables are normalized and they
split into additional tables |
|
There exists a single
join which defines the relationship between the fact table and the dimension
table |
There exists multiple
joins which are required to fetch the data |
|
Denormalized Data
Structure (Both Fact and Dimension Table) |
Fact Table is
denormalized, while the Dimension Table is normalized |
|
Simple data base
design |
Complex data base
design |
|
Top-Down model |
Bottom-Up model |
|
High Data Redundancy |
Low Data Redundancy |
- 29. Elucidate the difference between a
Fact Table and a Dimension Table.
|
Fact Table |
Dimension Table |
|
It is the center
table in the star schema or snowflake schema |
It is one of the
important tables in a star or snowflake schema which remain connected to the
fact table |
|
Stores quantitative
information for analysis |
Stores attributes or
dimensions which describes the objects in the fact table |
|
There is less
attribute and more record than the dimension table |
There is more
attribute and less record than the fact table |
|
Forms a vertical
table |
Forms a horizontal
table |
|
The number of fact
table in less than the number of dimension table in a schema |
The number if
dimension table is more than the number of fact table in a schema |
|
Does not contain
hierarchy |
Contains hierarchy |
- 30. What is Ragged Hierarchy?
A
ragged hierarchy is essentially a user-defined hierarchy which has an uneven
number of levels. In case of a normal hierarchy, each level has the same number
of members above it as any other member at the same level. A ragged hierarchy
is an exception in this case because here the logical parent of at least one
member is not in the level immediately above the member.
Conclusion
Data driven decision making has helped in providing organizations with an extra edge over its competitors. Consequently, the quest of making through Business Intelligence interview is rampant across aspiring professionals. This guideline of Business Intelligence Interview Questions is meant to give you a fair idea of what all you can expect as you prepare for a BI interview. The Business Intelligence Analyst Interview Questions are meant to acquaint you with the professional requirements of the position of a BI Analyst. Moreover, the section on Amazon Business Intelligence Engineer Interview Questions has been synoptically presented to give you an idea of the BI interview process in one of the largest corporate houses on the global platform.
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