How to effectively assess BA candidates
By Damon Ankers. December 20, 2018
The latest issue of Analysts Anonymous reports on a workshop with 30 BA practice leads, which reviewed recruitment in the sector and how to get the most value from the candidate assessment process. Here are the highlights from their discussions:
- Any selection process must begin with a thorough understanding of who needs recruiting ie. what are the ‘must have’ skills, what is a required behaviour
- CVs don’t always reflect the quality of candidates and can often be poor indicators of technical ability and organisational fit, so keep an open mind and be prepared to seek out more details before progressing to interview
- Make use of video or talking CVs
- Qualifications are important but not critical
- Phone interviews are an efficient first step for understanding a candidate’s communication ability, suitability and aspirations
- Online assessments provide clues in terms of personality match and to benchmark baseline intelligence but shouldn’t be a decisive factor
- Choose questions relevant to BAs from generic question banks
- Asking candidates to describe the role of a BA is a useful interview question
- Ambiguous, surprise and situational questions also help to assess candidates initiative and responsiveness
- Asking candidates to produce a presentation is useful for testing their level of commitment to the role
- Use referees and LinkedIn for background checks and recommendations
- Informal meetings with the wider team help to assess social styles and behaviours
For further assessment advice, please contact the Certes team.
