Are you a data analyst looking for a job? Then you need to be prepared for some common behavioral interview questions. In this post, we’ll take a look at 20 of the most common questions that data analysts get asked during job interviews. So read on and learn how to answer them like a pro!

Leadership & Talent Development

Tell me about a time you successfully delegated an important task.
Tip: It isn’t just leaders who delegate. Show that you know how to ask for help and that you know how to use your team for help.
Tell me about a time you had someone on your team with a performance issue. How did you handle it and what was the outcome?
Tip: Although leaders have to solve performance issues everyone else on the team has to deal with it. Show that you help your leaders become aware of the situation and that you make yourself available to help.
Tell me about a time when two people on your team had a disagreement. How did you handle it?
Tip: Chances are at some point you’ve been pulled into a disagreement. Show that you can help deescalate and find common ground.
Tell me about a time you had to learn something new quickly. What was it and how did you approach learning?
Learning agility is key for data analysts. Show that you have an approach to learning rather than starting new each time.

Communication & Relationships

Tell me about a time you had a conflict with someone at work. How did you handle it?
Tip: Even the nicest person is going to have a disagreement at some point. The key isn’t to just be nice but to show that you can handle and resolve conflict.
Tell me about a time you had a difficult boss. How did you handle it?
Tip: Show that you can balance courage with respect. You can’t just rebel completely but you also shouldn’t be a doormat.
Tell me about a time you had to cultivate a relationship in order to achieve your goals. What were the goals and what was your strategy?
Tip: So much of getting work done involves the cooperation of others. Show that you know how to identify important relationships and how to cultivate them.
Tell me about a time you made sure a customer/user was pleased with your services.
Tip: Even if it isn’t an example about analytics show that you can make your customers happy. Without happy customers analytics can’t get funded.
Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult customer/user. What made them difficult and how did you handle it?
Tip: Sometimes people are difficult but you still have to deal with them. Show that you can be the bigger person and do your job even when it is hard.
Tell me about a time you had to tell someone “no”.
Tip: Another common trap is saying “yes” to everyone and every request. When there are good reasons you also must be able to say “no”.
Tell me about a time you had to partner with another team in order to achieve your goal. How did you ensure there was the proper alignment?
Tip: Show that you got all of the needed alignment up front to ensure you were aiming for the same results. The best examples highlight compromise and working through ambiguity.

Delivering Results

Tell me about a time you made a mistake. How did you handle it?
Tip: Find a medium sized mistake. Not so small it is trivial but not so big that it was a catastrophe. Be sure that you owned up to the mistake in the example and that you had a fix.
Tell me about an analytics project you lead that you are proud of. Why are you proud of it and what is one thing you would do differently if doing it over again?
Tip: Ideally find a project that solved a real problem. Make sure you have at least a few things you’d have done differently even if it went great. If not it makes you look like you aren’t thoughtful.
Tell me about a time you had to overcome a lot of ambiguity in order to achieve a goal.
Tip: Many times there is no playbook to run and even the final deliverable can be unclear. Show that you can take action and adjust along the way while still meeting your final goal.

Strategic Thinking & Judgment

Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision. What made it difficult and what did you ultimately choose?
Tip: In this example make sure you have 2-3 viable choices with their own pros and cons. Explain your thought process and make sure the end result was a positive one.
Tell me about a time you set a strategy for your team. What business result were you supporting and what was the strategy?
Tip: At some point you’ve created a plan or a strategy. It doesn’t have to be analytics related, just show that you can think through a problem and create a plan that can turn into execution.

Change Management

Tell me about a time you had to convince your leadership to make a change. What was the change and how did you convince them?
Tip: Show that you want to make things better for your team and that you have the courage to make a suggestion. Ideally you’ll have done it with a thoughtful approach that gives a high probability of influencing them.
Tell me about a time when you had to lead your team through a large change they were hesitant to make.
Tip: You may not have done this before and that’s OK. Talk about a large change that you helped to implement and as much as possible explain it using the ADKAR framework even if you didn’t use that exact methodology.
Tell me about a time you had to adapt to a large change. What was the change and how did you handle it?
Tip: Data analysts have to be adaptable. Show that you can adjust as needed and still deliver results.

Other

Tell me about your best day at work and your worst day. What made them the best and worst?
Tip: Give an honest answer but as much as possible make the positive about when you delivered a great results and the negative about when you were unable to deliver a result.

20 Behavioral Interview Questions Data Analysts Get Asked