Alignable is an innovative business networking platform designed to foster connections among small business owners. As a premier online community, Alignable helps businesses grow through shared insights, marketing strategies, and valuable partnerships. Emphasizing collaboration and local business support, Alignable stands at the forefront of empowering entrepreneurs and fostering vibrant business ecosystems.

Joining Alignable as a Business Analyst offers a dynamic opportunity to delve into data analytics, optimize business processes, and drive key insights that shape strategic decisions. The position requires a skill set that encompasses data analysis, problem-solving, and process optimization within a community-focused environment. As a Business Analyst, you will contribute to enhancing the platform’s user experience and support Alignable's mission to connect and empower small businesses.

In this guide, we will navigate the interview process for Alignable’s Business Analyst position, outline commonly asked questions, and offer valuable preparation tips. Welcome to your journey with Interview Query!

Submitting Your Application

The first step is to submit a compelling application that reflects your technical skills and interest in joining Alignable as a business analyst. Whether you were contacted by an Alignable recruiter or have taken the initiative yourself, carefully review the job description and tailor your CV according to the prerequisites.

Tailoring your CV may include identifying specific keywords that the hiring manager might use to filter resumes and crafting a targeted cover letter. Furthermore, don’t forget to highlight relevant skills and mention your work experiences.

Recruiter/Hiring Manager Call Screening

If your CV happens to be among the shortlisted few, a recruiter from the Alignable Talent Acquisition Team will make contact and verify key details like your experiences and skill level. Behavioral questions may also be a part of the screening process.

In some cases, the Alignable business analyst hiring manager stays present during the screening round to answer your queries about the role and the company itself. They may also indulge in surface-level technical and behavioral discussions.

The whole recruiter call should take about 30 minutes.

Technical Virtual Interview

Successfully navigating the recruiter round will present you with an invitation for the technical screening round. Technical screening for the Alignable business analyst role is usually conducted through virtual means, including video conference and screen sharing. Questions in this 1-hour long interview stage may revolve around Alignable’s data systems, ETL pipelines, and SQL queries.

In the case of business analyst roles, take-home assignments regarding product metrics, analytics, and data visualization are incorporated. Apart from these, your proficiency in hypothesis testing, probability distributions, and business modeling fundamentals may also be assessed during the round.

Depending on the seniority of the position, case studies and similar real-scenario problems may also be assigned.

Onsite Interview Rounds

Followed by a second recruiter call outlining the next stage, you’ll be invited to attend the onsite interview loop. Multiple interview rounds, varying with the role, will be conducted during your day at the Alignable office. Your technical prowess, including programming and ML modeling capabilities, will be evaluated against the finalized candidates throughout these interviews.

If you were assigned take-home exercises, a presentation round may also await you during the onsite interview for the business analyst role at Alignable.

Quick Tips For Alignable Business Analyst Interviews

• Showcase Your Analytical Skills: Alignable values strong analytical capabilities. Be prepared to discuss your experience with data analytics tools and provide examples of how you have used data to drive business decisions.
• Understand Alignable’s Mission: Familiarize yourself with Alignable’s products and services. Be ready to discuss how your skills and experiences align with the company’s mission and how you can contribute to its goals.
• Be Prepared for Behavioral Questions: Alignable interviews often include behavioral questions that assess cultural fit. Practice responding to questions about teamwork, conflict resolution, and project management, always tying your answers back to Alignable's core values.

Typically, interviews at Alignable vary by role and team, but commonly Business Analyst interviews follow a fairly standardized process across these question topics.

• Write a SQL query to select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department. Write a SQL query to select the 2nd highest salary in the engineering department. If more than one person shares the highest salary, the query should select the next highest salary.

• Write a function to merge two sorted lists into one sorted list. Given two sorted lists, write a function to merge them into one sorted list. Bonus: Determine the time complexity.

• Write a function to find the missing number in an array of integers spanning 0 to n. You have an array of integers, nums of length n spanning 0 to n with one missing. Write a function missing_number that returns the missing number in the array. Complexity of \(O(n)\) required.

• Write a function to calculate precision and recall metrics from a 2-D matrix of predicted and actual values. Given a 2-D matrix P of predicted values and actual values, write a function precision_recall to calculate precision and recall metrics. Return the ordered pair (precision, recall).

• Write a function to search for a target value in a rotated sorted array. Suppose an array sorted in ascending order is rotated at some pivot unknown to you beforehand. Write a function to search for a target value in the array and return its index, or -1 if not found. Bonus: Your algorithm's runtime complexity should be in the order of \(O(\log n)\).

• Would you suspect anything unusual about the A/B test results with 20 variants? Your manager ran an A/B test with 20 different variants and found one significant result. Would you consider this result suspicious?

• How would you set up an A/B test to optimize button color and position for higher click-through rates? A team wants to A/B test changes in a sign-up funnel, such as changing a button from red to blue and/or moving it from the top to the bottom of the page. How would you design this test?

• What steps would you take if friend requests on Facebook are down 10%? A product manager at Facebook reports a 10% decrease in friend requests. What actions would you take to investigate and address this issue?

• Why might job applications be decreasing while job postings remain constant? You observe that the number of job postings per day has remained stable, but the number of applicants has been decreasing. What could be causing this trend?

• What are the drawbacks of the given student test score datasets, and how would you reformat them for better analysis? You have data on student test scores in two different layouts. What are the drawbacks of these formats, and what changes would you make to improve their usefulness for analysis? Additionally, describe common issues in "messy" datasets.

• Is this a fair coin? You flip a coin 10 times, and it comes up tails 8 times and heads twice. Determine if the coin is fair based on this outcome.

• Write a function to calculate sample variance from a list of integers. Create a function that outputs the sample variance given a list of integers. Round the result to 2 decimal places. Example: Input: test_list = [6, 7, 3, 9, 10, 15] Output: get_variance(test_list) -> 13.89

• Is there anything fishy about the A/B test results with 20 variants? Your manager ran an A/B test with 20 different variants and found one significant result. Evaluate if there is anything suspicious about these results.

• Write a function to return the median value of a list in O(1) time and space. Given a list of sorted integers where more than 50% of the list is the same repeating integer, write a function to return the median value in O(1) computational time and space. Example: Input: li = [1,2,2] Output: median(li) -> 2

• What are the drawbacks of the given student test score data layouts? You have data on student test scores in two different layouts. Identify the drawbacks of these layouts, suggest formatting changes for better analysis, and describe common problems in "messy" datasets.

• How would you evaluate whether using a decision tree algorithm is the correct model for predicting loan repayment? You are tasked with building a decision tree model to predict if a borrower will pay back a personal loan. How would you evaluate if a decision tree is the right choice, and how would you assess its performance before and after deployment?

• How does random forest generate the forest, and why use it over logistic regression? Explain the process by which random forest generates its ensemble of decision trees. Additionally, discuss why one might choose random forest over logistic regression for certain problems.

• When would you use a bagging algorithm versus a boosting algorithm? Compare two machine learning algorithms. Describe scenarios where you would prefer a bagging algorithm over a boosting algorithm, and discuss the tradeoffs between the two.

• How would you justify using a neural network to solve a business problem? Your manager asks you to build a model with a neural network. How would you justify the complexity of this model and explain its predictions to non-technical stakeholders?

• What metrics would you use to track the accuracy and validity of a spam classifier? You are tasked with building a spam classifier for emails. After creating a V1 of the model, what metrics would you use to evaluate its accuracy and validity?

What is the average salary for a Business Analyst at Alignable?

Q: What does Alignable do? Alignable is a social network specifically designed for small business owners. It helps businesses connect, collaborate, and grow through a trusted network and community-driven insights.

Q: What are the key responsibilities of a Business Analyst at Alignable? Business Analysts at Alignable are responsible for analyzing business processes, identifying areas for improvement, and creating data-driven solutions. They work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure that insights translate into impactful actions.

Q: What qualifications are required for the Business Analyst position? Candidates should possess a strong analytical background, experience with data visualization tools, excellent communication skills, and a keen understanding of business operations. A degree in Business, Economics, Statistics, or a related field is often preferred.

Q: What is the company culture like at Alignable? Alignable promotes a collaborative and innovative culture. The company values diversity, open communication, and continuous learning. It offers a supportive environment where employees are encouraged to share ideas and grow professionally.

Q: How can I prepare for an interview at Alignable? To prepare for an interview at Alignable, research the company thoroughly, understand its mission and products, and be ready to discuss your analytical and problem-solving skills. Practicing common interview questions and refining your technical skills using Interview Query can also give you a competitive edge.

If you want more insights about the company, check out our main Alignable Interview Guide, where we have covered many interview questions that could be asked. We’ve also created interview guides for other roles, such as software engineer and data analyst, where you can learn more about Alignable’s interview process for different positions.

At Interview Query, we empower you to unlock your interview prowess with a comprehensive toolkit, equipping you with the knowledge, confidence, and strategic guidance to conquer every Alignable business analyst interview question and challenge.

You can check out all our company interview guides for better preparation, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Good luck with your interview!