Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG®), a global leader in the hospitality industry, boasts an extensive portfolio of hotel brands known for their renowned quality and exceptional service. The company's footprint spans across continents, providing travelers with a range of accommodations from luxury to essential comfort.

In applying for the Business Intelligence (BI) position at IHG, you will be stepping into a role integral to driving strategic decisions through data-driven insights. The role demands proficiency in data analysis, SQL, and BI tools such as Tableau or Power BI. As a BI professional at IHG, you'll harness data to uncover trends, improve hotel operations, and enhance guest experiences.

Welcome to our Interview Query guide, designed specifically to help you navigate the IHG interview process. In this guide, we’ll cover key aspects of the interview, provide sample questions, and share tips to help you succeed. Let's dive in!

Submitting Your Application

The first step is to submit a compelling application that reflects your technical skills and interest in joining Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG®) as a Business Intelligence professional. Whether you were contacted by an IHG 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 IHG 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 IHG Business Intelligence 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 IHG Business Intelligence role is usually conducted through virtual means, including video conference and screen sharing. Questions in this 1-hour long interview stage may revolve around IHG’s data systems, ETL pipelines, and SQL queries.

In the case of Business Intelligence roles, take-home assignments regarding product metrics, analytics, and data visualization are incorporated. Apart from these, your proficiency against hypothesis testing, probability distributions, and machine learning 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 IHG 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 Intelligence role at IHG.

Quick Tips for IHG Business Intelligence Interviews

You should plan to brush up on any technical skills and try as many practice interview questions and mock interviews as possible. A few tips for acing your IHG interview include:

• Understand IHG’s Business Models: IHG questions can be heavily focused on understanding their business and how data drives decision-making across various levels. Study IHG’s business models and come prepared with insights on how data can optimize their operations.
• Be Metric-Driven: The Business Intelligence role at IHG will likely assess your ability to provide actionable insights based on data. Brush up on your knowledge of key business metrics, financial indicators, and how they can drive strategic decisions.
• Emphasize Cultural Fit: IHG values a collaborative and customer-centric approach. Practice responding to behavioral questions with answers that reflect IHG’s core values and demonstrate your ability to work effectively within their team environment.

Typically, interviews at Intercontinental Hotels Group (Ihg®) vary by role and team, but commonly Business Intelligence interviews follow a fairly standardized process across these question topics.

• What retention rate is needed to break even with a two-year contract under a subscription model? Smart Sales Incorporated is considering switching from a one-time sale model to a subscription-based model for its POS systems. Calculate the retention rate required to break even with the traditional model over a two-year contract period.

• What retention rate is needed to break even in four and six years if the two-year target is missed? If the company does not break even within the initial two-year contract period, determine the retention rates required to break even in the subsequent four years and the next six years. Assume the costs for subscription and one-time sales are equivalent.

• What retention rate is needed for Smart Sales Incorporated to break even with a two-year contract? Smart Sales Incorporated is considering switching from a one-time sale model to a subscription-based model for their POS systems. Given a two-year contract duration, calculate the retention rate required to break even with the traditional one-time sale model.

• What retention rate is needed to break even in four and six years if the two-year target is missed? If the company does not break even within the initial two-year contract period, determine the retention rate required to break even in the subsequent four years and in the next six years. Assume the cost for subscription and one-time sales are equivalent.

• 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.

• How do we deal with missing square footage data to construct a housing price prediction model? You have scraped 100K sold listings in Seattle over the past three years, but 20% of the listings are missing square footage data. How would you handle this missing data to build your housing price prediction model?

• What kind of model and features would you use to predict restaurant food preparation time? You want to predict the time it takes for a restaurant to prepare food from the moment an order is received until it is ready. What type of model would you build, and what features would you include?

What is the average salary for a Business Intelligence at Intercontinental Hotels Group (Ihg®)?

Q: What is the interview process for a Business Intelligence position at Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) like?

A: The interview process at IHG typically involves a phone screen with HR, followed by technical interviews with the BI team. You may be asked to solve problems related to data analysis, SQL queries, and BI tools during these technical rounds. Finally, there's usually an onsite interview or video call to assess your cultural fit and teamwork skills.

Q: What skills are essential for a Business Intelligence role at IHG?

A: Essential skills for a Business Intelligence position at IHG include strong proficiency in SQL, experience with BI tools (such as Tableau or Power BI), and a robust understanding of data warehousing concepts. Analytical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and the capacity to communicate insights effectively are also crucial.

Q: What can I expect in terms of company culture at IHG?

A: IHG promotes a diverse and inclusive workplace culture where innovation, collaboration, and employee growth are highly valued. The company prides itself on maintaining a supportive environment that encourages employees to share ideas and work together towards common goals.

Q: How can I prepare for the Business Intelligence interview at IHG?

A: To prepare for the interview, familiarize yourself with IHG's business model and latest trends in the hospitality industry. Review common BI interview questions, practice SQL queries, and refresh your knowledge of BI tools. Interview Query is a great resource to help you prep with relevant practice problems and mock interviews.

Q: What are the career growth opportunities for a BI professional at IHG?

A: At IHG, Business Intelligence professionals have ample growth opportunities. You can advance to senior roles, lead BI projects, or transition into data science and analytics roles. IHG supports continuous learning and provides various training programs to help employees develop new skills.

Embarking on a journey with Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG®) as a Business Intelligence professional promises a thriving career packed with growth opportunities. If you want more insights about the company, check out our main Intercontinental Hotels Group 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 IHG®'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 IHG® 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!