Operations Analyst Interview Questions (With Example Answers) - Zippia (2024)

8 Operations Analyst Interview Questions (With Example Answers)

When you’re applying for a job opening as an operations analyst, it’s important to highlight key skills for the role at hand in both your resume and during your in-person interview. These skills can include problem-solving, strategy development and application, managing data, client reporting, and trade processes.

With an average base salary of just over $77k annually, an operations analyst is a great option for many individuals who possess these skills and a drive to work with data.

So, how do you nail your interview as an operations analyst? The first step is to update your resume and cover letter, if applicable. Be sure to look at the job description you’re applying to and insert keywords that stand out throughout both documents.

Once you’ve landed an interview, you’ll want to be sure to prepare properly. The best way to do this is to look over some sample questions and answers an operations analyst might receive in an interview.

Below, we list some sample interview questions and answers an operations analyst might receive during an in-person interview. Remember, the answers are just examples, so be sure to use this as a starting point and put your own twist on it.

1. Why do you want to work as an operations analyst?

   I’m interested in working as an operations analyst because I pride myself on my excellent analytical and observation skills. I enjoy organization and love digging into specific processes so that I can consistently analyze and improve them. Typically when this is done, teams across the company can work more smoothly and efficiently, making the working environment efficient and fun.

   I’m consistently fascinated by how changing a small detail can improve the effectiveness of some processes by 1%, which can work out to be thousands of dollars saved per year. I’ve always wanted to work in operations analysis and management, and I feel this is the ideal job for me at the start of my career. I hope to learn and grow in a position like this and perhaps even achieve a role in Operations Management in some time.

2. What previous experience do you have with analyzing business operations?

   My experience stems from my previous position, where I was the administrative assistant for a mid-sized company. I was tasked with looking over their specific business processes, specifically how they managed their paperwork. When I started at the position, they duplicated work by documenting key information in hard copy and their digital system. I made this process more efficient by creating the paperwork in PDF form on the computer, eliminating both the paper load and keeping everything in one place, without the need to document information twice. The company adopted this process and continues to use it today. I learned later that I was the first person to look at the process as a whole and suggest important changes to make the process more efficient.

3. In your experience, what is the most effective way to identify new improvement opportunities in this field of business?

   For me, it typically depends on the process or problem at hand. There are a few different ways to identify areas of opportunity within a process. First, I, of course, use my observation and deduction skills and work out my hypothesis. From there, I can work on the problem in a few different ways, including interviewing employees, working with the company’s historical data, and certain mathematical models, among other things.

4. We have had trouble with change management in the past. How do you motivate managers and employees directly responsible for certain processes to change with your suggestions?

   I have definitely run into this problem in the past, and I try to approach this issue with empathy. Nobody wants to change something they’re comfortable with, so it’s important to come to the table prepared. Typically, I try to implement three things in my suggestions for change:

   • Describe how these changes will make their job easier or more efficient. In this piece, I find it important to have a live demonstration to show how easy these changes can be to implement and what kind of desirable result they will have in the end.

   • Ensuring proper training is administered to all employees. This is so important to facilitate change management. Employees must understand the change, how it impacts them, what the benefit is, and how to proceed proactively.

   • Leading by example. Managers are incentivized to adhere to the new process, which shows their employees that their leaders back the change, and they will find more confidence in using the new processes themselves.

5. Tell me about a time your process change resulted in significant operational improvement.

   In my most recent job, I was able to take a look at our sales and marketing communication processes. There were significant issues between the two teams, despite working so closely together. Many messages were getting lost in translation, and overall processes for sharing information were unclear, and both sides were understandably frustrated. After sitting with both teams and interviewing each employee, I understood where the divide was. Nobody had taken any ownership over the relationship on either side, so my first plan of action was to appoint those people—one from the sales side, one from the marketing side.

   Together, we fleshed out a plan to make sure communication between the two teams was seamless. The sales team needed to change their processes in Salesforce to include keynotes and tags for each client, thus helping the marketing automation system accurately identify targeted audiences. On the other hand, marketing held weekly status update calls for the sales team and built an internal webpage for sharing resources with sales. This eliminated the need for one-off calls to explain new projects. Sales were then able to provide key input before projects went live, and marketing was able to ask deeper questions to help the strength of their campaigns. All in all, it improved efficiency, knowledge sharing, and team relationships.

6. Do you have experience with basic accounting?

   In my last job as an administrative assistant, I was responsible for light accounting procedures. This included compiling end-of-day sales reports and cross-referencing the numbers with Salesforce to send out an end-of-day report to the company. Additionally, I reviewed end-of-month reports to ensure all equations were precise and the numbers were correct to send to the executive team. This was a key report used on our monthly company calls.

7. What do you believe are some of the important points an operations analyst should take when preparing a comprehensive business plan?

   Depending on the business needs, I believe the most important step I can take as an operations analyst while developing a business plan is to understand individual components. This means sitting down with colleagues to discuss how the plan will specifically impact them and what they hope to see in the future of the business. I do this because an essential part of any business plan is to get buy-in from those using it.

8. If you acted as an operations analyst during a business merger, how would you ensure success between the merging of two companies?

   In the event of a major merger between two companies, I would first need to understand the needs of each side of the business. To do this effectively, I would assign a team of analysts to each company to retrieve all necessary data and sort through the files. Confidential documents are something I would analyze myself to maintain discretion and accuracy. It’s important to delegate to a larger team, especially including analysts from the joining company, to ensure all points of view are heard and taken care of.

Additional Questions for Operations Analysts

Be sure to review common interview questions that might also pop up during your interview and think through your specific answers for these. These are just a few common questions we’ve seen in interviews for operations analysts. Below, we list a few more for you to consider before your in-person interview.

• Tell me about a situation where you demonstrated problem-solving skills.

• How do you ensure your suggested changes meet regulatory, legal, and quality standards?

• What goals would you set for yourself in the first 30 days? 60 days? 90 days?

• Describe a situation where you were overwhelmed with your workload. How did you handle it?

• How do you handle an employee who just can’t seem to follow the new changes to a specific process?

• When you work on multiple projects, how do you prioritize?

• How do you deal with pushback from managers, employees, or executive leadership?