How to get an Analyst role as an Engineering Undergraduate?
By: Ishita Singh
Tags: Engineering, Analyst, Campus Placements, Job Interview, Recruitment

This article covers everything you need to know about Analyst (Business Analyst/Associate/etc.) roles for engineering undergraduate students — from finding job opportunities to acing the recruitment process. You may use this as the first step in your journey and feel free to do your own research ahead.

I received a job offer for the role of an Analyst at a growing management consulting firm, about 10 months ago. As I see the next batch gearing up for engineering campus placements, I find many students in the same dilemma as mine. Among engineering undergraduates, it’s common to find students who wish to switch their domain because they found their passion elsewhere. They go on to become amazing entrepreneurs, graphic designers, product managers, and whatnot.

As for me, I wanted a role where I could not only use my technical skills to solve problems, but also contribute to the underlying business value and the impact on the end customer. Hence, I went onto preparing for the Analyst (Business Analyst) role. I learned from the experience of some amazing people in my network working in similar roles and I credit them for enabling this article.

What are Analyst roles and which ones are focusing on?

LinkedIn defines the role of an Analyst as —

“An analyst gathers, interprets, and uses complex ‘data’ to develop actionable steps that will improve processes and optimize results.”

Now, this ‘data’ can be customer data, system data, or even economic data. Accordingly, the job role of an Analyst exists at a variety of companies but the job function varies from industry to industry.

Different types of Analysts (inexhaustive, indicative representation); Graphics: Sketchify

For example, a management consulting firm might hire an Analyst for industry research and other background analysis that goes into preparing proposals. We’ll be talking about these roles in detail in this blog.

As for other examples, a service-based IT firm might hire an Analyst to churn data running behind their processes and derive insights from it. A product-based company might have an Analyst who would be responsible to track metrics behind the product and enable business decisions. Similarly, an Analyst at a financial services company might be involved in wealth management and financial statement analysis.

Note: These job titles are indicative, they might vary.

Do you really want this role?

Given the fact that you’re reading this article, I’d like to believe you have already decided to take up this role. But if not, here’s how you can decide:

For those of us who don’t have a crystal clear dream job or dream company, exploration is the key. We keep on exploring different ventures until we find something that feels perfect. The ones who succeed in finding the right fit are the ones who introspect deeply before they decide which roles are they going for.

How do you do that? This is what worked for me —

Look within yourself. Analyze your skills, your interests, and align them with your passion/dream. Find out everything about the role — either from articles like this one or from people working in the role. Compare both these answers and conclude if you wish to go for the role. Repeat for each role you come across.

How to find internships or job openings?

Once you’ve decided that you want to pursue this role, you need to start looking for jobs in this domain. The conventional method is to apply via campus placements. The alternative to this is finding jobs off-campus, i.e., via LinkedIn and other channels. I’ve talked about finding internships and jobs for this role in detail in this podcast —

If you have any queries regarding the ways I have shared in this podcast, feel free to drop me a message. Trust me, they work! :)

Go through the job description before applying and make sure its something you really want to do. If you don’t understand the role, find people having an experience of that role through LinkedIn or your college network and reach out to them with specific questions. Then, tailor your resume or CV according to the job profile and make sure you’re honest and thorough with everything you mention.

What can you expect from a Business Analyst/Associate recruitment process?

Now that you’ve applied for the job, let’s have a look at the exact recruitment process that I went through, along with some tips that helped me ace each stage. After the pre-placement talk by the company, the recruitment was done in 2 steps:-

Online Test

Most companies have an online aptitude test as the first step of the hiring process. This test usually consists of two parts:-

Quantitative Aptitude Logical Reasoning

Few companies may have these 4 sections as well:-

Video Interview (Behavioral questions to be answered in short 2–3min videos and uploaded) Programming (To test fundamental problem-solving and coding skills) Guesstimates (Rough estimates based on inadequate information and logical conjectures) Case Study (A business scenario with a problem statement and few questions to be answered)

Alternatively, if these extra sections are not in the first online test, they might be introduced as the second stage of the online test for some shortlisted students only.

Multiple Rounds of Interviews

Major shortlisting is usually done through the online test. Next comes the interview rounds. Usually, there are 2 or 3 rounds of interviews, subject to the recruiter’s discretion.

Round 1 — The interviewer tests your basic problem-solving skills, technical knowledge, and logical thinking skills. They usually ask questions about your resume/CV. These questions are relevant to the role you’re applying for. For example, if the role involves data analysis skills, they might ask you questions about Python, SQL, Excel, Tableau, etc., or any data science projects that you might have mentioned.

Mention only the skills and projects in your resume/CV that you’re confident about and are relevant to the job. Take each question as an opportunity to give your best answer as well as direct the recruiter’s attention towards your achievements or something you want to highlight. Don’t try to be a ‘know-it-all’. And finally, try to be calm and confident, but not too comfortable that you forget its a formal conversation. :)

Round 2 — The next round is usually conducted with a senior leader of the firm. The interviewer might ask you both technical as well as non-technical questions. Again, your CV plays an important role here. They might also ask you to solve a guesstimate or a case study on the spot.

Prepare well for business case studies and guesstimates. While solving them during the interview, it’s always advisable to keep the interviewer in the loop with your thought process. Build your solution in a structured manner and explain it step-by-step to the interviewer. This helps in establishing effective communication with them.

Final Round — The last round of interviews is a behavioral one where they try to know you better. This is the place to give thoughtful answers, and not spill some technical jargon. You can expect questions around your educational background, your motivation behind applying for the job, your college experiences, your personality traits, and your ambitions and goals.

Needless to say, be honest with the interviewer. Try not to give conventional answers. Everybody wants a job for the salary and the recruiter knows that. Only a few want it to fuel their passion. All in all, share your story. The recruiter wants to hire a human being, not a machine that can work for them 8 hours a day. Show them the person you truly are.

Final Words

That sums up the recruitment process you’d find for Analyst roles at most organizations. Like you might have observed, it is quite similar to most other job roles. What makes it different is the kind of expectations the interviewer has from you.

Since you’re an engineering student, they don’t expect you to know every trick of the trade at a management consulting firm. But they’d at least expect you to have done your due diligence about understanding the role. They don’t expect you to know in detail about their business. But they’d expect you to know about everything you have done in the 3–4 years of your college life.