Ace the BizOps Interview (Top Questions and Answers)

Trying to get a job in business operations or strategy?

When it comes to some of the most impactful roles in modern companies, few compare to that of BizOps (Business Operations & Strategy).

BizOps teams routinely help drive some of the most significant changes that take place within an organization.

At their core, business operations and strategy teams work cross-functionally with almost every part of a business. As a result, the expectations for good communication skills and an ability to be data-driven are very high.

Below, we break down the most important BizOps interview questions and concepts to help you land the job.

This interview prep guide was written with the help of business operations and strategy leaders at LinkedIn, Google, and Boston Consulting Group.

We cover what hiring managers are looking for and how you'll be assessed. You'll also get some real-world interview questions to practice and learn from.

Top 10 BizOps Interview Questions

Here are the most commonly asked BizOps interview questions.

1. Tell me about a time you handled a difficult stakeholder.
2. Choose metrics for Instagram Shopping.
3. Describe Why Android is Strategic for Google.
4. Tell Me About a Process You Improved.
5. Describe a Process You Created.
6. 10% of Netflix users are inactive. How would you investigate?
7. We're a food delivery company, and delivery time has increased. What would you do?
8. Design a strategy for Google to enter the TV business
9. Why is Google well-positioned for emerging markets?
10. How do you mitigate risk on high-visibility projects?

Sample Question 1

Sample Question 2

What Is BizOps?

BizOps stands for Business Operations & Strategy.

The business operations role is a diverse one with many different potential duties.

Business operations connects diverse data sets to drive strategic decision-making, especially when it comes to actions meant to build the organization's value and increase profits.

Business operations and strategy could involve the following activities:

• Marketing,
• Sales Operations,
• Web development,
• Copywriting,
• Brand management,

Amongst many, many others.

"[Bizops is] a decision-support mechanism that helps with everything from optimizing day-to-day operations to carrying out high priority initiatives to tackling the most important strategic questions." - Dan Yoo, former VP of Business Operations @ LinkedIn and Coinbase

Deciding how much to spend on marketing or sales projects, where product marketing should focus their attention, and finding clever ways to boost the brand's profile are all things BizOps teams might find themselves doing.

The BizOps Interview Process

Recruiter Call

These initial recruiter screenings are usually pretty short and straightforward. You can expect these conversations to be limited to behavioral questions, questions about your professional experience, and your motivation for applying for a BizOps role.

For example, you should be prepared to answer some of the following:

• "Why BizOps?"
• "Why do you want to work for this company?"
• "What makes you a good fit for this role?"
• "Tell me more about X experience listed on your resume."

Depending on the company, the recruiter may also ask you some technical interview questions about working with data, technical stakeholders, and strategic decision-making.

Hiring Manager Screens

Following the initial recruiter call, many BizOps candidates will need to complete another screening conducted by the hiring manager.

The most common interview question for BizOps roles in this part of the interview is the case question.

Case questions involve working through a hypothetical scenario. For instance, a hiring manager may ask you questions such as:

• 10% of Netflix users are inactive. How would you investigate?
• We're a food delivery company, and delivery time has increased. What would you do?
• One of our merchants notices an increase in fraud. How would you solve the problem?

Some companies may give you a take-home assignment to complete before your onsite interview, although this is not super common.

Case interview questions can be challenging, so make sure you practice case interview questions ahead of time.

Along with case questions, expect to answer some more behavioral interview questions.

The hiring manager is using this opportunity to evaluate if you'd be an excellent addition to the team, if you'd be genuinely interested in the work you are doing, and if you'd align with the cultural values of the organization.

Onsite

Finally, the last stage of the BizOps interview will be a series of onsite interviews.

In many cases, they consist of 3 - 6 rounds conducted over a single day.

Each interview round will last around 30 - 60 minutes and may be conducted by a hiring panel of several individuals or a single interviewer.

You'll likely meet with several of your cross-functional colleagues from other departments, the hiring manager, and possibly some members of upper management.

During these rounds, you'll be asked similar questions from previous interview stages. That is, expect:

• More case interviews.
• More behavioral interview questions, specifically about your execution, data, stakeholder management, strategic thinking, and project management skills.

Some candidates report being asked a data-centric interview question.

For example, some candidates we've spoken to were asked to work with a set of raw data and provide recommendations or discover insights.

Again, the exact structure of your interview process will depend on the company.

You should always ask your recruiter as many questions as possible regarding the upcoming interview during your initial recruiter screening.

More Interview Questions

Below, you'll find short explanations of each kind of BizOps interview question, along with some top sample interview questions.

When you're ready, watch some of the expert mock interviews linked. Then, try your hand at a few sample BizOps interview questions compiled from past interviews.

BizOps Data Questions

• Choose metrics for Instagram Shopping.
• Measure Success for Instagram Discovery.
• Tell me about a time when you made a decision based on data and were ultimately wrong.
• Devise A/B tests to improve user frustration with Google Maps.

Data is a massive part of BizOps. You'll need to be ready to answer various data-related questions at different levels of detail throughout your interview process.

These interview questions could be anything from choosing the right metrics for an initiative during a case interview to cleaning and manipulating a raw data set to provide recommendations for future actions.

Nevertheless, no matter what you're asked, the ideal candidate will be able to:

• Evaluate and sort raw data to discover insights from messy or disconnected data sets.
• Quickly determine initial insights are accurate and dive deeper when necessary.
• Suggest and conduct straightforward experiments and use the results to guide strategic decisions.
• Select appropriate metrics to track success.
• Cleanly and logically present insights and recommendations to different stakeholders based on findings in data.

BizOps Stakeholder Management Questions

• Tell me about a time you handled a difficult stakeholder.
• Tell me about a time when you handled conflict.
• Tell me about a time when you gained trust.
• Tell me about a time when you had an idea you proposed was not agreed on.
• Do you have experience managing a team?

Another big responsibility of a business operations manager is stakeholder management. As you may know, folks in BizOps typically come from a consulting background.

As such, BizOps teams act as internal consultants for their organizations and help drive strategic decisions within their firms. Of course, making these decisions often involves navigating relationships with various stakeholders.

Because of this, BizOps candidates must demonstrate that they can effectively manage their relationships with stakeholders.

The Stakeholder Management interview questions you'll be asked are designed to evaluate the following things:

• Emotional intelligence and communication skills,
• Capability to adjust communication for different audiences,
• Culture fit.
• Ability to build and maintain trust.

BizOps Strategic Decision-Making Questions

Ultimately, the whole point of BizOps is to help drive strategic decision-making at the company. This is especially true of decisions that involve or affect multiple teams or departments within the organization.

So, folks in BizOps are hugely influential on the overall direction of the company and on resource allocation.

Whether you're fielding behavioral or case questions, the strategic decision-making interview questions will all evaluate the following:

• Do you know how to clarify and structure a question?
• Do you have the business knowledge and strong understanding of what to prioritize and think about quickly?
• Do you have the stakeholder awareness to take a process that yields a theoretical answer and a realistic, practical outcome that the team can take and operationalize?

BizOps Project Management Questions

• Tell Me About a Process You Improved.
• Describe a Process You Created.
• Tell me about a time when you worked on a project with a tight deadline.
• Tell me about the most complex project you've worked on.
• What's the project you're most proud of?

You'll likely need to manage several projects if you're applying and interviewing for a junior role. More senior positions will probably have a dedicated project or program manager to take on those duties.

Even so, it would be best if you are still prepared for Project Management questions for your upcoming interview.

The processes that drive execution will likely be unique to the company in question. So, this is usually an excellent area to inquire about yourself towards the end of your meetings.

When asking project management interview questions, interviewers will be looking for the following:

• Overall planning and execution skills, possibly at different levels of project ownership.
• Knowledge and experience with frequently-used project management processes and tools.
• Ability to use tools and techniques properly to track project status and trajectory and mitigate risk.

BizOps Behavioral Questions

• Tell me about yourself.
• Tell me about how you brought a product to market.
• Tell me about a time you turned down more resources to complete a project.
• Tell me about a time you led a team to achieve something?
• What got you interested in technology?

Land Your BizOps Job With Exponent

BizOps is one of a modern company's most impactful and essential aspects. If you're interested in jumping into the lucrative and exciting field of business operations, be sure to check out the many interview resources we have at Exponent:

💬 Review more commonly asked BizOps interview questions.

📖 Read through our company-specific interview guides

👯‍♂️ Practice your behavioral and program sense skills with our mock interview practice tool.

👨‍🎓 Take one of our comprehensive BizOps interview courses