Hi Captain, 

By now you would have had your interview, so I hope it went well?

For anyone else in such a position here is my take on The Captain's question.

For background, I am a now the Project Operations Manager - a slightly glorified title to mean that I am in Charge of BAs, System BAs (typical my BA team does both roles), Project Managers and other PMO staff. My empire is growing !

Anyway, I tend to interview a lot of people for the above jobs. The team having grown from 3 people to around 30 now. 

For a Systems Analyst I am looming for the following skills/traits:

1. Can they understand and explain to a non-tech person any given system?

Typically this can include how it (the system) can be modified if needed, how doe sit work and what are its limitations, how does it handle/store data and most importantly - what does changing one system impact on any others?

2. Can the System Analyst easily speak to (and listen) any Tech person and then relay that back in a way that they will understand to a non-tech person?

3. If I want a project to make a change to a system, will that System Analyst either know, or be competent enough to be able to find out what my change requires, inform me if the project is a 'no-go' to start off with - i.e. "what do you mean I can't move the Moon 10 degrees to the right?"

4. Can they document things in a good, clear and understandable manner?  

That typically are the things that I would look for. They might ask questions about their own technical stack, but I think that is a bit unfair, as how are you supposed to know what stack they have?

So, in summary, I would suggest that any budding Systems Analyst looks to show the following:

a. They have a wide understanding of different software and hardware

b. They have good communication skills - to both technical and non-technical.

c. They document their findings well. 

d. They are able to submit advice to any level of staff in a clear and understandable way, offering alternative solutions where appropriate or re-designs if required. 

Captain, 

It might be useful to others if you share your experience and say wat it was you were asked at your interview?

HI AnthonyNZ, 

I've found recently (the last two years or so) that the line between a Systems Analyst and a Business Analyst is getting smaller and smaller. Back in 2000 there use to a very big difference and if you were a Systems Analyst you wouldn't get a BA role and vice versa, 

Now days though - you are quite right in saying that most BAs are expected to do most things a Systems Analyst does. The highly knowledgeable about technology is just as true for a BA as it is for a SA. If anything, that highly technical role is going to Technical Architects, who in their own right are off-shots from a developer role. 

The world is forever changing as are the roles within a project team !