The hiring manager at your dream company Appian, has invited you to interview for employment. Your enthusiasm turned into panic at the thought of having a life-changing conversation. Answering the tough questions about your experiences and qualifications seems daunting and intimidating.
Now you have an interview and the hiring managers will gauge your responses to determine if you are the right fit for the post. So, you have to prepare in advance for certain things. Keep in mind, you will never get a second chance to make a first impression. Don’t waste your time freaking out; start preparing with the top 25 Appian interview questions and answers enlisted here to make you meet with your prospective employer with poise and confidence.
1. What Do You Know About Appian?
Appian is a cloud computing and enterprise software company that sells the platform as a service for building enterprise software applications. It’s a unified platform that accelerates customers’ businesses by discovering, designing and automating their processes. It’s a low-code platform that combines the capabilities required to complete the job efficiently. The company also focuses on the idea of developing a culture conducive to sustainable innovation. Appian is a BPM expert who is known for delivering comprehensive, flexible, BPM innovation and easy-to-use solutions to measure the needs of the government and organizations all over the world. The company is also known for explaining the process of collaborations between IT and business and allowing customers to be part of the process of concluding corporate goals.
2. What Is The Low Code Promise?
Low code is a new way to create applications that allow the creation of apps with greater efficiency with a simple workflow diagram. It unifies people, technologies and data into a single workflow system. Clients creating apps with Appian can expect their apps to build faster, reduce maintenance costs by 50%, and have superior functionality.
3. Why Do You Want To Join Appian?
Appian is operating with the notion that talented and passionate people with power and autonomy can deliver exceptional results. A diverse, inclusive, and agile working environment makes employees feel challenged and valued in the company. I am actively seeking opportunities to be the better version of myself and to create an impact. I think Appian makes employees grow and develop a lasting positive impact on others. Appian is solving business process challenges. It is following the people’s first approach and leading with agility. There is an alignment between my professional goals and the work philosophy of Appian, so I prefer to join Appian as my first choice.
4. What Do You Understand By BPM?
BPM (Business Process Management) is the field of study in operations management that focuses on the improvement of corporate performance by managing and optimizing the business processes of an organization. It is a process optimization process.
5. What Is BPM Software?
BPM software is the technology that connects people to people, application to application and people to application to automate, execute and monitor business processes from beginning to end. BPM software provides process management capabilities with a work portal, knowledge management, collaboration tools, business analytics and document management.
6. What Is The Administrative Workflow System In Appian?
The workflow system is the system that helps to track the individual task and to assign new tasks according to the requirement of the organization.
7. Explain Business Process Improvement.
Business process improvement focuses on ways to improve the existing processes in an organization. Different approaches are available to improve the current processes. For example, the six sigma Method.
8. Name Any Top Competitor Of The Appian.
The competitors of Appian include Pegasystems, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Oracle, and AgilePoint.
9. Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?
A former colleague recommended this job when I was looking for an opportunity to advance my career. My skills and expertise ideally matched the job requirements. I want to join Appian because the vision and mission of the company have inspired me a lot. Cloud computing solutions at Appian are maximizing its resources and dramatically improving the results of the client’s business.
10. Tell Me About Your Qualification.
I majored in IT, so several of my courses have prepared me for this role at Appian. Each course, in my major, required extensive research and writing. Specifically, my final course was a cloud computing project which gave me real-world experience, I needed to know how I can establish my career in this field. My professional experience also gave me sound knowledge and expertise to contribute to the growth and development of an organization.
11. What Makes You Fit For This Role?
I believe my experience in the IT industry makes me the best match for this position. In my previous job, I was responsible for enhancing the efficiency of business operations by implementing the necessary tools and technologies. I truly enjoyed what I was doing. The experience and exposure to cloud computing drew me to this position with Appian. I would love to bring the technical skills that I learned to this position.
The job listing stated that you are seeking someone with superior communication skills. During my experience in different organizations, I have learned and developed better communication and planning skills which are imperative to perform the responsibility in this role. My leadership qualities would be a plus. In my years of experience as a manager, I have effectively managed multiple teams. I developed analytical reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, team management and conflict management skills, and I can bring those leadership skills to this position.
12. Describe Your Best And Worst Boss.
I don’t believe that something like the best or worst boss exists. I try to look for the good in people. My last boss was not only a good manager, but he was also a great leader. He helps people to grow. He was superbly encouraging and always helped us to find the right way to do things. He leads us by example and pushes us forward to generate results. In my managerial role in my previous job, I have followed him as a role model at work.
13. What Type Of Working Environment Is Important To Perform Well?
I believe, a positive working environment helps to boost employee morale. It allows organizations to attract and retain potential candidates and increase the productivity of the employees. The productivity of employees working with space, privacy and freedom to their work is higher than those who don’t enjoy these things in the workplace environment. A positive working environment makes employees feel comfortable. It fosters a culture of open communication, which is suitable for bringing creative ideas to the table.
14. Are You Considering Other Positions In Other Companies?
I have three other interviews scheduled with other companies in the same industry. I choose Appian as my primary choice because the business has an excellent record for cloud computing service, customer satisfaction, low turnover and high employee satisfaction. I also recognized that the company has supportive, diverse culture, and I believe I am a good match for it. There is a lack of cultural diversity in other companies I’m interviewing.
15. What Are Your Strengths And Weaknesses?
I pride myself on my customer service skills, and my ability to resolve conflict. With years of experience, I have learned to understand and resolve emerging issues in operations management in an organization. I also have strong communication and analytical reasoning skills that help to make better decisions. I am the type of person who actively listens to others before talking, and I am enthusiastic about learning new things. I am a workaholic person, and I consider this a weakness. Sometimes, I got tense because of the pressure to meet deadlines. Secondly, I focus too much on the details of the project and spend so much time analyzing finer points. I’ve been striving to improve this area by analyzing my progress at regular intervals and giving myself a chance to refocus on the bigger picture. In this way, I can ensure quality without getting so caught up in the details that negatively affect my productivity.
16. Why You Changed Careers?
Initially, I started working as a sales representative. Later on, I changed my career path for future growth potential and new challenges. I have a bachelor’s degree in IT, so I feel my skills and expertise will transfer well into the field of IT. For example, at Appian, I can implement my knowledge and expertise to lead projects and communicate well with clients, because cloud computing is my field of study. I also received career advice from my colleagues who have successfully made this exact career change and recommended me as a way to grow, learn and earn more.
17. Why Is There a Gap In Your Work Experience?
The company and I had different expectations. I reflected on that experience and realized that there are some things that I could have done differently. So, I left my job. During this time, I have learned a lot, and I am excited about this opportunity to bring that maturity to the next job.
18. How Do You Feel About Working Weekends Or Holidays?
I value quality over quantity of work, so I will try my best to complete the work in time with maximum productive output. If there is a need to do an extra shift, I will be happy to contribute. I am not worried about working on weekends and holidays, because as an experienced person I like to gain knowledge and explore new skills to contribute to the growth and development of the organization.
19. Are You A Risk Taker?
I think I am a risk taker, but before taking a risk, I evaluate all the options available and weigh the pros and cons of success and failure in each situation. After careful consideration, I take the risk if the rewards are high. I think staying away from risk is like staying away from a gold mine surrounded by dynamite. If we don’t know what triggers the dynamite, it will be unwise to take that risk. If we study the situation and know the location of the dynamite and the way they are triggered, then the risk will be minimal. So, it is important to explore options to reduce the risk.
20. How Do You Deal With Pressure And Stressful Situations?
Pressure or stress is an inevitable part of life. I also feel pressure, especially when there is a deadline for a project, but it helps me to stay motivated and productive. Sometimes, too much pressure lead to stress. However, I am skilled at balancing multiple projects and meeting deadlines. My multitasking ability prevents me from feeling overly stressed. For example, once I have three projects to deliver in the same week. There was a lot of pressure. I created a schedule and broke down the projects into small assignments. In this way, I managed to complete all three projects ahead of time and avoided unnecessary stress. With proper planning, I can handle all the pressurizing and stressful situations.
21. How Quickly Do You Adapt To New Technologies?
I am a tech-savvy person. I adapt quickly to new situations, and I am always mentally prepared to take up challenges. These challenges help me to learn and grow in my career. In my previous job, I adapted quickly and enjoyed the process. The company I worked for, tried to stay ahead of the competition. They were always testing new things and applying new technologies. Honestly, I enjoyed the process of change and didn’t mind learning something new every day. I believe change makes the job interesting. Based on my previous experience, I can say that I don’t have any problem adapting to the technologies that you use in your business.
22. What Is The Difference Between Hard Work And Smart Work?
The difference between smart work and hard work is how much time we spend on completing a task. Hard work is when someone spends a great amount of time completing a task. Whereas, smart work is when someone spends less time and focus on completing thing correctly. As a project manager in my last job, I took the smart-work approach to select the best person to complete a task. I also anticipate challenges that we may encounter during the project. However, in the case of working to build a relationship with a vendor, I tend to work hard because it helps to ensure that I develop a deeper connection. Hard work takes time but ensures the accuracy of the work. Whereas, smart work improves efficiency. I believe both are important to complete a task.
23. Are You A Team Player?
I have worked as a team leader and team contributor. So, I am extremely comfortable working in a team environment. I utilize my reliability, communication skills, positive attitude and outgoing personality to make my team accomplish its goals. I believe, teamwork is essential for personal and professional growth. Successful managers effectively collaborate with others. I received recognition for better communication with my team members to cultivate creative solutions.
24. Give An Example Of When You Showed Leadership Qualities.
In my 10 years of experience as a sales manager, I developed motivational skills that earned my team the reward for consistently meeting and exceeding sales goals. I can also bring those leadership abilities to this position. Leading by example helps me to get the best results from my team. When a new project starts, I demonstrate leadership by taking needed actions to kick start the project and believe in setting the example. I also assure to organize the team to ensure that everybody is on the same page. In this way, everybody understands his role and responsibilities for their contribution. Clear communication is also a leadership skill. I always foster an open and accessible environment to ensure that communication is open and clear. I demonstrate confidence in the team and its ability by setting clear expectations. I try to get the best of every member and influence them to perform well through clear communication.
25. Why Is Cloud computing Important?
Over the last few years, cloud computing has morphed into a giant industry and it is continuously growing. With artificial intelligence, machine learning and edge computing the cloud computing industry is exponential growth. The growth in computing capabilities and end-user functionality directly and significantly enhance growth in all industries. It helps organizations to scale, maintain flexibility and focus on improving the efficiency of business operations. One of the best ways to optimize cloud computing is by working with a cloud partner.
Conclusion
Appian look for innovative team members who can think of out-of-the-box solutions and bring curiosity and collaboration to the company. The company has so many growth opportunities for employees to advance their careers. Take time to think about what you truly want out of this job opportunity. Look at the big picture of your career to have good answers to common interview questions. If you go unprepared, you could get caught by the tough questions. Prepare for the interview with these time-tested 25 Appian interview questions and answers to improve your chances of getting the job offer.