A practical CJA interview task for analysts

Why this matters

A flawed report in Customer Journey Analytics often starts with a broken connection or incorrect data view. Without a proper person ID linking datasets, analysis fails—data doesn’t align, and insights become misleading. Many analysts waste time debugging because the root cause lies in setup, not in analysis logic. This leads to incorrect conclusions, poor decision-making, and wasted effort.

Without understanding how connections and data views work, analysts can’t trust their results. A missing or mismatched person ID, or a data view in the wrong time zone, silently distorts the journey. These setup errors compound, making it hard to spot real patterns. Testing setup knowledge ensures analysts build accurate, reliable journeys from the start—preventing errors before they impact business decisions.

The key ideas

A successful Customer Journey Analytics analysis begins with proper setup. Before any report can be built, a connection must be established between datasets using a shared person ID. This person ID links data across sources so that user journeys can be tracked accurately. If the person ID doesn’t match or isn’t shared, the data won’t align—leading to empty or incorrect reports.

The data view defines what dimensions and metrics are visible in a report. A misconfigured data view—such as one set to the wrong time zone or including incorrect data types—can distort results. Often, issues like missing data or wrong event types stem not from analysis but from faulty setup. A key part of the interview task is identifying these setup errors, like a mismatched person ID or event data added as lookup data.

Candidates should be asked to diagnose a broken report and fix it by creating a correct connection, defining a proper data view, and ensuring the person ID is correctly shared across datasets. This tests both attention to detail and understanding of foundational concepts. The process is consistent across all candidates because automatic checks validate each step against their own workspace.

How to apply it

Start by giving the candidate a broken report scenario where key data is missing or misaligned. Ask them to identify the root cause—common issues include a mismatched person ID across datasets, incorrect data view time zone settings, or event data incorrectly added as lookup data. Guide them to examine the connection first: ensure the datasets share a valid person ID and that the connection is properly stitched. Then, validate the data view configuration to confirm it includes the correct dimensions and metrics and is set to the correct time zone. Once the setup is fixed, instruct the candidate to build a working report using a breakdown by segment, a calculated metric, and a defined fallback path for missing data. This tests both technical setup knowledge and analytical judgment. The system automatically checks each step against the candidate’s workspace, ensuring consistent evaluation. This approach mirrors real-world CJA workflows, where accurate setup is foundational to reliable insights. By combining setup diagnostics with analysis tasks, the interview reveals both attention to detail and analytical depth.

Mistakes to avoid

Mistakes often start in setup. A missing or mismatched person ID field prevents datasets from stitching together, leading to empty reports. Always verify that all datasets share a consistent person ID before building a connection. Adding event data as lookup data instead of direct event data can distort analysis—ensure data is correctly classified and sourced.

A data view set to the wrong time zone misaligns timestamps, skewing event sequences and segment accuracy. Confirm the data view’s time zone matches the source datasets. These setup errors are common but preventable with careful validation at each stage. A good interview task should require candidates to identify these flaws and rebuild the connection and data view correctly.

Quick checklist

• Verify that all datasets share a common person ID field to enable proper connection setup
• Confirm the data view is configured with the correct time zone and includes only relevant dimensions and metrics
• Check that the connection is properly linked to the datasets and uses the shared person ID for stitching
• Ensure event data is not incorrectly added as lookup data, which can distort analysis
• Validate that the data view includes the necessary breakdowns and segments for the intended report
• Review the report to confirm it displays accurate metrics and is not showing empty or incorrect values
• Confirm automatic checks have been run to validate the connection, data view, and report setup
• Ensure the candidate has identified and corrected setup issues that would otherwise cause broken or misleading results