Author: Andrew Barnett is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Vice President at PJT Partners.
Having worked at several firms in the Anaplan ecosystem, both on the partner side and as a customer, I’ve seen firsthand how critical it is to hire and develop the right Anaplan talent. Bringing an experienced Anaplanner onto your team and successfully onboarding new model builders are crucial steps in growing an Anaplan capability. In this post, I’ll share personal insights on what I’ve seen work (and not) in interviewing experienced Anaplanners and in training up new ones from scratch.
When interviewing candidates with Anaplan experience, I focus on three key areas: technical skills, relevant experience, and personality/culture fit. Covering all three gives a more accurate view of the candidate’s suitability for the role and the team.
Technical assessment: In my experience, technical interviews for Anaplan roles usually take one of three forms: a take-home modeling exercise, a knowledge test (written or verbal Q&A), or a live problem-solving session. Each has pros and cons, but the live exercise tends to be the most revealing.
Experience: Beyond technical ability, I ask about the candidate’s Anaplan project experience. What types of models have they built, and in what business areas? What was their role in those projects? This helps me gauge depth of practical knowledge and whether their background aligns with our needs.
Personality/team fit: Anaplan modeling is collaborative — model builders work closely with end users, stakeholders, and other Anaplanners. I look for strong communication skills, a problem-solving mindset, and a constructive, low-ego approach. A few targeted behavioral questions often provide a clear signal on how they’ll show up day-to-day.
Of the technical assessment methods listed above, the live problem-solving exercise has given me the best insight into a candidate’s capabilities. There’s nothing like watching someone tackle an Anaplan problem in real time to reveal their true skill level.
For this, I’ll prepare a simplified real-world scenario and ask the candidate to troubleshoot it with me live. As they work through it, I observe how they navigate the model, isolate the issue, and explain the reasoning behind each step.
This approach shows how a candidate thinks on their feet. Strong candidates will methodically identify assumptions, test hypotheses quickly, and keep the end-user outcome in mind. I’ve seen highly certified candidates struggle in a hands-on test, while others with fewer credentials excel, reinforcing my belief that performance in a live exercise matters more than badges alone. If you can include a live exercise in your hiring process, I highly recommend it; it’s the closest proxy for real work you’ll find in an interview.
Skilled Anaplanners are in high demand, so many teams will need to grow their own talent. Whether you’re upskilling an internal employee or hiring someone new to Anaplan, a structured onboarding program is critical. The best approaches I’ve seen combine Anaplan’s learning resources with realistic internal simulations.
I’ve seen two firms handle it particularly well:
- “Basics + Project” approach (Akili): Early in my career, before today’s structured training ecosystem existed, new model builders started with foundational Anaplan training to cover the essentials followed by a sample project. In this sample project, new hires received data files and business requirements that resembled a client use case and were asked to build a simple model to meet those needs. After a short build period, they presented their solution to the team, walking through why they made the design decisions they did. This was an incredibly effective way to accelerate learning and build confidence. It also gave managers a practical view of who was ready for more complex work and who needed additional support.
- Comprehensive blended program (Allitix): Years later, I saw an even stronger approach that intentionally fused Anaplan’s structured learning path with internal simulations. The agenda included the formal Anaplan certification track alongside other important Anaplan courses, followed by a sample project. What I appreciated most was that this program wasn’t just for entry-level model builders. It also included more advanced sample projects for experienced hires and people looking to move into more senior roles. That type of tiered development is rare, and it’s a powerful way to create a consistent bar for progression while keeping high performers engaged.
The common thread between these successful programs is the marriage of theory and practice. Formal training gives you the vocabulary, patterns, and best practices. Hands-on simulation make you apply that knowledge.
This mirrors how people learn to code: the fastest growth happens when you build something real that matters. The same is true in Anaplan. You can understand model design principles conceptually, but you only internalize them when you wrestle with real data, tradeoffs, and stakeholder expectations.
Investing in thoughtful interviewing and onboarding for Anaplanners pays off. When hiring experienced talent, go beyond standard Q&A and check how they solve problems in the moment. When building new talent, pair Anaplan’s learning resources with structured, real-world simulations that reflect the work your team actually does.
In my experience, teams that get these two processes right build stronger models, earn trust faster, and scale their Anaplan capabilities with far less friction.
Good luck and happy planning!
