Getting a business analyst job should not be a daunting task for those with the right skills
. While a business analyst is a rather high paying and prestigious position, it is not like there are too few jobs and too many capable workers.
Companies are creating new business analyst jobs every day. It should be possible for anyone with the right skill set to get a job in this field. In the IT industry, in particular, there is a lot of demand for new business analysts to get a business analyst job.
If you already have the skills necessary to be considered, there are many ways to speed up the job search process. However, before you can begin your job search, you must have a reasonable skill set. Before you learn about how to get business analyst job, you want to make sure that you already have the right skills.
Table of Contents
Is It Hard To Get A Job? What Skills Will Help You Get A Business Analyst Job?
A Degree In A Related Field
There are a few business analysts have a business, finance, accounting or a computing related degree. While a business degree may not be enough on its own to get a business analyst job, it certainly helps a great deal. A business analyst is a fairly degree dependant job. A bachelor’s degree is often enough; one does not have to have a master’s degree. Some business analysts go back to school and get a master’s degree after they start working. A two-year degree might be enough in some cases if you can demonstrate the right skills. A four-year degree is often minimum for an entry-level job.
Have Computer Skills
If you take some computer science or computer programming courses at university, it will help you get a business analyst job after you graduate. A business analyst will often work with a company’s IT department, so you should know what you are talking about.
Take Internships
An internship is one of the most important things you should do at university. An internship will allow you to get real on the job experience before you leave university. You could also offer to volunteer as a way of gaining real-world experience before you leave university.
Possess Presentation Skills
As a business analyst, you are going to have to present information to stakeholders and others. Merely communicating online is not going to be enough. Make sure that your resume demonstrates the skills of a business analyst.
Have Most But Not All Of What The Employer Is Looking For
You should have about 80% of the skills that the employer says you must have to have a reasonable chance of getting hired. You do not have to have all of these skills, but you will have little chance if you have only half of them.
Have Excellent Writing Skills
If you are good at researching information but cannot make this information presentable to others, you will not make a good business analyst. Writing skills are absolutely required. You also have to know how to speak at meetings. Excellent communication skills are one of the essential parts of the job. It is your responsibility to present your findings to others in a way they can understand. You will also have to convince skeptical people that your point of view is correct.
You Should Have A Network
While you are in college, you want to get to know as many soon to be successful people as possible. You can get better information about how the job market genuinely works from your network than you can from online research. Without a network, it is harder to know the details of what employers are looking for.
Searching For A Business Analyst Job
After you have the necessary skills, you can begin to search for a job. Make sure to write a resume specifically for a business analyst position. If you have never been a business analyst before, you may have done many of the responsibilities of the job. Even if “business analyst” was never your job description, you may still have something close to work experience already. Make sure to list your most relevant skills first. An employer may only spend a short time looking at each resume. If you list less relevant skills at the top, your employer may not even look at the more critical parts of your resume.
Know Something About Leadership
Not only should your resume demonstrate that you can work as a team, but it should also show the potential for leadership. If you are just starting your career, you do not always have to have any truly impressive leadership experience. Some employers will hire without it. Use less impressive examples of your leadership abilities. You may have frequently been the leader of your projects in university – you can point this out to an employer. Leadership experience at work in general, even outside of the business world, is something your resume should emphasise.
Write An Excellent Cover Letter Along With Your Resume
If an employer does not know that you have a particular skill, they will never assume that you do. You must write an excellent cover letter that shows that you can immediately learn to do the responsibilities of your job. The cover letter must be attached to a resume that is specifically for a business analyst job.
Don’t leave your employer with any uncertainty about your skill levels. If they have to make assumptions, they will assume that you do not have the required skills. Don’t be vague and hope that the recruiter will think these vague descriptions are relevant skills. Be as clear and precise as possible about what you studied and what you learned in the workplace. Show plenty of enthusiasm! Your employer must think that you want to be a business analyst as a career and not merely as a temporary job.
Go Into Interviews With A Sense Of Confidence
Your social skills or charisma are just as relevant as your’e intelligence. Charm is also as important as a strong work ethic. Make sure you know how to act like you will make an excellent worker. An interviewer does not know for sure whether or not you are going to be a good worker in advance. Therefore, companies consider the person’s confidence.
You will usually have to pass several interviews to get a high paying business analyst position. If you pass both a phone interview and an in-person interview, you might have to pass another one or two interviews in person. Business analysts are often well paid, and they face a selective and competitive hiring process. Make sure to demonstrate that you are truly interested in the position calmly and that you are a competent person that can get the job done right.
Avoid Taking A Poor Offer
While you cannot expect an enormous salary as someone who has never been a business analyst before, you should still reject blatantly poor offers. If you can tell that you won’t like the job and will be asked to do too much work for too little pay, you have nothing to gain by taking the job offer.
Sometimes, a lower-paying job can be a stepping stone to a higher paying one. However, a bad job can also be a trap that can waste your time and prevent you from advancing your career. Know how to differentiate between what is a reasonable offer for someone who has little experience and what is not a fair offer at all. If you do accept a lower than usual starting salary, make sure that the job is a step forward on your career path and not a dead end.
Apply To A Lot Of Different Jobs
You might have to send out a lot of resumes and go to a lot of interviews to get hired as a business analyst. Don’t get discouraged if you are not hired right away. While new jobs are being created in this field all the time, it is still a competitive position.
Know As Much About What A Business Analyst Does As Possible
Nothing makes an interviewee look more foolish than only having a partial understanding of what they are going to be doing after they start working. There are many different types of business analysts, and they each have different responsibilities. Different types of business analysts also need different skills, but many skills are necessary for all kinds of business analysts.
Learn about the company you are going to be working for in advance, and have a good general idea about what you will be doing if you get the job. If you know more than a little about the company and the job they are offering, you can better prepare for interview questions. You can also write a resume that emphasises the right hard and soft skills if you know more about the company you will potentially be working for.
Let Employers Know You Have Certifications
As well as degrees, prior experience as a business analyst, and previous work experience that suggests you would make a good business analyst, employers also look for certifications. One certification that employers consider impressive is the CBAP Certification. The CBAP certification is specifically for business analysts and is not a more general business certification.
CBAP Certifications are offered by the International Institute of Business Analysis and are impressive to employers all over the world. The CBAP certification strongly implies that you are dedicated to your career. It shows employers that a business analyst is a career you really want and not merely a job you would take.
Look For A Job In The IT Industry
At least in the IT industry, there are too many positions and not enough qualified business analysts to fill them. The IT industry is, therefore, more likely to give people who have never been a business analyst before a chance. If an information technology project goes ahead without a qualified business analyst, there is a good chance it will fail.
Are There Different Types Of Business Analysts?
Yes, there are distinct types. A business analyst may or may not spend a lot of time working with software, and may or may not spend a lot of time working to understand different business models and industry knowledge.
As is the case in many other fields, specialists are better paid than generalists. You can make more money doing one thing really, really well than doing a lot of things merely good enough.
Business Consultant
Business consultants are another common type of specialised business analyst. A business consultant answers questions about how the company might generate more profit. They need information not only about the market but about the most effective business practices.
Typically, a business consultant may find themselves working on different engagements with different clients and hence need to have business analysis skills that can be applied on demand and will need a strong command of business analysis techniques.
Product Manager
A business analyst may find themselves on agile projects and be given the title of proxy business analysis, or even take on the role of product owner or product manager. Some industries converted their business analysts to product owners or product managers and adopt agile ways of working.
A product manager can design new products or work with a team to enhance existing products. Product managers have a great deal of responsibility, as they must argue for features that will allow the product to stand out against the competition.
A product manager needs inventiveness, excellent knowledge of what features the competitor’s products have, and an ability to estimate how much a product with a specific feature set will cost to manufacture. Product managers must create a product with a list of advantages over other products, and compare these advantages to the benefits of other products.
Technical Writers
Some business analysts focus more on software or even writing then they do on making presentations and market predictions. A large business project is likely to require a lot of written information, and a specialist technical writer is needed to produce all of the documents that the rest of the team will use.
Conclusion – How to get a Business Analyst Job
As with any other job, finding a career as a business analyst takes persistence. You may have to go too many different interviews for many different companies before you find anyone who will hire you.
However, once you find a job, the sky is the limit. You can continue to increase your salary for a very long time as a business analyst as long as your skills and experience continue to improve.