So you want to be a Business Analyst? Here are 3 Steps to Becoming a Business Analyst.
You’ve heard about this whole “Business Analysis” thing all over the place, and it seems confusing to you.
Your are not sure as to how to go about becoming one. Fret no more. This article attempts to break down the process for you.
Some benefits of becoming a Business Analyst include:
- Being in an emerging and growing field
- Higher Salary
- Opportunities to get into other highly paid technical roles
Sounds pretty cool right?
Such a huge marketplace and so many skills to learn as a Business Analyst.
Let me just start with the basics.
What is Business Analysis?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the need for business analysts to increase by 14% by 2024.
A Business Analyst is a person who helps businesses analyze their processes, products, services, and systems to improve current processes and make profitable decisions through insights and data analysis.
A Business analyst also helps organizations to document business processes by assessing the business model and its integration with technology.
What are some roles and responsibilities of a Business Analyst?
Let’s take a look at the responsibilities of a business analyst before we talk about the steps to get into this field.
- Analytical skills– A Business Analyst is responsible for anayzing what the needs of the business are and collaborating with the developers and testers to deliver a product. This skillset is critical for a Business Analyst.
- Leadership skills– In working as translator between IT and the Business, a Business Analyst needs to demonstrate leadership traits such as decision making, managing expectations among others.
- Business process and planning– Depending on the organization a Business Analyst could be responsible for scopig out projects and assisting the project manager in the planning process.
- Technical skill– An understanding of tools such as SQL, API’s are not needed but could help the Business Analyst exceed in the role.
So we now get into how does one become a Business Analyst in 3 steps.
Steps to become a business analytics
Here are a few steps anyone can follow to become a business analyst.
1. Research, Research, Research
Get familiar with what a Business Analyst does on a day-to-day basis.
There are plenty of great resources out there to learn about Business Analysis.
A great place to learn about the challenges and benefits of becoming an analyst can be found on reddit.
If you are student in college looking to get into this field consider conneting with your porfessors or your career services office to see if they have any opportunities to shadow Business Analysts.
If you are already working for a company that hires Business Analysts, consider asking your manager if you can shadow someone.
2. Education
There are entry-level certifications available to Business Analysts such as the ECBA by the International Institute of Business Analysis.
You can search for classes on udemy for Business Analysis, Process Mapping, Agile among others to get familiar with the role.
3. Acquiring the skills
Nothing can replace real-life work experience. Look for any transferable skills that you can leverage in the Business Analysis role. As an example in your current role you may be researching a project with the help of some stakeholders. This could translate to eliciting requirements.
Bonus tip
Doing practical work
Follow up with local businesses to see if they have any specific pain points that they would like documented. This will help you build your portfolio.
Summary
With so many advancements in technology, there is an ever-growing need for people with critical thinking skills to analyze gaps, assess impacts, working with people to build products. The role of a Business Analyst is growing and will grow in the future.
Once you do get to a point where you are ready to interview you can access this article here to get an understanding of the interview questions for Business Analysts.
You can access the BAknoledgeshare’s free training at: https://baknowledgeshare.com/services/
If you are interested in learning more about how to transition and how to position yourself on a resume, email me at baknowledgeshare@gmail.com to get a consultation on your resume.
Also here are some books and resources you can use to get started with Business Analysis.
