Before you start with your business analyst jobs hunt, you need to learn the basics of business analysis and understand the job profile and description of business analyst role. We will start with a brief description on Business Analysis and then we will move to role and responsibilities of a business analyst followed by a section on how to prepare for for business analyst jobs and opportunities.

If we go by the definition of business analysis by BABOK v3, it is the practice of enabling change in any organization. In business analysis, we identify the problem and propose solution to address them.

Business analysis is the practice of reviewing the current practice, business process or products, identify the inefficiencies in it and propose solution while maintaining highest possible standards and following company guidelines and benchmark. This will usually include working with stakeholders, reporting to management and working with development team to develop, test and deliver the change.

 

What is Business Analysis

Business Analysis is the practice of enabling change in an enterprise by defining needs & recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders. Business analysis helps an enterprise in identifying a business need, its solution and the rationale behind the solution.

let’s look at this example or rather use case, you can also call it a project,

Use Case– Your company is currently using Typewriters to generate letters, process is slow and cumbersome. You are invited to analyze the current process and suggest change.

You perform business analysis and propose solution of purchasing computers.

So;

Current state = Typewriter

Desired state = Computers

Then you perform the gap analysis to identify the gaps and how to address them. Your solution will include;

1. What to do (possible solution could be Purchase Computer)?
2. Cost of the Project?
3. Vendor?
4. Timeframe?
5. Perform business impact analysis to identify the full impact of project like any side effects or additional requirements which should be there to help with the transition. please note we as human resist change, so these users are already used to current situation even if it is inefficient and bad for company, they may still prefer older ways and even if they support the move, you will need to work with them to identify the transition requirements to help with the change.
6. Training needed to help user group go through the transition?
7. Work with all the stakeholders and user groups to keep them posted about progress.

Who is Business Analyst

 

A person performing the business analysis is a Business Analyst.

Process of business analysis has always existed but it has gained significant momentum in the age of technology. Technology firms heavy deploy business analysis to develop and design new products and renovate existing products. Business analysis is also used to handle services and operations.

OK!!, So what does an analyst do?

Business Analyst Jobs Description

Business Analyst is responsible for;

1. Perform Business Case Analysis & Identifying the change
2. Identifying the stakeholders and users group impacted by change
3. Estimating the effort/cost needed to implement that change
4. Perform Business Impact Analysis
5. Eliciting the requirements
6. Following the company guidelines for documenting the requirements
7. Recommending solutions and working with development team to implement solution

BABOK has divided entire business analysis in six knowledge areas, we will use these as template for this course;

1. Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
2. Elicitation & Collaboration
3. Requirements Life Cycle Management
4. Strategy Analysis
5. Requirement Analysis & Design Definition (RADD)
6. Solution Evaluation

As per IIBA’s BAKOK, Business analyst is a person who perform the business analysis tasks and activities described in BABOK guide. They use variety of sources & busines analysis tools to do research like enterprise tools, documents etc. They identify the business needs through elicitation with stake holders and suggest solution. Some of the most common tasks done by Business Analyst are;

• understanding enterprise problems and goals
• analyzing needs and solutions
• devising strategies,
• driving change
• facilitating stakeholder collaboration

At times, different titles are used for business analyst depending upon the company or industry standards, Common job titles for people who perform business analysis include:

• business architect
• business systems analyst
• data analyst
• enterprise analyst
• management consultant
• process analyst
• product manager
• product owner
• requirements engineer
• systems analyst
• Business Process Analyst

Business Analyst Jobs & Job Opportunities for Business Analysts

Business Analyst work on existing processes and screen existing documents and figure out what change is needed or what should be designed & developed therefore business analysts are always in good demand. software development business analyst also good salaries. You can use websites like glassdoor and linkedin jobs to see the current trend in your area but business analyst salary will be at par with any other job profile with good salary.

If you are looking for business analyst jobs and you are fresher (no work experience) or with only 1-2 years of experience, you need to work on your theoretical knowledge of business analysis field like various knowledge areas described in BABOK, you should know few most popular requirement elicitation techniques, may be requirement modeling techniques also.  You should have a good understanding of business analysis fundamental and concepts. You don’t need to know the in-depth details of each knowledge area to crack the interview but you should have high level information about all of these knowledge areas. Please note that you should target for fresher or junior level business analyst jobs.

if you are a working professional with some experience, like 3-5 years of experience, you should target business analyst jobs within your domain or industry. Please note above mentioned guidelines for theoretical information is still needed because your employer will ask question about business analysis field. So its better to know business analysis knowledge areas, requirement elicitation techniques and other stuff around business analysis, But when interviewer is not asking you specific questions about business analysis, try to stick to your domain or industry because with your working experience, you will be more comfortable with that. So, you should look at the IT systems which are popular in your company or industry and try to learn about them. Domain or industry means specific industry like real estate, life insurance, telecom, banking, retail etc. so if you are already working, your company’s industry is your domain and domain expertise is appreciated in business analyst job profile so if you have it, it is advantage for you and you should use it. Please note that you should target for middle level business analyst jobs.

 

Try to pass IIBA’s certifications like ECBA, CCBA and if you are a experienced business analyst, i will suggest you to go for CBAP. These business analyst certifications are really popular among employers so if you are new to business analysis and looking for a business analyst job, it would be a good idea to have these business analyst certifications.

You don’t need to target all certifications to get job, ECBA would be good enough to help freshers for junior level business analyst jobs. Also as mentioned earlier, work on your theoretical knowledge about the business analysis fields to prepare yourself for interview questions.

For senior level business analyst, you need some business analyst experience  and to get promotions for further career growth to lead or principal business analyst positions, you should always go for higher level certifications like CBAP or CBATL.

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