How to become a business analyst – complete career guide
A business analyst is in charge of understanding a
business’s changing needs, and providing technological solutions to improve its
processes and systems. Thus, a business analyst is often thought of as the link
between the business and IT departments.
This guide provides the steps necessary to becoming a
business analyst, detailed job information, as well as the job prospects and
average salary projections.
The three steps to launching a business analyst career
Step 1: Get an undergraduate degree in business
administration, finance, or accounting
Beyond your bachelor’s degree in business, you’ll want to
learn some computer programming. Different business analyst roles require
different levels of technical proficiency, but the more computer skills you
have, the better you’ll look as a candidate. The Business Analysis Body of
Knowledge (BABOK) reference book is a key resource to begin understanding the
tasks and techniques of a business analyst.
Step 2: Gain work experience
You can gain experience in a volunteer role with a small
company first, or take advantage of summer internship opportunities. If you are
already working with a company in a different role, offer to work on the kind
of projects that business analysts undertake. There are many transferable skills
to working as a business analyst, and the role of a business analyst is
wide-ranging. Individuals can enter the field either with knowledge of a
specific business domain, such as workflow, billing, or customer relations, or
with knowledge in an industry, such as finance, telecommunications, or
government. Once you are hired as an entry-level business analyst, make sure to
gain experience across many different types of projects; later, you can
specialize in the domain or industry you are particularly interested in.
Step 3: Earn a Master’s degree or obtain an advanced
certificate
Many universities offer master’s degrees and graduate
certificates in business analytics, which generally include courses in business
data analytics, operations research, project management, database analytics,
and predictive analytics. For those with advanced knowledge of business
analytics, the International Institute of Business Analysis offers a
professional certificate called the Certified Business Analysis Professional.
What is a Business Analyst?
Business analysts work within an organization to evaluate
current systems and develop strategic plans. This requires deep knowledge of
both the specific business and industry trends and conventions. A key aspect of
the business analyst role is communicating plans between internal departments
and external stakeholders.
The role of the business analyst is to introduce change in
an organization. Change might include avoidance of costs, identifying new
opportunities, realizing and creating new benefits, and so on.
Business analysts develop or update computer systems to
solve business needs. The business analyst provides requirements to the IT
department to produce this new technological system, and supports the testing
and implementation of the system.
What does a Business Analyst do?
A business analyst scrutinizes sets of data looking for ways
to increase efficiency in an organization. In this way, the business analyst
often acts as a liaison between different departments in a company, finding
ways to streamline processes throughout the organization. The business analyst
must be able to communicate well with these different groups in the
organization, sometimes acting as a diplomat, and presenting solutions in ways
that colleagues and stakeholders will understand.
Business analysts engage in 4 main types of analysis:
Strategic planning—identifying changing needs of a company
Business model analysis—defining policies and market
approaches
Process design—standardizing workflows
Systems analysis—interpretation of requirements for the IT
department
Business Analysts might deliver many different types of
solutions, including new business plans, data models, flowcharts, or strategic
plans.
Business Analyst job description
Though there are many different aspects to the job, business
analysts generally follow a pattern of research-gathering, presenting
solutions, and then implementing these solutions in the form of new or adapted
technology. In this process, a business analyst will be required to:
Communicate with colleagues to understand the needs of the
business
Work with stakeholders to understand the service or product
provided
Conduct surveys, workshops, and tests
Analyze and model data to produce conclusions
Create suggestions and solutions for strategic and
operational changes
Consider opportunities and risks of these suggestions
Invent systems or processes necessary to implement these
changes, or alter existing ones
Communicate with senior management about introducing
recommendations to the business
Write reports to present to stakeholders
Support staff as solutions are implemented
Evaluate impact of changes made
Skills needed to become a Business Analyst
Business analysts need to have a combination of hard and
soft skills. These include:
Communication skills:
Business analysts must work in groups, collect information from and present it
to wide-ranging stakeholders in the company, translate and negotiate between
parties, and communicate solutions in an accessible way. Business analysts must
have strong written and spoken skills, and feel confident in a leadership
position to gain approval for plans from superiors in the company.
Business knowledge
and critical thinking: Business analysts must understand many facets of the
company for whom they are working. They must be able to understand the roles of
different individuals and departments, and how these departments interact and
depend on each other. They must also understand the single organization in a
broader context of the entire industry. This business knowledge will then allow
them to successfully analyze data points and build strategic plans for the
future.
Technical skills:
Business analysts may use a wide range of technical programs, including
programs in diagramming, data crunching, wireframing, management of
requirements, and for presentation of results. More and more, business analysts
are increasing their technical proficiency with knowledge of computer
programming, big data mining techniques, database management, and systems
engineering.
Business analysts salary
According to Payscale.com, “a Business Analyst earns an average
salary of $58,805 per year.” Business analysts can expect salary increases for
the first 5-10 years, but additional experience does not have a large effect on
salary. The majority of business analysts work in the position for just 1-4
years, and almost all move on to more advanced positions within 20 years.
Promotions include positions such as project manager or senior business
analyst.
Business analyst job outlook
Historically, companies began to convert paper-based
processes into automated, electronic processes in the 1970s and 1980s with the
advent of computers. Business analysts entered the scene in the 1980s and 1990s
to pair new technology with business acumen. However, technology is continuing
to change this role. Recent advances in big data mean that many projects that
used to require a business analyst’s insights are no longer necessary. Instead,
data scientists are able to mine big data to understand customer behavior and
identify system inefficiencies, for example.
Thus, business analysts must continue to modify their roles
and stay abreast of technological advances to stay relevant. Many business
analysts have merged into data scientists themselves, and/or are finding ways
to combine big data analysis with the kind of critical thinking only able to be
done by a human—for now.
Some of the important skills that a top-notch Business
Analyst ought to have included, but are not restricted to:
Communication skills
Technical skills
Conceptual modeling skills
Explanatory ability
Mentoring and coaching skills
Ability to recognize risks quickly
Change management
Impromptu whiteboard drawing
Analytical skills
Problem-solving skills
Decision-making skills
Negotiation and persuasion skills
Managerial skills
Analysis of Variance Job Roles / 10000 / Report
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Decoding DuPont Analysis
How to Use Enterprise Value to Compare Companies
Carrying Value vs. Fair Value: What's the Difference?
How Do You Calculate a Company's Equity?
Adjusted Present Value – APV Definition
Marginal Analysis
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
Delphi Method
Gross Sales Definition
Normal Distribution
Qualitative Analysis
Representative Sample Definition
T-Test Definition
Synergy
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dashboard, business intelligence (BI), and key performance indicators (KPI) on
smartphone and computer screens
Total Shareholder Return (TSR) Definition
Population Definition
Valuing Firms Using Present Value of Free Cash Flows
Intrinsic Value vs. Current Market Value: What's the
Difference?
Comparable Company Analysis (CCA) Definition
Degree of Financial Leverage – DFL Definition
Free Cash Flow Yield: The Best Fundamental Indicator
Determining the Value of a Preferred Stock
Lognormal and Normal Distribution
Some of the Variables Involved in Economies of Scale
How is the Value of the S&P 500 Calculated?
How Is a Company's Share Price Determined?
The Difference Between Return on Equity and Return on
Capital
How Do Gross Profit and EBITDA Differ?
Top 6 Websites for Finding a Company's Financial Stats
Adjusted EBITDA Definition
Asset Valuation Definition and Example
Basic Earnings Per Share (EPS) Definition
Capitalization of Earnings Definition
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screen
Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR)
Debt/EBITDA Definition
Free Cash Flow Yield
Hypothesis Testing
Nominal Value Definition
Stockholders' Equity Definition
Stress Testing Definition
Unlevered Free Cash Flow (UFCF)
The Dangers of Share Dilution
Kelly Criterion for Asset Allocation and Money Management
Which Business Model is Best? Depends on the Industry
What is the difference between revenue and sales?
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How Does Top-Down and Bottom-Up Investing Differ?
Funds Transfer Pricing – FTP Definition
Gross Merchandise Value Definition
Normalized Earnings Definition & Examples
Sampling Distribution Definition
Sum-of-the-Parts Valuation – SOTP Definition
How to Calculate a Z-Score
Hamada Equation Definition
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Conditional Probability Definition
Model Risk Definition
The Bayesian Method of Financial Forecasting
Expanded Accounting Equation Definition
ROE vs ROCE: The Difference
Calculate Capital Employed from a Company Balance Sheet
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