what software should you-learn to become a business analyst?

[Ask IT Career Coach] is a Career Advice Newsletter for Information Technology (IT) professionals including business analysts, computer programmers, data analysts, database developers, technical writers, project managers and software testers.

If you, have a challenging question about your career, submit it here and we will answer yours just as we are answering this question submitted by a technical writer titled: What Software Do I Learn to Become A Business Analyst? …

Question

How do I learn or get the software knowledge that would make me a business analyst?

What types of software programs will I have to use on the job; and how do I learn these programs in a visual manner without having to refer to textbooks?

Answer:

You do not understand what a business analyst does and because of that you are mixing software jobs (like that of a computer programmer’s) with the business analyst’s job.

This mix-up is quite common because software oriented jobs are more common and better understood than business analyst jobs.

When you think of a computer programmer’s job, the picture that comes to mind is that of a highly skilled technology savvy professional who spends a lot of time building software programs, creating data entry forms and screens, designing websites or even installing desktop applications.

Unfortunately, when you think of business analysts, you also imagine that their duties or tasks are similar to those of computer programmers!

Because of this, you are wrongly associating the business analyst’s career with more software / technology careers like software testing, technical writing or computer programming.

So, in TODAY'S POST, I will contrast the role of a software tester, computer programmer, technical writer and business analyst to bring the point home.

What Does A Business Analyst Really Do?

The primary skills that business analysts use on the job are communication skills
(both written and verbal) unlike computer programmers, whose primary skills are tied to expertise in specific technologies like C#, Visual Basic, Java, PHP.

Business Analysts are highly-skilled or expert at communicating technology requirements with stakeholders, customer, power users or even technical teams (think software developers, software testers, web designers).

The primary communication tools used by business analysts while facilitating the requirements engineering process are Office productivity tools including Microsoft Word (for documenting requirements), Microsoft PowerPoint (for making presentations) and Microsoft Excel.

However, unlike computer programmer jobs, business analyst jobs are not required to be software or technology centered.

Don’t get me wrong!

Some job postings for business analysts require knowledge of software development languages like C# or Java or a software development background.

The business analysts that apply for these job postings are more accurately classified as Technical Business Analysts.

There are several domains or specializations available to business analysts (mortgage, financial, telecommunications / telco, automotive, healthcare, insurance) and technical business analysis is just one of these domains.

Read more about domain business analysts here:

However, the requirements for domain business analysts are not the same as the requirement for becoming a business analyst.

You are a business analyst first before you become a technical / domain business analyst.

So, don’t apply the role, responsibilities and requirements for the technical business analysis domain to all business analyst domains.

Competence or mastery of Microsoft Office Productivity software (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is a requirement for business analyst jobs even when it is not stated on the job posting.

A business analyst who uses Office Productivity software can document requirements with Microsoft Word, make PowerPoint presentations and run what-if analysis using Microsoft Excel.

Focusing on software skills beyond Microsoft Office software makes you more of a computer programmer than a business analyst.

For your information, here are some of the differences between computer programmer jobs and business analyst jobs.

Business Analysts Compared To Computer Programmers

• Business Analysts gather requirements while computer programmers build to specifications.

• Business Analysts document work flows and business processes while computer programmers model and build software programs that follow those workflows or business processes.

• Business analyst are hired for their written and verbal communication skills while computer programmers are hired for their expertise or skills in specific programming languages or technology platforms.

• A computer programmer's work is deeply invested in learning or using technology while a business analyst’s work is deeply invested in understanding, documenting and communicating business requirements.

• A business analyst’s primary software tool is Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint while a computer programmer’s primary software skill is knowledge of Java or C# or Visual Basic or PHP or other programming languages.

• Business Analysts document the requirements or features of software programs while computer programmers build software programs.

• Both the business analyst and software developer are involved with the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) for different reasons. While the business analyst owns the analysis and documentation of software requirements, the computer programmers owns the building of software programs.

• Read more about the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) here:

I am also going to contrast the role of business analysts with that of software testers and technical writers to bring this home.

Business Analysts Compared To Software Testers

• Software Testers are more hands-on with programming than business analysts.

  Software Testers are more skilled in programming because they sometimes have to write automated tests using scripting programming languages.

  A business analyst should not be required to write scripts or learn programming languages except in instances where they are applying for technical business analyst jobs.

  So, you cannot project the hands-on software skills requirements for software testers onto the hands-on skill requirements for business analysts.

• Software Testers write manual or automated tests that verify that software programs developed by computer programmers were written according to the specifications or requirements documented by business analysts.
• Software Testers have to test or inspect the procedures or functions written by computer programmers.

  For that reason, they may have to learn the basics of the programming language used in creating the software program.

  There is almost no value in business analysts inspecting a programmer’s code or even messing with it because Business Analysts do not have those competencies!

• Read more about Software Tester Careers here:

Business Analysts Compared To Technical Writers

• The skills exercised by technical writers are similar to that of business analysts in some respects.

  Both technical writers and business analysts exercise strong written communication skills.

  However, while a technical writer’s skill is useful for documenting the features of a software program after it is built, a business analyst’s skill is useful for documenting the features of a software program before it is built!

• A technical writer’s primary role is the documenting of existing software features, business processes, etc.

  Because of this, a technical writer may have to learn specific software programs (apart from MS Word or PowerPoint) to help them with create technical documentation like Help Files, Software Manuals, etc.

  The technical writing industry is such that job postings require knowledge of specific software documentation tools.

  However, this must not be confused with the software requirements for business analysts.

  Business Analysts are not technical writers and the business analyst’s job does not require knowledge of specific software programs apart from the ubiquitous (Microsoft Office, MS Word, MS Excel or MS PowerPoint).

• While the technical writing industry is componentized along the lines of software documentation tools (Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Frame Maker, Adobe Acrobat, Quark Xpress, Corel Ventura), the business analyst industry is segmented along the lines of domain specialization (financial, utilities, web / user interface (UI) business analysts, etc.).

• Read More about Technical Writer Careers:

What Does It Really Take To Become A Business Analyst?

The requirements for business analysts’ jobs are primarily documentation, requirements analysis and communication (both written and verbal).

While it is common for a business analyst to spend his / her time, preparing PowerPoint presentations, taking meeting notes using Microsoft Word or writing Use Cases in plain-old Microsoft Word, it is common for a computer programmer / software tester / technical writer to spend the same amount of time coding new program features / documenting bugs / documenting the features of a software program.

A business analyst must be 100% comfortable in his / her role as a communicator, presenter, leader, facilitator or analyzer without feeling the need to learn more software tools!

How To Get Hired For A Business Analyst Job – Case Study

Some time ago, I was hired to help an Information Technology (IT) director put together a software development team for a financial software project in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.

In that role, we posted a senior business analyst job opening and then started interviewing qualified business analysts.

The business analyst I interviewed and recommended got the job because she did something different from the other business analysts who applied for the same job.

She walked into the interview with a bound, spiral document that showcased the comprehensiveness, thoroughness and versatility of several business documents she had created for one automotive client in the Greater Saint Louis region.

She did not get hired because of what she said at the business analyst job interview or because of the software experience listed on her resume.

She got the business analyst job, by showcasing her hands-on business analysis skills.

What differentiated her was a compilation of various types of business analysis documents she had worked on for an automotive client in the Greater Saint Louis area.

The financial client hired her as an Information Technology (IT) business analyst for a financial software project because they connected with the hands-on, visual depiction of her business analysis skills exemplified by her Microsoft Word based portfolio.

My final advice?

Don’t approach the business analyst industry based on how the software testing, technical writing or computer programmer industries work.

Remove false associations between the business analyst’s role (primarily written and verbal analysis or communication of requirements) and the hands-on skill requirements for software testers, technical writers or computer programmers.

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What Courses Do You Study To Become A Business Analyst?

You may start a business analysts career by taking some of the courses discussed in this post.

Keep in mind that for business analysis careers, soft skills count as much or in some cases even more than hard skills.

So, don’t make the classical rookie mistake of focusing on the hard skill requirements to the detriment of your soft skills!

The list of formal, informal or college courses that you may study for a business analyst career include:

1. Study computer science & information technology courses in college because that will help you relate to the coding or testing that takes place on information technology / software development projects.

2. Study Systems Analysis courses as they may help you get a better idea of how different networking, hardware & software systems are integrated into one functional Information Technology (IT) department.

3. Take Technical Writing and Business Communication courses because a key part of the work that you perform as a business analyst is communicating business problems or solutions.

4. Study business management courses as they will help you understand understand strategic and tactical business goals and objectives or see things from a management, stakeholder or business perspective.

   Keep in mind that not only do business analysts work in Information Technology (IT) departments, they also work in specialized business domains like Accounting, Finance, Sales and Marketing, so taking business courses can be helpful.

5. Take conflict resolution, interpersonal, communication, verbal, presentation, negotiation, public speaking and leadership courses.

   While these sort of skills are not traditionally taught as part a formal college class, you can gain the required information from textbooks and audio material on bookstores like Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

The courses that you may take to become a business analyst may be divided into formal (business / technical) or informal (interpersonal, communication and leadership) skills.

So my friend, now you know what you may study to succeed as a business analyst … do do something with this information

Thanks and Best Wishes

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business analysts build bridges

In some organizations, the technical lead or senior software developer is also asked to gather, analyze or document the software development requirements.

This may be the case when:

• Cowboy Coding -The Organization has not fully embraced any formal software development methodology
• Cost Cutting -The manager wants to cut costs by not hiring for full-time business analysts
• Role Differentiation – The IT / Software Development manager combines the business analyst role into the software development role

But, does combining the business analyst and software development role work or is it better to hire full-time business analysts for your team?

Making A Case For Business Analysts

The traditional or core business analysis skills including software requirements documentation, systems modeling, UML and Use Cases are also required for senior software developer or architect positions.

While business analysts are not computer programmers, their skills have roots in traditional systems analysis or software development career paths.

For example, Skills like UML or Use Cases in particular are also used by software architects in modeling and solution architecture.

With this in mind, some managers are taking the position that traditional software developers are also suited for business analysis duties. And because of this position, they do not see the need for hiring business analysts.

This article examines the case for hiring full-time business analysts for your projects.

Computer Programmers Are Not Business Analysts

While software developers sometimes take on some business analyst roles, they are still not business analysts.

Because there are fundamental differences between the mindset of computer programmers and that of business analysts.

Computer programmers spend most of their time designing computer algorithms or coding software routines while business analysts spend most of their time talking to customers, stakeholders and developers.

In other words, while computer programmers are competent at talking to machines, business analysts are skilled at talking to people!

Let’s look at more justifications for hiring full-time business analysts for your organization.

Bridging The Gap Between Business And IT

There is a fundamental gap between business and IT which often leads to project failure.

Software development teams often miss, drift away or ignore business demands, needs and requirements because they spend most of their working time studying or solving technical / information technology problems.

And business units (marketing, operations, sales, customer service, etc.) often do not care enough about or take the time to understand the constraints of technology.

Because they are like polar opposites, there is a fundamental gap between business and technology which requires the intervention of a third-party … the business analyst.

Most IT Projects Fail, Will Yours?

Statistics suggest that more than 50% of software development / IT projects fail. They fail because of poor communication, cost / budget overruns and poor requirements or a weak business case.

While these statistics make a depressing study, they also point that most I.T. projects are at a risk of failing from inception if they are not planned or executed properly.

That is perhaps the best case for hiring full-time business analyst resources for your IT / software project … business analysts can help mitigate or reduce the risk of project failure.

Can Business Analysts Reduce IT Project Failure Rates?

Hiring full-time business analysts can help mitigate or reduce the risk of project failure by:

1. Creating a clear or convincing business case for your project management or stakeholder team

2. Creating a clear, concise, complete set of business requirements which can be used by project managers for estimation and budgeting or by quality assurance and software development teams

3. Bridging the business to IT gap by improving the communication between the two business units through effective written and oral communication skills

There is a significant risk that your IT Project would fail due to a weak business case, poorly defined requirements, lack of stakeholder engagement etc.

So do your project a favor and hire full-time consulting or permanent business analysts for your IT projects.

How To Find Or Hire Good Business Analysts

The options for finding full-time business analysts are limited to re-training existing staff in business analysis or hiring full-time business analysts from recruiters and job portals like LinkedIn and Dice.com.

One benefit of retraining existing team members in business analysis is to avoid costs of hiring additional staff. On the other hand, one advantage of hiring new business analysts is that they are guaranteed to hit the ground running.

If you decide to keep costs low by using or retraining your current IT team (quality assurance analysts, software developers or technical writers) in business analysis, do this:

Focus on re-training team members who have demonstrated some talent or interest in meeting or working with stakeholders, customers and users or in documenting requirements

Then retrain or sharpen your team’s business analysis skills using this resource … that way, your team can hit the ground running or bring new business analysis skills to bear on your project.

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How To Handle Recruiters Phone Calls

Recruiters are the gatekeepers for business analyst jobs.

They are in touch with more employers, consulting or full-time engagements than most business analysts.

This post answers the question of how to handle or deal with recruiters calling about business analyst jobs.

If you need help with a Question or Challenge, be sure to submit your question as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering this reader’s question below!

If you enjoy reading this post, please be sure to … Share this Post with Friends

Here is a question posted by a business analyst on how to deal with recruiters

I have received some phone calls from recruiters recently about BA jobs.

We talk about the description, and then my experience.

At the end of the call, they always promise to call back.

They most likely never do. When I try to follow up, they most often do not reciprocate.

Is this typical

Or is the a better way for me to handle these calls

How To Handle Phone Calls From Recruiters

Handling recruiters successfully depends on your ability to put yourself in the recruiter’s shoes or negotiate from a point of strength.

Here are some tips on how you can do just that!

1. Put Yourself In The Recruiter’s Shoes

   Recruiters are primarily out to help their bottom line.

   With that in mind, your conversations with recruiters must prove beyond a shadow of doubt that you are qualified for the job.

   This means that you are not trying to convince, beg or plead for a job but that you come across as a skilled, experienced or knowledgeable business analyst with a pleasing personality.

2. Tailor Your Conversation To The Job Description

   Recruiters generally have a light grasp of technology.

   Which means that they may not be as familiar with the requirements listed in the job description as you may think.

   So, make it easy on recruiters and present your skills, experience or background in the light of the job description at hand.

   For example, if a job description is posted for a business analyst with business use cases skills and you present your skills as system use cases, you may be passed.

   So, make sure that your skills, background or experience cover the specific requirements mentioned in the job description.

3. Grab The Recruiter’s Attention

   Get your act together before getting on the phone with the recruiter.

   While on the phone, take charge of the conversation and grab the recruiter’s attention within the first few minutes of the conversation.

   All things being equal, recruiters tend to feed off your energy level.

   So, if you sound positive and upbeat, they will conclude that they want to do business with you.

   If you sound unsure of yourself, they are likely to conclude that you are hiding something or that you are not as good as you need to be!

   The best preparation is to rehearse your opening statements or polish your presentation before getting on the phone with the recruiter.

4. Looking for a Job? Stay Busy!

   Don’t sound like you are just staying at home waiting for a job, even though that may be the truth.

   Talk about how busy you are and how you are lining up interviews because recruiters are wired to follow the herd.

   In other words, if you sound like you are busy taking interviews and lining up jobs, they will scramble to represent you as well.

   But if on the other hand, you sound like you are having difficulty finding interviews, they will shy away from you too!

   Recruiters behave like this because they reason that if their colleagues are not going after you, then either you are not qualified or not a good match for the job.

I hope that these tips will help you represent yourself better to recruiters.

One of the well-kept secrets of working with recruiters is that they prefer polished, professional presentations from candidates who seem to know what they are doing even.

This is because recruiters often cannot distinguish an experienced, skilled or knowledgeable candidate from another business analyst who is less skilled.

So, plan, prepare and present your skills in the best light possible and you will win their hearts and souls

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Requirements Management Skills In Demand

Is Requirements Management Helpful?

If you work in an office where requirements management is a low priority, an afterthought or a process imposed by senior management, you may begin to lose sight of the value that requirements management offers.

In between chasing down your stakeholders for interviews, wrestling with your use cases or managing conflict and corporate politics, you may decide to abort what sometimes seems like meaningless meetings or endless paperwork.

What you may not know is that the reason you’re chasing down stakeholders or having so much trouble gathering requirements is that you don’t have an effective Requirements Management framework in place.

Because Requirements Management is really not an afterthought and unless you step out of your busy schedule to learn what works and what doesn’t work in requirements management … the cycle of difficulty, ineffectiveness or project failure is guaranteed to continue!

Why Requirements Management Is A High Priority For Business Analysts

If your project lacks an effective Requirements Management plan, you can do your team or manager a favor by learning how to implement one.

This is important because an effective requirements management plan will help you deliver the right product, technology or business solution and stand you in good stead at the performance review.

The risk of Information Technology (IT) project failure is so high that taking the time to understand, model or validate what needs to be built is a high priority for any professional business analyst.

If your requirements management plan is weak, you risk not understanding the business problem or turning out a poor solution.

So, whether you’re gathering or analyzing requirements, it is just as important to focus on the process that you are using to develop your requirements as it is to focus on the requirements themselves.

The good news is that a lot of thought has been put into the process of gathering and creating good requirements.

The Requirements Management Plan

These thoughts have been gathered and structured into a discipline known as Requirements Engineering or Management.

Requirements Management encompasses the activities of defining a solution’s requirements, Eliciting, Analyzing, Specifying and Validating business requirements.

Requirements Management encompasses activities and deliverables for establishing Requirements Baselines, Change Control and Tracing Requirements.

Having an effective requirements management plan will also help you define:

1. Which members of your team are performing what requirements activities

2. When requirements activities will take place

3. What the details and steps of each requirement activity are

Having all of this formally defined will help your team deliver the right product or solution.

Having a good requirements management plan will also improve your teams ability to build or deliver the correct requirements on time and within budget.

The ROI for Effective Requirements Management

An effective Requirements Management plan will also help your team be more productive or produce excellent correct, complete, clear, concise, consistent, relevant, feasible and verifiable requirements.

Keep in mind that your Requirements Management plan may need to be customized to your projects, organizational constraints or corporate culture.

Remember that effective Requirements Management results in better business solutions … which is a hallmark of successful business analysts.

Requirements Management is one of several business analysis courses offered at the Business Analyst Boot Camp Training.

A complete end-to-end Business Analysis training is traditionally expensive because you pay for multiple business analysis courses on UML, Use Cases, Requirements Management, etc.

In addition, these courses are sometimes split into beginner, intermediate or advanced classes which you have to pay for individually.

What if you could get your “Use Case Training”, “UML Training”, “Requirements Management Training” and more by attending just one class?

What if you could get all these Business Analyst courses for a fraction of the traditional cost? … Here is how to to do just that.

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starting a new business analyst career

The good news is that the economy is adding on jobs because it is the time of year when budgets have been approved and employers traditionally post more jobs and because the economy is also beginning to recover.

This is as good a time as any to dust off your resume, polish your act and start the career you have always wanted.

This article tells you how to do that … get back into the job market and start the business analyst career you’ve always wanted!

What Are Employers Hiring For?

Let’s start by reviewing what employers are hiring for, so that you can give them what they want.

1. Employers are hiring educated business analysts

   I would like to emphasize that having an MBA or a college degree while being helpful, does not make you an educated business analyst.

   Having a degree like an MBA, MIS or computer science degree is considered to be a general educational qualification.

   And the job market requires more specific, business analysis oriented education on topics like UML, Use Cases, Requirements Management, etc.

2. Employers are hiring skilled business analysts

   These are considered to be business analysts with cutting-edge skills who can hit the ground running, provide timely, focused and relevant business solutions or provide expert business guidance or solutions to the employer.

   At the job interview, a candidate is perceived to be sharp if he or she can answer questions in a comprehensive, correct, detailed, factual and timely manner.

   So, this is a question of how well you can recall, retain or re-use your business analysis knowledge.

3. Employers are looking for hands-on business analysis experience

   However, your hands-on experience is not always the same as how long you have been working as a business analyst.

   Employers are more interested in how prepared you are to provide solutions to challenging business problems than in your length of years in the industry!

   So, do not focus on how many years you have or have not been working as a business analyst. Instead, focus on the depth, richness or breadth of your experience!

So, with these points in mind, I will show you how to get back into the business analysis job market.

How To Start A Business Analysis Career

The first step to getting back into the BA job market is to recognize what employers are looking or hiring for.

The next step after figuring out the needs of employers in the current job market is to give them what they want.

I recommend that you start by attending the business analyst boot camp and here is why:

1. Becoming a Better Business Analyst

Your first task towards getting back into the job market is to become the most knowledgable business analyst you can be.

The business analyst boot camp helps you with that by training you on the concepts, skills, methodologies, tools or techniques used by business analysis in an online learning environment.

Through online training videos, presented in a step by step manner, you learn or master beginner to advanced level topics in UML, Use Cases, Requirements Analysis, Elicitation, Modeling and more …

2. Become A Skilled Business Analyst

Research has shown that one of the best ways to sharpen your skills is to practice answering questions like you are in a job interview.

The business analyst boot camp uses the same technique for sharpening your skills or preparing you for the job market.

You are presented with single/multiple-choice practice tests or quizzes that sharpen your skills by helping improve the correctness, promptness and comprehensiveness of your answers to business analysis questions.

3. Shortening The BA Experience Gap

One of the key features of the business analysis boot camp is the incorporation of hands-on business analysis tasks as part of you training.

With the help of our learning management system (LMS), you are challenged to master your material through practical, skill-building, hands-on exercises, problems, case studies, tasks or projects.

Here is a quick review of what the business analyst boot camp online training class offers:

Review Of Online Business Analysis Training

• The Business Analyst Boot Camp learning management system presents you with foundational business analysis concepts to start with.

• Once you are through with the foundational concepts, more advanced concepts are introduced or presented step by step.

• All your assignments, quizzes, hands-on tasks or projects are graded and the results instantly displayed in your real-time, online progress monitoring tool!

• All the courses are offered online and your videos are retained as part of your account. What this means is that you can go back or refer to any lecture, refresh your mind or re-train yourself at will!

The goal of the business analyst boot camp is to help you become an expert or highly skilled business analyst.

Achieving the goal of becoming an expert or highly skilled business analyst is critical to career success because it addresses the key concerns that employers have when hiring new business analysts or promoting their existing internal business analysts to a new position.

This post helps you understand the key reasons why employers hire or retain business analysts and it shows you how to start your business analysis career or get back into the job market by addressing the employers concerns.

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Questions for Agile Business Analysts

In response to the post: Is a Project Manager or a Business Analyst Career, a Better Fit for You?, a reader sent in the following comments about his experience as an agile business analyst.

In both Iterative and Agile methods, the BA is (or should be) involved with requirements gathering, project communication and facilitation, translating technical and business jargon, holding development to the business needs during the execution phase through Alpha Testing, demos, walk-throughs and issues management.

• BAs often write the Test Cases and, surprise the Test Scripts when the project doesn’t have QA resources.

• In the implementation phase, the BA acts as a Level Two Support contact to triage user issues.

• Then the BA and the PM begin negotiating the features/repairs list for the next spring or iteration.

My question to you is, what has been your experience as a business analyst working on an agile or iterative project?

• Do you have all your requirements ready before you start development?

• Do you have to write test cases or test scripts?

• How do you collaborate or work with testers?

• How do you collaborate or work with project managers?

• What are your challenges or pitfalls?

• Which project or requirements management tools do you use?

• What are your best practices?

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How To Choose the Right Career?

The following question was submitted by a reader who needs help with choosing between a business analyst and a project management career.

If you need help with a Question or Challenge, be sure to submit your question as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering this reader’s question below!

If you enjoy reading this post, please be sure to … Share this Post with Friends

Here is the Reader’s Question: Should I Change Careers To Business Analysis Or Project Management?

Hello,

I am interested in making a career change from working currently in customer service in a bank to becoming a business analyst or a project manager.

My educational background is a degree in Banking and Finance and I have over 8 years experience working in the Treasury department of a bank.

Can you advise which would be my best choice?

Here is the Answer: How To Decide Between a Business Analysis and a Project Management Career

Hello,

I can certainly help you understand the differences between a project management and business analyst career.

You will be able to decide on your ideal career, after weighing all the pros and cons that I will list in the rest of this article.

The Roles and Responsibilities of a Project Manager

The Project Manager is often considered to be the first point of contact for the project and is solely responsible for the project’s success or failure.

Please note that this is an important distinction between the project manager and business analyst’s duties, roles or responsibilities.

This distinction means that you have to be wired a certain way or learn to take full responsibility for the outcome of your projects without making any excuses!

• This also means that as the project manager, you will be responsible for overseeing all the phases of a software development or information technology project unlike a business analyst who is tasked with gathering requirements at the inception or beginning phases of a project.

• Another important distinction is that, as the project manager you will also be responsible for establishing time-lines or ensuring that your projects are completed on time and under budget.

• Finally, the Project Manager allocates resources to a project, monitors significant milestones as the project progresses and manages risks and costs to ensure that there are no budget overruns.

To achieve these goals, the Project Manager works with a correct or comprehensive set of customer requirements provided by the business analyst.

This last statement means that the Project Manager has to collaborate or depend on the Business Analyst’s requirements elicitation and management skills.

If this collaboration works out well, then the correct and complete set of project requirements are provided to the software development or information technology project team … if not, then the project is doomed from inception!

The Roles and Responsibilities of a Business Analyst

1. Like the Project Manager, the Business Analyst also spends most of the time working with end users, stakeholders or management.

2. Unlike the Project Manager, whose attention is all over the phases and tasks of the Project, the business analyst focuses mainly on the requirements for the project.

3. Because the business analyst is tasked with gathering requirements, he or she ends up focusing on the minute details of what the end user wants, documenting requirements with very detailed reports that measure goals and outcomes, validating requirements or communicating requirements in precise ways to developers using tools like User stories, Use Cases and UML

In essence, the Business Analyst ends up bridging the technical or business communication gap between the software development or project implementation teams and the management, executive or business teams.

What are the similarities and differences between a Project Manager and a Business Analyst’s Job?

There is a good deal of speculation and confusion on the 2 roles leading to the assumption in some circles that project managers can gather requirements or that business analysts can manage resources!

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Each of these is a rigorous, methodical discipline that may share some body of knowledge with the other, but are functionally, completely different.

1. Project Managers manage all the resources assigned to project and they carry the final authority on who does what. They usually have the ability to hire or fire resources and for delegating tasks or responsibilities.

2. Business analysts on the other hand, manage the business, end-user, customers or stakeholder requirements and in reality, they report to the project manager, just like the software developers, testers or any other resource assigned to the project.

3. Both business analysts and project managers understand the software development life cycle, both of them serve as points of contact for the project and both of them communicate with management or stakeholders.

4. Both of these are also responsible for accurately defining the scope of the project.

However, even here, there is still a qualitative difference … while the business analyst is concerned with the minutiae of the requirements, the project manager is focused on the big picture, and on delivering a project that fulfills the requirements under schedule and on budget.

On this last point, I would like to stress that in an ideal world, there would be no adversarial relationship between a project manager and his/her business analysts because like any successful leader knows, “war is worn by wise counsel” and the business analyst is the project manager’s wise counsel.

Another key difference between these 2 roles is that at the onset of a project, the business analyst implements feasibility and cost/benefit analysis studies before the project manager is even hired!

Finally, I would also like to add that, while the business analyst is concerned with the quality of the finished product … the Project Manager is concerned with managing the process of producing the product.

Is a Project Manager or a Business Analyst Career, a Better Fit for You?

So how do you decide which of these two (project management or business analysis) is the better fit?

If your personality type is such that you have a singular focus on completing projects with a “big picture” view of the process from beginning to end, then the Project Management career may be the better fit for you.

If on the other hand, you enjoy working on details with business users, customers or management, analyzing problems or defining solutions, documenting or communicating problems and solutions, then a Business Analyst career may be the better fit for you.

This post was written in answer to a question submitted by a reader on how to decide between becoming a project manager or a business analyst.

If you have a question, be sure to post it here as a comment or submit it to: [Ask IT Career Coach].

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Business Analyst Role In Data Warehouse Projects

The Business Analysts Role In Bringing Data Warehousing To Your Office

Today’s business executives spend a ton of cash on data warehouse projects because that is a big, key, strategic business initiative; the success of which weighs heavily on their minds.

Data warehousing is important because it saves or aggregates information in a manner that allows executives, management or office users to make strategic business decisions faster, better and more easily!

No More Silos In The Workplace

Data warehousing is critical to business success because it presents a way for executives or management to view or manage their corporation as a whole unit instead of in silos.

What data warehousing offers decision makers is the ability to break out of departmental information silos and see the big picture.

One of the key objectives facilitated by business analysts in data warehousing roles is that of bridging the gap between enterprise databases (marketing, finance, inventory, customer relationship management, etc.) so that decision makers or office users can ask questions or get a comprehensive, 360 degree insight across corporate / departmental databases with one query or question!

Introducing OLAP, Business Intelligence (BI) Or Data Warehousing To Business Analysts

Business Analysts assigned to data warehouse projects may be surprised to know that traditional, day-to-day relational (online transaction processing (OLTP)) databases are not optimized for querying or reporting of data for business or decision making purposes.

Databases that are actually optimized for data analysis, reporting and business intelligence are known as Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) databases.

So, another key benefit of data warehousing is that it provides decision makers with real-time business intelligence at optimal speeds through the used of OLTP systems.

Finally, Data Warehousing is important from the standpoint of facilitating forecasting trends or getting performance metrics for the entire organization.

Data warehousing provides senior management with intelligence required to see the company’s performance from a 30,000 foot level instead of being buried under a mountain of data at sea level.

Will The Real Enterprise Business Analyst Stand Up Please?

Organizations implementing business intelligence or data-warehousing projects are looking for a significant boost in their business intelligence or decision making capabilities.

Savvy business analysts pulled into data-warehousing / BI projects would fare well to keep this at the back of their mind from the git-go!

So, here are some key roles for business analysts in data warehouse projects

• The Data Warehouse Business Analysts role includes helping the business team identify key opportunities for boosting revenue, increasing sales, decreasing operational costs or achieving some other important organizatioinal or business objective.

• The Business Analyst bridges the gap between the business or executive management office and the data warehousing / BI Implementation Team.

• The Business Analyst identifies the business intelligence needs of the organization. This includes eliciting BI requirements from executives, managers or office users and then working with the data warehouse project team to identify, define or implement these business requirements.

The Enterprise Business Analyst Role In Data Warehousing Projects

Data warehousing projects are all about building, integrating, analyzing or reporting on large, complex, corporate databases.

So, Business Analysts working in such domains will be well-advised to fortify their database skills as that is the real-world domain or context of data warehousing.

Because of the strategic importance or the scope of data warehousing / business intelligence (BI) projects, the business analyst typically functions as a key member of a larger data warehouse project team.

The data warehouse project team may include the Project Manager, Data Modeler, Data Architect, Data Analyst , Tester, Report Writer, Database Developer and last but not least … the data warehousing / business intelligence (BI) business analyst.

With that in mind, here are the business analyst’s roles in the context of an enterprise data-warehousing project implementation team.

• Management Role: working with executives, management or the business team, the business analyst identifies the gaps in corporate intelligence / reporting capabilities.

• Data Analyst Role: working with data analysts, the business analyst identifies, understands and documents the sources of data discrepancies or gaps in business intelligence.

  The actual work of identifying data sources may be assigned to the data analysts or Extraction, Transform Load (ETL) developers while that of documenting or modeling the data transformations assigned to a business analyst comfortable with creating data models.

• Data Modeler / Data Architect / Database Developer Role: The business analyst works with the data modeler, data architect or database developer to create the logical or conceptual data model.

  The business analyst also validates that the data model meets business requirements before it is implemented.

The Data Warehouse Business Analyst Skill Sets

The enterprise data warehouse business analyst is not your traditional business analyst. so, here are some of the skill-set requirements for business analysts in a data warehouse project.

• The business analyst needs a thorough understanding of Extraction, Transform and Load (ETL) processes.

• The business analyst also needs a strong understanding of the logical database design process, data modeling, data-mart design and a good understanding of OLAP compared to OLTP systems.

• The business analyst needs to be comfortable with the business intelligence tools used in delivering corporate intelligence to decision makers which may be as simple as a Microsoft Excel-based Business Intelligence (tool).

• The business analyst also needs a good understanding of data warehousing terminology as well as the corporate data being analyzed by the business.

  In other words, familiarity with the data is important whether one’s eliciting requirements from the business team or validating data models and ETL processes with the Data Warehouse implementation team.

Bringing Business Intelligence (BI) To The Office

An increasing number of organizations are either planning or implementing BI projects with the objective of improving the quality of corporate intelligence available to decision makers.

As a business analyst, it’s your duty to assist your organization with their BI / Data Warehouse endeavors.

You can achieve this by learning as much as you can about databases, data warehousing, business intelligence, data analysis and decision making processes.

The data warehouse business analyst job description includes a cross-functional suite of skills in Relational Database Development, SQL Query Writing, Data Analysis and Business Analysis.

You can get more information on this from both the Data Analyst Boot Camp and the Business Analyst Boot Camp.

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The Agile Business Analyst

The Agile Business Analyst plays a key role in facilitating conversations between stakeholders, quality assurance / testing teams, customers, subject matter experts (SMEs) and software developers in an incremental, iterative fast-paced product development environment.

So, who is the Agile Business Analyst and why should business analysts who are already comfortable with the process of eliciting requirements in a traditional product development environment be concerned about becoming more agile?

Introducing The Agile Business Analyst Role

The Agile Business Analyst’s role includes facilitating communication, reducing the reliance on extensive documentation and reducing the length of the feedback loop in product development projects.

1. Collaborative - The Agile Business Analyst works closely with software developers, stakeholders, project managers and software testers and relies less on comprehensive requirements documentation at the inception of the project.

2. Flexible and Adaptable - Unlike a more traditional software development project, an agile business analyst expects and welcomes changes in requirements. Being Agile means that changing requirements is not made difficult because of extensive documentation, communication cycles or change management processes.

3. Just In Time Requirements – An Agile Business Analyst knows what is the right amount of requirements documentation to gather for a development cycle or iteration.

4. More Face to Face Meetings – Because the Agile Business Analyst focuses on less documentation and more face to face meetings or interviews with stakeholders, software developers or testers, Agile Business Analysts make use of more User Stories and less Use Cases for documenting requirements.

5. Iterative Development – And unlike requirements management practiced in a traditional waterfall software development life cycle, the agile business analyst only focuses on gathering, analyzing or validating the requirements needed in each iteration.

Between The Agile Business Analyst and Traditional BA

So, the Agile Business Analyst focuses on the deliverables for each iteration to o facilitate a faster development process.

Another key difference with agile business analysts is that they work with software testers or quality assurance professionals to elicit Test Cases directly from User Stories instead of from Use Cases.

Because Agile Business Analysts rely on face to face meetings and in-person communication, they work better in teams where the developers, stakeholders, project managers and testers are located in the same place and are committed to being involved on a continuous basis through the life time of the project.

The Agile Business Analyst gathers just-in-time (JIT) requirements through intense collaboration with customers, customer advocates, software architects, stakeholders and software testers.

Why Are We Not More Agile?

Traditionally, a business analyst is expected to gather all the requirements for a project at the beginning. These requirements are then shared with the Project Manager and Stakeholders as a static, fixed or immutable set of requirements.

This type of requirements gathering is common in product or software development project that make any or all of the following assumptions:

1. Business Analyst – The business analyst can gather, analyze, validate and specify all the requirements at the beginning of the project and before a single line of code is written.

2. Project Manager – The project manager needs to have a complete set of requirements to facilitate accurate project planning.

3. Software Tester / QA – The software tester needs to have a complete set of requirements before creating a test plan and user acceptance or QA tests.

4. Software Architect – The software architect needs to design the entire software system at the beginning of the project befor e a line of code is written.

5. Computer Programmers – That computer programmers need to receive an extensive and complete set of requirements preferably in Use Cases format before they start coding.

   Traditional software or product development projects also assume that for developers to create a working product, they need to be told in detail, every basic, alternate path and exception flow through the system.

6. Customers – That customers have a mind, wants, needs and desires that can be completely known at the beginning of the project through extensive requirements gathering and documentation.

   This also means that once the customer’s requirements is gathered or documented, it will not change during the life cycle of the product or software development cycle … at least not without extensive negotiation, documentation and signing-off.

The Role of The Customer Advocate

But is this true? Can the customer’s mind, needs, wants or desires be known and documented completely at the beginning of the project?

Does setting the customer’s requirements in stone assure a better product, a more satisfied customer and increase the chances of project success?

1. The needs of today’s customers are not set in stone. Far from it, the very process of gathering customers requirements can change what the customer wants.

2. The marketplace is always changing and product features become less important or even irrelevant in short periods of time.

3. The practice of planning projects or designing entire software systems completely, at the inception of a project is fraught with risks, estimates and guesses.

   This practice often leads to more software features that are out of touch with the customer’s needs and more project failures.

   Considering that so many projects planned this way fail, Business Analysts need to consider utilizing more agile communication skills to supply requirements when they are needed.

Unlike the traditional business analyst who works from the assumption that requirements once signed off on are fixed in stone or immutable, the agile business analyst plays the role of a customer advocate by assuming that requirements can and will change during the life cycle of the product development effort.

The agile business analyst welcomes changes in the customer’s requirements because they reflect what the customer really wants and not what was documented.

In doing this, the agile business analyst elevates the customer’s needs above the needs for more documentation.

The agile business analyst understands that there is always some uncertainty in the marketplace, so the planned features of a product or software application cannot be set in stone!

The agile business analyst understand that software developers do not need to have 100% of a product or project’s requirements extensively documented using Use Cases before they begin coding.

So the Agile Business Analyst relies more on communication, presentation and facilitation skills than written documentation in communicating with software / product developers.

Today’s constantly changing marketplace requires the Agile Business Analyst A customer advocate who elevates the customer’s needs above that of extensive requirements documentation!

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business analyst in 5 steps

5 Steps to a New Business Analyst Career

I talk to a number of business analysts interested in changing careers to new domains.

They come from diverse backgrounds (insurance, sales, financial, etc.) and they all share a common goal … that of switching careers to new domains.

So, when one of these business analysts asked; if I would like to throw more light on changing BA careers / domains at job interviews, I was glad to say yes

How To Switch Business Analyst Domains

Some degree of sales or marketing skills is needed to get a job. And your understanding of the sales process determines how successful your career switch will be.

Here is what you need to know about switching business analyst careers:

1. Put Yourself In Employers Shoes:

   Don’t make the classic mistake of approaching the business analyst job interview from the standpoint of what you can get out of it!
   

   Rather, put yourself in the employer’s shoes and talk to their interests and needs … that is basic human nature and selling 101.

   This matters because job interviewers will not care about you or get interested in you, if you don’t care about or show a genuine interest in them (read Dale Carnegie’s classic – “How To Win Friends and Influence People”).

2. Emphasize Cross Functional Skills:

   Accept that employers will be skeptical of your resume, skill-sets and suitability for the job, when switching careers or domains.

   Now, resolve the employer’s doubts by showing how your skill-sets are a better match to their needs.

   Do this by emphasizing cross-functional skills like your communication and presentation skills. Then, go further and explain how your business analysis skills (like those taught at the business analyst boot camp) will be useful to the employer inspite of your previous domain or background.

3. Tailor your Resume to the Job:

   Yes, tailoring your resume to the job helps, when you have some relevant background information that will be lost in your traditional resume.

   Several years ago, I transitioned from a chemical engineering job to an information technology (IT) consulting career.

   I only had a few months of relevant IT experience but several more years of irrelevant chemical engineering training and experience.

   Following the advice of a recruiter, I re-wrote my resume to focus, expand and highlight my strong>limited information technology background while reducing my chemical engineering background to a foot note … which worked like a charm!

   The lesson hear is to “reduce the employer’s doubt and anxiety by rewriting sections of your resume that doesn’t directly relate to the job you’re interviewing for“.

4. Leave your Pride at the Door:

   Don’t let any negative behavior or comments cause you to lose your cool at the job interview.

   Instead, carry yourself as a true professional regardless of what you see or hear at the interview.

   I was fortunate to be interviewed for a Procter & Gamble Management Trainee program out-of-college.

   However, before I was hired, I had to maintain my composure under some negative, psycho-analysis by an interviewer whose main goal was to see if I would lose my cool under the pressure of the interview.

   So, do whatever it takes to get the job interview … that is your sole mission and objective.

5. Study your Prospective Employer’s Industry:

   I have been to a few job interviews where I used my knowledge of the company’s market place to advantage.

   This is not something that you can do, if you’re looking for an easy job. But it is definitely something that you can do, if you’re really interested in the company.

   Research the prospective employer’s competitors, industry, technology, business processes and come prepared with suggestions, ideas or information that would genuinely help the prospective employer.

So., now I have given it to you … skills, techniques or steps for changing your business analyst career or domain. What are you going to do with it?

If you would like to leave discuss more about your experience at job interviews, just go ahead and leave a comment below.

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Computer Programmers Learning Business Analysis

I have been talking to a number of software developers, interested in changing roles to business analysis. If you are one of those software developers, then this post is written to show you how to switch careers from software development

There seems to be some bias against switching roles to business analysis from software development. It’s a subtle form of discrimination from folks who stereotype all software developers as nerds with poor presentation and communication skills!

But is that really true? Are you poorly suited for a business analysis role just because you’re a software developer?

On the contrary, software developers can make good business analysts and I will dedicate the rest of this post to debunking this myth … just as I have done with several urban legends on this blog

There are several reasons why a software developer like you would be interested in changing careers to business analysis and some of these could be:

1. The Junior Programmer: you are new to computer programming and you are not enjoying it. Hence you wonder if you will be better suited for business analysis

2. The Experienced Software Developer: you have learned all you can about software development and would like to start a new, challenging career in business analysis.

3. The Accidental Business Analyst: you take on the roles of a business analyst at your company and you want to get formal recognition as a business analyst for your efforts.

4. The Soft Skilled Developer: based on your communication, presentation or analysis skills, you feel that you will make a good business analyst.

5. The Competent Developer: you are seen as being highly competent or responsible by your manager and because of that, you have been tasked with additional business analysis responsibilities..

Whatever the reasons for changing roles to business analysis, you are in for some good news … you are wanted by the job market!

Contrary to what you may think, having a formal software development background can actually prove to be a bonus or an advantage and here are some of the reasons why:

• Right Background: IT business analysts are required to have a good understanding of the software development life cycle.

  Your background in software development can be used to fulfill that requirement easily.

• Better Fit: IT managers need business analysts who can understand developers and talk with them at the system level.

  That means having enough technical knowledge to create UML diagrams or entity relationship models or even help translate business requirements into technical specifications.

• Reduce Risk: IT shops need business analysts with a technical or systems background so that they won’t be at a lost in a challenging or complex software development project.

  When managers undertake a complex software development process, they want to reduce risk by hiring business analysts who can bridge the gap between the software development team and business because of their software developer background.

So, having a software development background puts you at an advantage in such situations.

Can you Market Yourself: The good news is that your software developer background does not have to count against you at the job interview and that is where this article becomes quite helpful!

First, you have to be sure of the value you will bring to your job if you are hired as a business analyst. Next, you have to convey that value clearly to the hiring manager!

So, using this article as reference, elicit all the reasons why hiring you will be helpful and then work on how to convey that to your hiring manager.

Now you’ve learnt how to switch from a traditional software developer role to a business analyst role … it is time to take action!

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How To Answer Business Analyst Job Interview Questions

I’ve taken dozens of IT job interviews with various IT departments ranging from small IT shops to Fortune 500 IT departments to non-profits to consulting firms to staffing or recruitment agencies!

I’ve been interviewed and hired for both management and non-management IT positions. I’ve personally interviewed, hired and also coached IT Professionals who’ve gone on to wow their interviewers or ace the IT positions they wanted.

I’ve been in several situations where to get the next consulting assignment, I interviewed with several firms and also received multiple, competing job offers!

I’ve been in situations where firms competed for my services by trying to hire me away or by going out of their way to impress me with pretty good offers.

I’ve been hired for high visibility IT jobs in large organizations with just one single phone interview … and without going through a face to face interview.

I’ve taken more IT interviews than I care to count … closing and getting job offers 9 times out of ten.

I’ve even taken and aced phone interviews while driving and while on vacation.

I’ve been interviewed by a team of not one single person but a team of professionals several times during my career and sometimes without any warning and still wowed the team of interviewers without any additional notice or preparation!

As far as IT job interviews are concerned, I’ve been there and I have been there and I’ve done it.

I Have Something To Say

I have a lot to say about job interviews and I’m asking you to learn from me, so that you can truly be the master of your own fortune.

Are you are ready to be all you can be, break out of your personal limitations and experience the success you want?

Begin by learning how to your business analyst job interviews”.

Are you teachable and open to learning? If you are, read the rest of this article on How To Ace Business Analyst Job Interviews.

Boost your Business Analyst Job Interviews Using The Scientific Method

If you are looking for a scientific way to boost your Business analysis skills or ace your Business Analyst job interviews, start using practice tests.

Research has shown that practice tests or quizzes improve retention, recall or understanding.

Research has also proven that workers who study and take quizzes have better long-term recall than their colleagues who study without taking quizzes.

Don’t use practice tests only in preparation for certification exams because they are useful for much more than that!

Practice tests or quizzes are effective for improving Business Analyst skills, retention or recall which helps you ace your Business Analyst job interviews!

Let’s go ahead and review how you may used practice tests to improve your skills or advance your Business Analyst Career or get a Business Analyst job.

Use Quizzes to Ace Business Analyst Job Interviews

Quizzes or practice tests are effective because they mimic the question and answer format of Business Analyst job interviews.

In Practice Tests, the Quiz software usually presents random questions to you, rates your answers as correct or incorrect and then displays correct answers for your benefit!

Practice Tests simulate Business Analyst job interviews by presenting the different types of questions interviewers ask including Single Choice, Multiple Choice or Open-ended interview questions.

In a Business Analyst job interview, the potential employer will ask a question and then review your answers for correctness, promptness of reply and comprehensiveness.

Lack of correctness (wrong answers), promptness (slow responses) and comprehensiveness (not enough details) may cause you to lose your Business Analyst job interview or give you a bad rating!

So, how would you prepare for your next job interview using this new information?

Start by using practice tests which can;

• Present potential Business Analyst job interview questions in random order

• Rate answers to single-choice, multiple-choice and open-ended interview questions … so you get used to answering them in interviews

• Present the correct Business Analyst job interview answer with additional explanations so you familiarize yourself with the correct answers

Use Quizzes to Sharpen Your Business Analyst Job Interviewing Skills

Practice tests actually improve your ability to remember or recall correct answers in your interviews.

Use them extensively to prepare for your interviews weeks or months before you need a job!

Practice tests are effective because you answer a set of questions multiple times until they sink in and become second nature!

How Sharp Are Your Business Analyst Skills?

During your Business Analyst interviews, you are evaluated based on the correctness, promptness of reply and comprehensiveness of your answers.

Correctness:

Your answers are evaluated based on how precise or correct they are. Even when the Business Analyst interview questions are open ended, your answers are still evaluated as correct or incorrect.

You impress your interviewer when you can answer most or all of the questions you’re asked correctly. Not getting your facts straight or not knowing your material will certainly cost you the interview!

Promptness:

You are evaluated based on how quickly you respond to Business Analyst interview questions.

The quicker you are in responding to Business Analyst interview questions, the sharper your skills are perceived to be.

So, you lose points when you take too long to answer a Business Analyst question and you gain points or credibility, when your answers are quick or instinctive.

Comprehensiveness:

Your interviewer evaluates your Business analysis level of knowledge when you answer a Business Analyst question.

So, a comprehensive, detailed or factual answer will score more points than a sketchy, skimpy answer.

When you are asked a Business Analyst question, you really need to wow your interviewer by demonstrating that you have more than a superficial understanding of the topic.

You need to do this by giving the correct answer promptly and comprehensively (with as much detail as the time you are given permits).

How To Answer Business Analyst Interview Questions Correctly

Business Analyst Testing Software programs present a list of Business Analyst interview questions and then evaluates your answer to each question as either true of false … which helps you identify the correct answers.

You need to study each answer’s explanation, understand why it is correct and why the other answers are not correct.

You also need to attempt the same question several times until your answers are consistently correct.

Practicing with Business Analyst Testing Software will help you respond back promptly, correctly, comprehensively in a live Business Analyst interview.

How to Answer Business Analyst Interview Questions Promptly

Because practice questions are presented in a quiz software, you have a reliable way of recording, tracking or monitoring your training sessions and improvement.

Your ability to answer Business Analyst interview questions promptly is a function of your familiarity with the question or topic.

As your level of familiarity with Business Analyst questions increases, your promptness in answering also increases. So, practice taking Business analyst interviews using Business Analysis Testing software

In this article, we discussed how to boost your skills and ace your Business job interview using a proven scientific technique.

Sign-up for our Business Analysts Newsletter to get more information Like This

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Stay Ahead of the Curve!

Have you ever wondered how some people stay ahead of rapidly changing technologies while others seem to let their skills become extinct like the Dodo?

Well, apparently, someone in Dubai, U.A.E. wants to know the answer so badly that he sent in his question by postal mail!

If you need help with a Question or Challenge, be sure to ask it as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering this reader’s question below!

NOTE: There is an e-book at the bottom of this post on “How To Stay Ahead of The Technology Curve”. Be sure to download and read it, ok?

Here is The Question on How To Stay Ahead of the Technology Learning Curve

Dear Kingsley,

Having come to be known about you as a pioneer IT Coach, I need some information from you if you can help me.

At present, I am reading a book Microsoft Office 2003 bible which includes all the basic and in depth functionalities of excel, word, powepoint, access, outlook, frontpage, etc.

It’s a huge book with 1200 pages. I’d like to know how I can memorize this book quickly and efficiently.

There are other books on programming to be memorized. in this age of information overload, everyday we are presented with lots of paperwork, reports and books to remember.

As an IT coach, could you please show me the techniques to remember this amount of information so as to get the job done on time and move along with the rapidly changing technologies.

Fahim, Dubai, U.A.E.

Don’t Underestimate The Effort Required To Keep Up With Information Technology Careers!

Years, ago, while considering a career transition, I was advised not to pursue Information Technology careers because of the rapidly changing technologies, literature, techniques and tools.

At that point in time, many IT professionals had shipwrecked their careers because they couldn’t transition from legacy skills in Cobol or Fortran or Mainframes to the smaller, more modern computers running windows.

My adviser pointed out to me that succeeding in an information technology career would be a tough challenge because many IT professionals with graduate computer science degrees from good schools had failed!

Some of the reasons why IT professionals fail in their career include:

1. The Challenge of Rapidly Changing Technologies: keeping up with rapidly changing tools, processes and technologies is a hard job. Some vendors release multiple versions of their products within a year forcing users to upgrade their skills or become obsolete.

2. The Challenge of Poorly Written Textbooks: many IT books are written by geeks for geeks. They’re difficult to understand, slow to read and intimidating in size. Many tech workers still find challenging, the effort required to keep up with technology by studying IT books.

3. The Challenge of Information Overload: There are various skills, technologies, tools and processes that need to be mastered for every unique employer or job situation. IT workers end up buying and studying lots of reference books in a bid to stay ahead of all the problems they aim to solve!

I Transitioned My Career By Overcoming The Information Overload!

I transitioned my career by learning the skills required for my new career in six weeks! and by acing my first technical job interview

In six weeks, I navigated an amazing amount of technical literature and reference books … to discover the hidden path that leads to IT career success.

The lessons I learned in those six weeks have become some of the hallmarks of my career including:

1. How to study new IT skills quickly, comprehensively and competently (I studied mine in under six weeks)

2. How to ace IT job interviews (I scored above 90% in my first interview test)

3. How to get hands-on experience without a job (I got the required hands-on experience before my first job)

A Free E-Book To Help You Stay Ahead Of Rapidly Changing Technologies!

Fahim, I understand where you’re coming from and the challenges you’re facing.

The challenges of succeeding in Information Technology (IT) Careers as pointed out in this blog post are real. However, I’ve solved them and I don’t see any reasons why you can’t after I share my success strategies with you!

I’m going to e-mail you a free e-book that details “how you can solve the same problem in your career” and in addition, you will also get any future updates to the e-book free!

I will also be giving away a free copy of the same e-book to the biggest users of my “Tell a Friend” Button or Link on any of my blog posts!

How To Get a Free Copy of My E-Book!

This post answers a question posted by Fahim on “how to study or keep ahead of rapidly changing technologies.“

if you have a question about your career, be sure to post it as a question on this discussion page and I will answer it for you!

If you’ll like to get a free copy of the e-book on how to stay ahead of the technology curve, go ahead and download it now

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The Domain Business Analyst Career Path

By looking at how business analyst job descriptions are written, you may be tempted to say yes!

Business Analyst job descriptions are written as if there is a distinction between IT oriented business analysts with skills in UML, Use Cases, Requirements Elicitation, Requirements Modeling and domain oriented business analysts with knowledge in specific domains like sales, marketing, customer relationship management, insurance, finance!

For some reasons, hiring managers, staffing agencies and employers behave as if there is a difference between domain oriented business analyst job descriptions and IT business analyst job descriptions.

So, the question is How important is domain knowledge for a Business Analyst? and Is a Domain Oriented Business Analyst worth more than an IT Business Analyst?

A Question About The Value Of Business Analyst Domain Knowledge

I am a bored corporate research professional working at a big services company and wish to move to a different domain.

The ones I have identified are pre-sales, business analysis or marketing communications …

I think BA could be a good step forward from where I stand. But doesn’t a BA require domain specific knowledge?

Most of the job ads I see prefer a BA in (say) the finance domain to be from that background …

How important is domain knowledge for a BA? Can it be built on-the-job or is it an absolute pre-requisite?

Why Do Business Analyst Job Ads Specify Domain Knowledge?

In the rest of this article, I will discuss why hiring managers, staffing agencies and employers specify domain specific knowledge in business analyst job descriptions.

I will answer this question by looking at “who is better positioned to increase productivity when hired”.

1. Who Costs More To Train? Companies that hire business analysts without domain knowledge resort to training the new BA hires by enlisting the help of senior business analysts, subject matter experts or training vendors.

   Even when employers use internal resources for training new BA hires, they incur costs of lost revenue, reduced productivity and increased administrative expenses .

2. Who Is Positioned To Help The Business Now? Business Analysts lacking industry insight or domain knowledge needs more time on the job to learn and understand their domains before tackling any business problems.

   This may be unacceptable to stakeholders or business managers who can’t wait to get results now!

   A business analyst with domain experience who can start troubleshooting business problems is seen as being worth more than another business analyst (lacking domain expertise) who may only observe, learn or ask questions!

3. Who Can Lead The Business? Senior Managers, IT Directors, Business Owners and other high level executives place more value on business analysts who can be trusted to lead the business.

   Business analysts unlike their counterparts in computer programming are expected to provide leadership for business-line units and organizations for which they are hired!

   Because of how business is done , managers, directors or business executives place less value on the judgment of business analysts without domain knowledge or industry experience!

   The perception which may be unfounded is that; a business analyst with domain knowledge has more potential to lead than another who lacks domain experience!

So hiring managers or employers tend to write business analyst job descriptions as if there are two business analyst career paths:

• The business analyst with IT business analyst training and specialized domain knowledge. This is the Specialist Business Analyst.

• The business analyst with IT business analyst training only! This is the Generalist Business Analyst.

Are You A Specialist Or Generalist Business Analyst?

So, are specialist business analysts worth more than generalist business analysts?

The answer doesn’t depend on “how you feel about the fairness of business analyst job postings” but on plain common sense which is always hiding in plain sight

If you’re applying only to IT Business Analyst Jobs, then don’t worry about your lack of domain knowledge.

If you’re applying to domain specific business analyst job postings like those for healthcare, finance, insurance, marketing, sales, customer relationship management (CRM) domains, then you had better do something about your lack of domain knowledge!

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IT Jobs!

A leading bank in the Middle East is actively seeking a Business Analyst with extensive banking domain experience and a strong finance and accounting background and ERP expertise.

Job Description

• Capture Requirements

• Produce Functional Specifications

• Manage Senior Stakeholders

Job Location

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Salary

Full Time Employment, 2500 AED ($679) Per Day + Accomodation

IT Skills

Business Analysis, Banking, Finance & accounting, ERP

Apply Online

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Ask IT Career Coach

The fundamentals of earning an income is rooted in the exchange of goods, services or skills and having an 8 to 5 job is just one way of doing that!

This post answers the question of what to do when you can’t get a job! posted by a reader (Kintu Vicent) who is inquiring about “how to earn an income as a business analyst without regular employment!“

If you need help with a Question or Challenge, be sure to ask it as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering this reader’s question below!

Please, send this post to your friends using the “Tell a Friend” Button button below. You earn points or cash each time you refer an article to your friends using the Tell a Friend Button.

Here is the Question:

dear sir/madam,

i am an african youth living in Uganda (east african country).

i would like to be a good entreprenuer (small scale business owner) but also having a profession both beneficial to my own businesses like procurement and logistics and side by employment inorder to accumulate more capital to invest in my projects.

i have the following to ask you.

can you give some sophisticated business ideas a business analyst does?

rather than being a consultant or contract personel ,how better can a business analyst creat his own employment to face the global challenge of un-employment.

best regards,

looking forward to hearing from you.

High Un-employment Rate

The un-employment rate in the United States is at a 26 year high! and other countries are also experiencing dramatic spikes in un-employment. So, business analysts and other IT professionals need to consider alternative or non-traditional career paths for earning a living“.

First, Prepare a Strategic Plan Using SWOT Analysis

You create your own employment by using SWOT ANALYSIS to elicit alternative career paths or prepare competitive services for the business analysis marketplace.

You have to consider your strengths relative to the business analyst market place because you only get paid for what you can do well compared to others and you have to consider business analyst career paths strategically because you may be thinking in a box.

By thinking outside of the box, you begin to see opportunities that were hidden because of self-imposed mental constraints or limiting beliefs!

Alternative Career Paths for Business Analysts

Let me introduce three career paths for business analysts who don’t want to work a regular 8 to 5 contract or full-time business analyst job.

1. Business Analyst Blogger Career Path: You may become a blogger for the business analyst blogosphere!

   To become a business analyst blogger, you need a computer, a word processor and an internet connection.

   You can live anywhere in the world as a business analyst blogger because your clients are easily discoverable on the internet.

   There are several ways of monetizing your blogging income streams and you need to choose a profit model that best suits your blogging goals.

2. Freelance IT Business Analyst Consultant Career Path: You may become a freelance IT business analyst consultant!

   As a freelance IT business analyst consultant, you may specialize in requirements analysis, requirements modeling and documentation, Use Cases, UML or Data Modeling for Software Development Projects.

   As a freelance IT business analyst consultant you may also setup shop virtually and work remotely for clients that need your services.

   You will need a more sophisticated marketing plan so you can discover or engage the types of clients that will be needing your out-sourced business analysis services.

3. Freelance Web Business Analyst Consultant Career Path: You may capitalize on the opportunities created by the strong demand for web skills by becoming a freelance web business analyst!

   As a freelance web business analyst, your services may include helping companies align their web investments with their business goals using your superior business analysis skills.

   As a freelance web business analyst, You may also decide to help companies analyze how customers use or interact with their websites or help elicit business requirements for web analytics projects.

   If you have developed strong quantitative or analytical skills, you may also help business leaders take advantage of hidden opportunities in their clickstream, search, survey or web usability data.

The alternative career paths listed above are just a tip of the iceberg … there are more!

If you need help with eliciting alternative career paths or preparing a competitive service for the market place, feel fee to contact us.

Career Paths for Business Analysts

Kintu, it is possible to create your own employment as a business analyst without working a traditional 8 to 5 job.

Begin by using SWOT Analysis to discover what you are good at and then create a competitive offering for the business analyst marketplace!

This post answers a question posted by a reader on “how to become a freelance business analyst!!

If you have any Question about your career, Post IT as a comment on this page and I will be sure to answer it for you!

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IT Jobs!

We are hiring a Junior business analyst with a strong technical background and marketing focus wanted for a great paying 3 month contract to permanent position.

Other benefits will include personal mentoring and professional development, the opportunity to work with a quality, creative and innovative team, a health and well-being program, work flexibility, a loyalty recognition program, a supportive and enjoyable work environment, a social responsibility program, good coffee, team bar, team events in addition to extremely competitive Wii and foosball challenges

Job Description

• Documenting client requirements and Quality Assurance (QA).

• Helping Senior Business Analysts document business requirements.

• Developing Functional Specification documents including process flow diagrams and configurations.

• Helping Design and Development teams align their documentation to their designs.

• Helping the Testing team with Quality Assurance.

Job Location

Melbourne, Sydney, Australia

IT Skills

Web development in HTML/CSS & ASP.NET, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Requirements gathering, Functional specifications, Data modeling, UML, Communication, Documentation, Written and verbal English language, Time management, Team work

Apply Online

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What Are The Most Valuable Business Analyst Skills?

One of the toughest challenges facing business analysts today is building the domain experience required for business analyst jobs.

Acquiring business analyst domain experience from scratch is hard because you need to get a job before you can build domain expertise … yet no-one will give you a job without that required domain experience!

This post however discusses how to get around the business analyst domain experience required for business analysis jobs.

What is Business Analyst Domain Experience?

Business analyst domain experience is the hands-on business skills or domain knowledge acquired by working in specialized industries like automotive, banking, insurance, telecom, utilities or working for business units such as customer relationship management, finance, sales and marketing.

Business analyst domain experience is gained by solving business problems for a specific industry or business unit and it can’t be gained by taking certifications exams or by learning business analysis concepts like Use Cases or Requirements Modeling.

In other words, business analyst domain experience is gained by getting your hands dirty with work in an industry or by solving real-world business problems for a business unit.

Don’t Confuse Your Business Analysis Skills With Domain Knowledge!

There is a difference between your business analyst skills and your business analyst domain experience.

Your business analyst skills (like Requirements Elicitation, Use Cases, UML etc) are the techniques or tools used in solving business problems.

They are skills that serve as the means to an end. The end being the business problems or challenges facing your industry.

What Is The Value of Domain Business Analysis Skills?

A business analyst transitioning to a new domain starts out with little or no domain knowledge and then builds up the industry knowledge over time.

That is the reason why some of the most senior business analysts in an organization are those who started out first by learning the ins and outs of their employer’s business before they took formal training.

Businesses value domain business analysts because their knowledge is not easily transferable and because they know how to run or operate the business units efficiently.

This is perhaps another reason why it pays to work in an industry for a while instead of hopping from one industry to another.

When you transition to a completely new business analysis domain, you will have to prove yourself as if you are just starting … even though you may be an experienced business analyst!

When is Business Analyst Domain Experience Needed?

Transitioning From One Business Analyst Domain to Another: Business analysts transitioning from a domain like the automotive or auto-finance industry to another domain like healthcare or telecomms have to build their business analyst domain experience completely from scratch.

Transitioning From One Country to Another: Business analysts transitioning from one country to another may have to re-establish their domain experience.

New domain knowledge is needed because businesses operate under different laws, regulations, customs and economic climates across national or regional boundaries.

So, potential employer want to be sure that re-locating business analysts are intimate with the customs or ways of doing business in the countries that they are hired

How Do You Build Business Analyst Domain Experience?

If you have already developed domain experience by working in an industry for several years, what you need is not more domain experience but this comprehensive training on the techniques and practices of business analysis.

On the other hand, if you don’t already have business domain experience and you are open to gaining experience in frontline industries or domains, click here.

Here is how it works:

• You Become a Domain Specialist: In the The Business Analyst coaching program, you are encouraged to specialize in a few business analyst domains so you can achieve a reasonable level of mastery or competency within those domains.

  The industries that we are focusing on right now are those that show the strongest promise for hiring or those that are cutting-edge or the frontline of the economy.

  Contact us to see if this will be a good fit for you, OK?

• Become a Leader: The goal of the Business Analyst Coaching program is to get you networked with businesses and peers in your industry through extensive study, practical handson work and industry networking.

  Instead of just sensing your resume around waiting for someone else to hire you, learn how to the gain the recognition or attention of your peers and hiring managers using social media networking or branding.

Just remember that you can solve the challenge of acquiring business analyst domain knowledge by specializing in frontline domains, solving real-world business problems and then marketing your profile or brand continually using social media.

If this sounds like something you will be interested in doing, contact us for more information or learn more about business analysis coaching here.

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healthcare business analyst career path

This question was posted by a Healthcare Business Analyst looking for work!

If you have a Burning Question or a Challenge that you need help with, be sure to ask your question as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering the question below!

If you find this article helpful then share it with your friends using the “Share This Post” Link.

You provide valuable information or advice to others each time you use the Share This Post Link.

Here is the Question:

Hi Kingsley,I like your articles and posts and look forward to a good advise from you on the following :

The toughest challenge for me is to get back into Business Analysis after working for just less than 2 yrs where my domain was government sector projects and a dash of incomplete healthcare knowledge.

I ‘m neither a fresher nor an experienced guy with very less domain exp. I mostly get healthcare projects ( since my last project was on health care domain) where my knowledge is inadequate and companies do not want to employ me for the same.

How can I bag such jobs when the domain knowlege is lacking? or how can I convince that my BA skills are good enough for the new domain?

I am not sure what additional skills I need to gain to be employable.Should I gain any technical knowledge or do IIBA certifications?

Please advise.

Thanks 

Here is my Answer:

Sri:

I’m glad that you enjoy reading my articles and posts. I would be glad to answer your questions for you.

Here are my thoughts on what you need to do to get back in the game.

1. Learn How To Get A Business Analyst Job Without Applying For Any

2. Learn How To Ace Business Analyst Job Interviews

3. Get More Business Analysis Domain Experience

How To Get More Healthcare Business Analysis Domain Experience

The main issue facing your business analysis job search based on feedback from employers is inadequate healthcare domain experience.

You need to address the lack of business analysis domain experience directly by looking for more informal or formal work in the healthcare industry.

Don’t side-step the main issue by working on getting more educational qualifications because you won’t get more healthcare business analysis experience that way!

You need to either get more healthcare business analysis domain experience or perhaps start all over with a new business analysis domain!

If you decide to continue with the Healthcare Industry, then you will be building on your previous healthcare business analysis domain experience.

If you decide to start over with a new business analysis domain, you may be able to get additional business analyst hands-on experience more easily or quickly.

You also have the option on working on getting business analysis domain experience in more than one industry!

For example, you may increase your chances of getting a business analyst job by getting business analyst domain experience in sales or marketing or customer relationship management (CRM) domains in addition to the healthcare domain.

So, evaluate the availability or accessibility of domain experience in the healthcare industry compared to other industries or expose yourself to additional domains besides healthcare.

Regardless of which business analysis domains you choose, do not try to bypass the lack of experience issue … be sure to address it directly in your actions

Learn How To Ace Business Analyst Job Interviews

It is possible that you are not getting hired because you are not putting up a compelling presentation at your business analyst job interviews!

You may possess the minimal business analysis domain experience required for a healthcare business analyst job and still not get hired because of weak presentation or interviewing skills!

A business analyst may get a job where another business analyst else with more experience, skills, training, certifications or educations fails because job interviews are subjective!

So, you must work on improving your business analyst interviewing skills so you cover all your bases!

“Click here for more Information on How To Get Through Business Analyst Interviews“

Learn How To Get a Business Analyst Job Offers Without Applying For Any!

It is actually possible to get health care business analyst job offers without actively soliciting for them.

Assuming that the job search process is a marketing process, you are better off getting employers to call you with job offers!

The problem with the traditional methods of job searching is that everyone who is out-of-a-job is probably doing the same thing! To get a job you have to do more than everyone else!

So my advice is that; you have to raise the bar higher by getting employers to notice you or call you with business analyst job offers!

Now, that is quite possible and I am going to show you how!

The way to get employers to notice you is by becoming a leader in the healthcare business analyst domain or any other domain that you prefer!

How To Become A Leader In The Healthcare Business Analyst Industry!

The best way to get a healthcare job is by becoming a leader in the healthcare business analysis domain!

Becoming a leader in the healthcare business analyst domain means that you do the things that gets you noticed in the healthcare business analysis domain.

When you become a leader in the healthcare business analyst industry then employers are more likely to call you with job offers and your resume is guaranteed to stand out in any pile of business analyst resumes!

We have a program that coaches you on how to stand-up and be noticed! . IT helps you “Become a Leader”.

In that program you are shown or coached on “how to become a leader or gain recognition in the IT marketplace!“

Sri, feel free to ask for more information by contacting us or by posting a comment, question or reply below!

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