ITCareerCoach Training - Coaching » entry level business analyst http://www.it-career-coach.net How To Take Your Career To The Next Level Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:09:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 What Is The Best Way To Choose A Career? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/11/30/what-is-the-best-way-to-choose-a-career/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/11/30/what-is-the-best-way-to-choose-a-career/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:57:07 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=3352

How To Choose A New Career

How To Choose A New Career

After witnessing the challenges in the lives of professionals dealing with under-performance, under-achievement, stress, anxiety, career stagnation, anger, depression or financial failure; I decided to write this article on how to make better career choices.

Choosing the right career is important because you spend the major part of your day (9 to 11 hours) at work. If you make the wrong career choice, you will put yourself in a painful, challenging situation.

So, choosing the right career ranks as one of the most important decisions you will ever make in your life.

Here is my review of the right and wrong ways of choosing a career.

Recommendations

You may choose a career based on the recommendation of family members, friends, colleagues, college counselors, coaches or other professionals.

Recommendations from friends or family are usually well-intentioned but they are sometimes based on the individual’s limited experience, fears, personal interests or hearsay.

Some common examples include recommending a career because a brother, sister, father, mother or family friend is in that same profession.

Apart from career coaches or counselors, most people making career recommendations do not actually assess the strengths or weaknesses of the individual who they are making the recommendations for. Rather, they are solely focuses on what they perceive to be the opportunities in the industry.

However, you need to determine that the individual making a recommendation is knowledgeable about a wide range of careers or that they are not biased in their recommendations.

Personality Tests

You may decided to choose a career based on your personality type.

For example, If your personality leans towards that of an introvert, you may decide to choose a career in computer programming instead of project management.

On the other hand, if you are an extrovert, you may choose a career in technical recruiting, account management or sales.

Choosing a career based on your personality is effective because it factors in your strengths and weaknesses.

For example, if you train for a career that your personality is ill-suited for, you will find it hard to get a job or succeed at the job if you are hired.

If your personality does not match the profile required for the job, you will find it hard to convince employers to hire you, even if you have strong educational qualifications!

You may read more about personality types in this post titled: “What Is Your Personality Type?”

Self Interest Or Hobbies

You may choose adopt a hobby or a recreational pastime as your career.

For example, you may start programming as a hobby before deciding take up a formal, full-time computer programming career.

Turning a hobby into a full-time job is effective because you are choosing to build your life around “what you love doing or your passion“, instead of some other shallow reason!

Education

You may decide to pursue a career that is aligned with your college major or educational background.

That can be is okay as long as you don’t limit yourself to what you learn or did not learn in college.

Choosing a career based on a college major is not always effective because, what you get from college in some cases is a good theoretical education but not necessarily the strong functional education, knowledge or skills required by employers.

You may not be making an informed decision if you base your career choice on your college coursework because the two may not be closely aligned.

I get a lot of questions along these lines, for example; from MBA graduates who assume that the MBA course work is the same as that of business analysts!

Fact is, your college major or degree does not help, hinder, limit or restrict your career options.

You may read more in this post titled: “Stuck In A College Mindset After Graduation”

Financial Reward

A lot of professionals choose their careers based on the perceived financial reward, salary or compensation.

Here is what they miss; regardless of the career you choose, if you are a top performer, your income will grow and exceed the average salary paid to professionals in your industry!

If you are really good or exceptional at what you do, you will be paid well regardless of your profession or career.

So, while you may choose a career because for financial reasons, a better path may be choosing to become a top performer in a career you really love!

So, if earning more money is important to you, identify the factors that lead to high performance in your career and then work on becoming a top performer as quickly as possible.

You may read more about top performers in this post titled: “Can You Perform? Prove IT!”

Prestige

Do you know someone who is in a particular profession like medicine or law because of the prestige attached to that profession?

The problem with choosing a career because of it’s prestige is that what seems prestigious right now may not feel prestigious in a few years or when the glamor of that profession wears off and you are back to the daily grind!

Remember that getting a prestigious job may not make you happy or successful in the long run because your happiness is governed not by the prestige others attach to your career (an extrinsic factor) but by how much you enjoy doing your job (an intrinsic factor).

Lifestyle

Your lifestyle may dictate your choice of careers. For example, if you are a stay-at-home parent, you may not want to commute daily to work.

Keep in mind that certain lifestyles are more available in some careers than others.

For example, a freelancing lifestyle is more accessible to a computer programmer than say … a project manager.

And a technical recruiter or sales rep is more likely to spend time driving from office to office, meeting clients than say … a business analyst.

You may also have noticed that professionals in sales are more likely to travel for their work than computer programmers.

So, if you really must have a certain lifestyle, you have to do due diligence and choose the type of career that supports that lifestyle.

Mobility

Do you know someone that choose a career simply because that is what was locally available and that person has no intention of ever leaving his or her city to get a job?

If you cannot afford to relocate to a different city because of the associated financial costs, the cost of leaving your social / family network or the challenge of starting out in a new city, you may be limiting your career options.

Just remember that you don’t have to feel constrained to jobs or careers that are locally available.

Moving to a different city may bring much needed fresh perspective, energy and opportunity into your life!

Learning Curve

You may choose a career because it has a shorter or longer learning curve.

If you choose careers with longer learning curves (e.g. C++ programming career versus C# programming) you will have to wait for a longer time to get a job.

On the other hand, choosing a career with a shorter learning curve means that you will be ready for work sooner or faster.

If you do not realize that each career path has a learning curve attached to it, you may make the wrong career choice or fail at your career transition.

You may read more about “learning curves” in this post titled: “Oracle Or Microsoft Access, Which Is Better?”

Handicaps

If you discuss your career options in terms of “what you cannot do, what you are afraid of doing or worried about”, then you are motivated by fear or handicapped when it comes to choosing a career!

Don’t choose a career because of fear, worry, anxiety, worry, outsourcing, layoffs, recession or bad news.

Instead, choose a career based on what you love doing, your hopes, dreams, visions, goals, good news and other more positive factors.

You may read more about “passion” in this post titled: “Why Successful People Are Passionate About Their Jobs”

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis allows you to compare your strengths and weaknesses, the threats, disruptive changes and opportunities in the environment.

SWOT Analysis is one of the most effective ways to choose a career because it helps you make an unbiased, fact-based decision by balancing your strengths and weaknesses (internal factors) against threats and opportunities (external factors) in your environment.

Why this list is not exhaustive, my hope is that you will use to evaluate your decision making process when it comes to choosing careers. That way, you will have a better, more fulfilling and happier life.


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2011/11/30/what-is-the-best-way-to-choose-a-career/feed/ 0 What Software Skills Do Business Analysts Need? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/03/25/what-software-skills-do-business-analysts-need/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/03/25/what-software-skills-do-business-analysts-need/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 19:29:43 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=1292

Have you noticed the increasing demand for business analysts with stronger software skills or a wider range of skill sets?

Because this is a top hiring trend, business analysts have expressed concern about the range of skillsets requested for on job postings.

Some of these strong concerns are often worded as:

  • What software skills do business analysts need?

  • Should business analysts be made to learn computer programming?

  • Which software programs are required for business analysis jobs?

Along the same lines, one of the concerns expressed is; should business analysts have in depth knowledge of SQL, Access, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and Reporting writing software?

This article provides the needed guidance for the questions bordering on “what software skills are required for business analyst jobs“.

And while you are reading this, you may also want to read this article on why IT Managers are looking for business analysts with a wider range of skill sets.

Are Software Skills Required For Business Analysis Jobs?

The answer to the question: are software skills required for business analyst jobs … is yes and no.

Some companies hire only for the core business analyst competencies, while others include a wider range of software skills in their job description.

The core business analyst skill sets does not include knowledge of specific software skills. However, in the current job market, IT Managers are cutting costs by hiring business analysts with a broader range of software skills.,/p>

Traditionally, business analysts have had to learn the specific software used by a business after they get hired. Now, IT Managers are changing track by making some of these software skills required for hiring!

Which Software Skills Are Required For Business Analyst Jobs?

I will divide the software skills needed for business analyst jobs into three groups.

The first (A) group refers to the software skills required for ALL business analyst jobs.

The second (B) group includes the software skills that are a nice to have or frequently asked for.

The third (C) group represents the software skills that are not usually required.

  1. Software Skills Required For ALL Business Analyst Jobs (A List):

    These include office productivity software tools like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint and Outlook.

    These software tools are frequently used in the day to day tasks of a Business Analyst.

    These software tools are also required for a business analyst position whether they are stated clearly on the job description or not.

  2. Nice To Have Software Skills For Business Analyst Jobs (B List):

    The nice to have software skills include Relational Database Skills, SQL skills, Data Analysis skills and Report Writing skills.

    Next to office productivity software skills, database software skills are in-demand for business analyst positions.

    Organizations looking to cut costs or reduce It staff may combine the business analyst job role with the data analyst job role or report writer as the IT Manager or Director sees fit! When this happens the IT department will post business analyst job descriptions listing software packages traditionally required for data analyst or report writer type jobs.

  3. Highly Specialized Software Skills Needed For Business Analyst Jobs (C List):

    IT Managers are also hiring business analysts with the specific skills needed for custom or specialized software packages!

    The list of software skills in this list is infinite as it depends on the personal decision or needs of the hiring manager.

    An example is the IT director who wants to hire business analysts with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software skills or computer programming skills!

    Now, it is impractical to worry about or focus on this list when preparing for the business analyst job market because the expectations and needs are diverse, wide and unpredictable.

    If you are a business analyst with a specialized software skill wanted by a hiring manager, you should highlight that in your resume. If you don’t already have a specialized software skill, you are better of working on the business analysis skills in the nice to have software skills (B List)!

Should IT Managers Hire Business Analysts with Highly Specialized Software Skills?

Since only office productivity software skills are required for all business analyst jobs, why do IT Managers then include specialized software skills in business analyst job descriptions?

  1. IT Managers are looking to cut costs by combining the job descriptions for business analysts, data analysts, software developers and report writers.

    With this in mind, business analysts need to be flexible in their approach to the job market.

  2. IT Managers and staffing specialists may write up business analyst job descriptions based on an imperfect knowledge of the core business analyst roles and responsibilities.

    If your boss writes up an imperfect business analyst job description based on misconceptions, about the roles and responsibilities of business analysts, you may providing some guidance by sending your IT Manager or Director the business analyst professional development curriculum downloadable here.

Who Are The Business Analysts With A Broad Range Of Software Skills?

Some business analysts really want to stay out of computer programming or data analysis or report writing or learning specialized software programs.

If a business analyst with that mindset is hired for a role that requires learning or working with a broad range of software skill sets, that business analyst will under-perform.

If you are an employer hiring for business analysts with software skills, you may want to first hire for business analysts with SQL or Relational Databases or Data Analysis skills and then train the new business analyst hire on the list of highly specialized software skills needed by your company.

More Information On How To Improve Business Analysis Skills

The Business Analyst Boot Camp training is a practical, job-focused, web-based, instructor-led, video-based training program for business analysts.

The Business Analyst Boot Camp training is a complete, end to end training program that covers both beginner and advanced business analysis courses including requirements analysis training, UML training, Use Case training.

The Business Analyst training program is designed for the practicing Business Analyst who wants to learn or master business analysis skills for the day-to-day job requirements.

The Business Analyst training program has an in-built diagnostics, testing and certification process and an online reporting tool that features your grades or scores as you (the Business Analyst) work your way through practical business analysis activities or watch the various business analyst training videos.

The Business Analyst training provides real savings and return on investment (ROI) for individuals or corporations looking to manage business analyst training costs.

The cost of business analyst training is easily $5,000 or more for a series of business analysis courses that only covers one core skill or business analyst competency (e.g. UML Training).

Therefore, an IT Manager or business analyst looking for business analyst training that covers all the core business analysis competencies will have to invest in excess of ten thousand dollars.

That is why, we are only guaranteeing the current price of the Business Analyst Boot Camp for a limited time!

Right now, you can get the complete, end to end, beginner to advanced training across all business analyst competences in the Business Analyst Boot Camp for a discounted price.

We also have a discount program for corporations sending 2 or more business analysts for training. Click here to learn more.

For a limited-time, we are running a special for Business Analysts who want to broaden their skill sets or learn more software skills. For example, with the current special, you can register for both the Business Analyst Boot Camp and SQL Boot Camp for close to the price of one (2-for-1 special). A number of people like yourself are now taking advantage of this offer so, click here to get more information


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/03/25/what-software-skills-do-business-analysts-need/feed/ 19 How To Get An IT Business Analyst Job http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/26/how-to-get-an-it-business-analyst-job/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/26/how-to-get-an-it-business-analyst-job/#comments Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:25:17 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/26/how-to-get-an-it-business-analyst-job/

How To Get An IT Business Analyst Job?

How To Get An IT Business Analyst Job?

On of my readers needs help with finding a business analyst job, so I am posting the information I provided to him in this article.

If you have any questions about this or about your business analyst career, post it as comment at the end of this post and I would also answer or address it for you.

Here is the business analyst career question posted by my reader:

Hi – my greatest challenge is the fact that I’ve never held an IT Business Analyst position.

I’m convinced I can do the job based on my experience, but I have not had any interviews outside of my current employer.

I had a few interviews in my current company but was being sabotaged by my former boss so I never got the job.

As the economy has dived over the last few months, I am not getting any offers for interviews. I’ve given up trying to get into the IT Bus Analyst field for now.

What do I need to do to get back into the ‘hunt’? And, how do I convey to potential employers that I am the man for the job?

Here is how this business analyst can address the situation facing him:

Why Do IT Managers Hire Business Analysts?

IT Managers hire business analysts with skills, training and experience matching specific jobs.

IT Managers list a wide range of business analysts skills in job postings including UML, Use Cases, Requirements Elicitation.

IT Managers Are Looking For Hands-on Business Analysis Experience

The Key to getting a business analyst job is to find out what employers or hiring managers are looking for and then give it back to them.

This sounds quite easy and simple, but believe me, it is not that easy. There is a lot that goes into following this straightforward advice.

What are IT Managers hiring for? IT Managers are looking for hands-on skills, experience and expertise in specific knowledge areas.

You may already have some of the requisite skills and experience based on your previous or current job experience.

Some of the most frequently asked for skills are included in the business analyst course curriculum listed here …

Tailor Your Resume To Business Analyst Jobs

You may already be able to do a business analyst job based on your current experience so, why not also work on improving your current resume so that it reflects the experience or skills you already have in business analysis?

Begin by highlighting and expanding on the business analysis tasks you have performed in the past.

Put more spotlight on the skills you utilized, the business analysis roles and responsibilities you held (formally or informally) and the results you achieved.

You want to joggle your memory and bring out every relevant detail. Imagine that you are making your case in front of a skeptical judge.

Your prosecutor is the list of job candidates that would make a better presentation than you. The arguments in your favor is your resume.

Your business analyst resume has to be very convincing for you to get the job.

Improve Your Business Analyst Resume

The strongest argument that you can make will be along the lines of experience, resume and skills.

So, you want to marshal all your arguments forcefully on your resume because if you don’t, you may never get a second chance.

If your resume is not convincing, you may not get a second chance or a follow-up phone interview or a face to face interview or the job or an offer or the ability to pay your mortgage … you get the picture?

Add More hands-on business analysis experience to your resume!

The fastest way to get hired for an IT business analyst job is not your educational qualification or your business analysis certification but your hand-on business analysis experience!Are you surprised about that?

IT Managers know that certifications can sometimes be gamed!

There are horror stories about job candidates who have the perfect certifications and the perfect scores and then fail to perform on the job after they are hired!

These sorts of candidates have damaged the credibility of the certification market! But experience cannot be gamed

It either you have experience or you don’t. Because IT Managers are looking for hands-on experience, your can cut to the chase by getting a lot of hands-on business analyst experience such as that offered through the business analyst boot camp online training here:

There are other ways to gain hands-on experience and I discuss this next:

  • Start again by volunteering for non-profit organizations. They are plenty of them around and in this recession they will be needing your help even more!

  • Do a good job and ask the non-profit organization to provide you a reference for for the work you’ve done for them.

  • Use your spare time in the evenings and weekends to rack up your experience and references.

  • Then go on a job hunt. Start by sending your resume to multiple recruiters (not just one or two recruiters), telling them that you are in the market for a business analyst job. Then just sit back and wait for them to line up business analyst job interviews for you.

  • That is all you need to do. Take massive action towards landing your dream business analyst job and while you are on it, forget about the economy or the recession or your manager who denied you the opportunity to move ahead.

FYI: Stephen Covey in “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” mentions that proactive people do not worry or focus on factors or things over which they have little or no control … instead they focus on their “Sphere Of Influence” … those factors or circumstances over which they exercise control.

So, while you may not be able to change the past or the economy or the recession, you can dramatically improve:

  • Your Business Analyst Resume

  • Your Business Analyst Hands On Experience

  • Your Business Analysis Job Interview Skills

If you have any question or challenge about your business analyst career, go ahead and post it as a comment at the end of this article and I will address it for you.


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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/26/how-to-get-an-it-business-analyst-job/feed/ 40 How to Get an Entry Level Business Analyst Job Part 2 http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/16/how-to-get-an-entry-level-business-analyst-job-part-2/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/01/16/how-to-get-an-entry-level-business-analyst-job-part-2/#comments Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:56:58 +0000 ITCareerCoach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=480

Entry Level Business Analyst Job

Entry Level Business Analyst Job

This article is in two parts. You are currently reading part two and you may click here to read part one of the article

Once you’ve determined that Business Analysis is your dream job your next steps will be to get trained, get networked and get your entry level business analyst job.

SigningUp For The Business Analyst Boot Camp

The next thing you will need to achieve your goal of becoming a business analyst and at the minimum, getting an entry level job, is to get trained.

The business analyst profession requires a wide range of soft skills, technical skills, analysis skills and a good business understanding.

Even when you do have these, your learning will be continuous throughout your career.

To be successful and not just having business analysis as a pipe dream, you want to get a good jumpstart on gaining your skills.

For this, we recommend the business analyst boot camp to get you started immediately on becoming a business analyst.

Why the e business analyst boot camp training? For one, boot camp style training helps you master the basics of business analysis in a short period of time and gets you coasting in your learning quickly.

In the e business analyst boot camp, even when you are not particularly good at something initially, you will be able to learn it and pick it up fast.

The e business analyst boot camp uses rapid learning techniques with the goal of helping you achieve mastery sooner rather than later.

The Business Analyst Boot Camp is an online Business Analyst learning system that trains you with the expectation that you’re eventually going to become an expert business analyst, however long that will take.

Becoming Skilled In Business Analysis

The Business Analyst puts you in the position of a top professional in training whose goal is to master the basics first and quickly.

The e Business Analyst Boot Camp is a 24-week program, so you can expect that in six months or less, you can set out to get your entry level business analyst job.

Start Networking For Business Analyst Jobs

Now that you’ve established that you really do want to become a Business Analyst, and you are now in training to master the basics of the Business Analysis profession, you need to begin to network and meet people in the Business Analysis industry.

When you hang out with people in a particular industry, you pick up on the news, opportunities and breakthroughs in that industry.

Look for your local chapter of the IIBA and join it.

Search for blogs and websites (like this one) that discuss the Business Analyst profession.

Make out time to read these sites and participate in the discussions.

Use Social Media to network. Join LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and join up with other Business Analysts.

Seek out mentors and coaches. Ask questions and get answers. In this regards, the business analyst boot camp includes on-going one on one coaching as well.

Create a professional profile that shows your desire to become a business analyst.

Avoid spending all your time in social media on personal stuff. Get the word out about where you’re going instead of where you’ve been.

Start Searching For Business Analyst Jobs

Now that you’ve laid the groundwork for that first entry-level job, it’s time to go out and get that job. Get IT Job Search, Resume and Interview Coaching.

Upgrade your resume, search for entry level jobs online AND send in your resume. Prepare extensively for your interviews.

Because you are looking for an entry level job, you need to posture yourself as being a competent or highly skilled business analyst to overcome initial skepticism.

However, because of your boot camp training and industry networking, you are sure to exceed all of your new employer’s expectations during the interview.

Can You Work For Free?

The only problem with any entry level BA job is the entry level pay.

Don’t let that get you down. Look at that job as your ticket to the big leagues. Put your whole heart into it, so that you can learn everything possible.

In order to grow, you will need to work harder and continually improve your skills and learning so that you quickly outgrow that junior level BA position and move into a mid-level or eventually a senior level Business Analyst job.


Read Part One of this Article


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