Why start a job as a Business Analyst ?
Why start a job as a Business Analyst ?
Business Analyst is a profession that those who are not inside will often not understand at all what it entails. Ever been asked at a Dinner Party and just received a blank face back at you ? People will nod their head and think that sounds clever without really understanding.However demand for Business Analysts and analytical skills continues to grow year on year along with the demand for Business Analyst contracting.
What is a Business Analyst ? Business analysts act as a bridge between technology specialists and the wider business, According to Wiki : "A business analyst (BA) is someone who analyzes an organization or business domain (real or hypothetical) and documents its business or processes or systems, assessing the business model or its integration with technology".
If you are thinking of becoming a Business Analyst this may not make too much sense?
To make it simpler - tasks often involve:
1) Discovery & Understanding– Discovering the business need to be addressed and information related to the product and project requirements, often through conversations with stakeholders.
2) Analysing Requirements – Organizing, specifying and modeling the requirements to ensure they are complete and unambiguous.
3) Specifying Requirements – Documenting the requirements in a format that can be shared with stakeholders.
4) Validating and Verifying Requirements – Ensuring the requirements map to the real business need, are approved by all relevant stakeholders, and meet essential quality standards
Business Analysts get to work with a wide range of stakeholders across the business to help build new products, contribute to significant projects or improve an existing product/service.
I think that one of the very interesting aspects of a Business Analyst's job is understanding the core need of the client, and working with the development team to fulfill that need. The idea of being a part in developing something that people are in need of,
Business Analyst may also be known as many other job titles including Business Process Analyst, IT Business Analyst, Business Architect, Data Analyst, Systems Analyst and even a Product Manager.
Contracting demand for Business Analysts is significant which means you can get the opportunity to work across multiple client sites and also earn a higher take home pay.
Becoming a Business Analyst - whilst a career in itself - can also be provide a career opportunity to move into higher profile, well rewarded roles such as a Senior Business Analyst, Project Management, Product Management, Programme Management, Business Architecture and Strategy.
Skills required include great communication and stakeholder management which I would often say is the most important ! However good numerical data skills, and written communications are very important. Depending on the role often different IT or domain skills will also be required. These can vary massively especially the IT and Technical skills.
Data for BusinessAnalystjobs.co.uk shows that the average salary in the UK for a Business Analyst is £52,000 and the average daily rate for a Business Analyst Contractor is £465
Please feel free to share this ! and start your BA job hunting now!