Business Analyst

You will need the following skills:

• Excellent communication skills
• Leadership and management skills
• Good understanding of IT
• Ability to work under pressure
• Problem-solving
• Critical thinker
• Analytical skills
• Ability to motivate and lead change
• Data analysis

Business Analysts are highly competitive roles, therefore having a degree in a related subject would be an advantage. However, having a degree is not the only pathway to this career.

If you have experience in managing various projects, especially if you have a few years’ experience doing so, this can help increase your employability for a Business Analyst role.

Employers tend to look for experience and transferable skills; the ability to communicate effectively, analyse data, use technology and manage projects. To provide you with all the necessary skills and experience that many employers look for, you can gain a recognised professional qualification with the BCS (The Chartered Institute of IT). The BCS offer a Business Analysis Foundation course which will introduce you to the techniques, tools and principles used in business analysis to help increase your employability.

Business Analysts can either be permanent employees or contractors. As a permanent employee you can expect to work standard office hours, Monday to Friday with the occasional need to work extra hours in order to meet deadlines.

Contractors may work longer hours during the week and sometimes at weekends to complete projects within a specified timeframe.

You can expect to spend most of your time in an office environment where occasional travel may be required. Although, for larger companies, travel will be necessary for meetings with external investors and stakeholders.

As a Business Analyst you can expect your day-to-day responsibilities to include the following;

• Devise ways for businesses to improve, based on previous research
• Identify problems within a business
• Analyse the structure of a business
• Running multiple analysis projects
• Use data modelling practices to analyse findings and create suggestions for improvements and change
• Produce written documentation to support your work, report on your findings and present to stakeholders
• Supporting initiatives during and post implementation
• Working with stakeholders on individual projects
• Translating technical terminology to non-technical teams
• Act as an advisor to senior and executive teams

While both roles work with numbers, the main difference between them is what they do with the data.

It is a business analysts’ duty to understand the business implications of the data and potential outcomes of it. They will use the work of the data science teams to communicate this as evidence for a business action.

Whereas, data analysts develop systems to collect data and compile their findings into a report to aid the business analyst in their work to help improve an organisation.

To begin your career as a Business Analyst, you will more than likely start your career in an entry-level role. This will allow you to gain experience across multiple projects in various disciplines. As your career progresses you can expect to become a Senior Business Analyst where you will be able to choose to specialise in a particular area such as data analytics.

After eight to ten years of experience and with a proven track record you can advance into becoming a Chief Technology Officer.