Over the past several years, since I started working in the Technology space, I have come across many fantastic individuals with varied skill sets. Some have impressed, some have disappointed and with some I have been rather indifferent. I am sure I would be no exception in their eyes as well i.e. they could be impressed, disappointed or indifferent (or whatever other feelings or impression they held towards me is for them to ponder on).
Whilst the challenges faced by every individual are different, few of them caught my attention and I got inclined towards better understanding their challenges both from afar and from within the team. I am going to share a few of my observations and hope they will add some value in your professional lives.
The profession that I want to touch on today is the Entry Level Business Analyst or the New Business Analyst (i.e. you have just started your BA career).
Two Categories of Entry Level BA
I understand that this is not an official definition in any way or form and I also realise that there are other possible scenarios, but I would like to divide the New Business Analyst under the following two categories.
Category 01 – Fresher (The True Entry Level)
In simple terms this category is for individuals who have finished a course or a degree and are aspiring to be a Business Analyst. They are generalists on Day 01 because they are yet to work out their core competencies in the analytics domain. In most cases, what you learnt in your theory classes isn’t going to help you much right now but if you have been paying attention to the techniques taught in your class, you may be able to leverage some of them in a more hands-on manner. So giddy up!
You are a blank slate and the BA profession is going to take you on a journey of a lifetime.
Category 02 – Career Change (The NOT SO Entry Level)
Individuals in this category have had some or a lot of prior experience, but not within the BA space. So fair to say that subject to the role(s) you have had in the past, you may (or may not) be equipped with some simple (yet effective) BA skills already.
What kind of skills you ask? Well it could be a skill as simple as knowing how to use Excel or Word. Perhaps you have run workshops in the past or have managed stakeholders or written process documents or have contributed to requirements as a Subject Matter Expert (SME). Sound familiar? If yes then try not to get too excited because whilst you have the some of the pre-requisites of a BA role ticked off, you are in for a bit of a surprise when it comes to day to day jargons used by Business Analysts and project teams.
Let us start with the 2nd category and explore the key aspects of some of the most commonly asked questions.
Change of Career to become a BA (Business Analyst)
So, you have worked in the professional sphere for several years and now want to transition yourself as a Business Analyst? However, you are unsure whether your experience will lead you to a successful BA (Business Analyst) career. If this is something you can relate to then read on. Well, you can continue reading even if you do not relate yourself to the statement.
The key to the above conundrum is to first find the answer a few simple yet important questions.
- What exactly are you looking for in your career as a BA?
- Are you looking to change your career path due to monetary reasons?
- Are you looking for a new challenge in your career?
The good news is the BA profession offers both – A challenging (and satisfying) career path with a lucrative pay cheque. However, before you take the big leap of faith, it is important to self-analyse your existing skill sets and compare them with some of the commonly sought skills of a BA.
Self Assess Your Existing Skills
There are certain set of questions you need to ask yourself before committing to that change of line to become a BA (Business Analyst). Questions regarding your existing skills that you have acquired as part of the roles you have performed till now (as in the present time when you are considering a career change).
Start by taking note of everything you do or have done, in a simple yet structured manner. Time to bring out your Microsoft Excel skills by creating a new sheet and start adding the things you have done and skills you have gathered. If you have not used Microsoft Excel before, you can always use the good old pen and paper.
Create a Skills List
Note down all your tasks and activities performed during your present and past roles. Make a note of all the different applications, systems and tools used as part of your present and past roles. This will help you to see your experience in a fluid way that can apply to many settings of a BA. Understand the skills you have and try to segregate them into various expertise levels such as Beginner, Intermediate, Advance.
Assess your Skills Honestly
An important aspect of this exercise is to be 100% honest and truthful to yourself. Do not get overconfident and start adding Intermediate or Advance against your skills just because you think you may know it all. Let me give you an example.
If I was bored one day and decided to do a short course on LinkedIn or Udemy about HTML. After 1-2 hours of quick and simple steps and following through the course instructions, I can now write a code that can produce “Hello World”. I am all fired up and excited and now think that I have beginner level understanding of HTML.
Whilst it hard to quantify the level of knowledge you need on a particular topic to be classified as a beginner; I would certainly not add HTML as a skill on my list.
On the other hand, if I did a proper course on HTML (instructor led or online), completed a few assignments, and created a few simple web pages, and have enough theoretical knowledge (and some degree of practice) to take my skills to the next level with a lot of support from an experienced HTML developer, I would write that skill down on my list.
In my viewpoint, a skill is worth adding to your list if you are confident that you can use that skill in a real-life scenario, especially in a professional work environment. I understand that some or many may not agree with my viewpoint, but like I said earlier in this article, my objective is to share my own learnings and observations gained over a career that spans 20+ years.
On the brighter side though, if someone brings up the topic of a particular skill that is not on your list (resume in this context), you can always mention that during your interview.
Understand your Personality
Now that your skills list has been chalked out and you have a better and clearer understanding of your overall skill level, it is time to tackle one of the most important aspects of a BA role – your Personality.
It is important that you understand your own personality and have a clear idea of what your comfort zone is and what makes you uncomfortable. This will allow you to better identify the area(s) where you can excel and areas that may require additional work due to your personality traits. What do you mean you ask? Let me explain.
Mr X and Ms Y are both aspiring to be a Business Analyst. Mr X is a shy and exceptionally bright individual who has a natural knack for identifying anomalies in large data stacks. Just by glancing at an Excel sheet filled with data, he can pinpoint things that you and I might overlook. He is great with numbers and data, but he does not like dealing with people on a regular basis. Ms Y on the other hand is a vibrant young woman who absolutely loves to engage with people regardless of their standing in the organisational hierarchy, is quick on building a rapport & gains their trust with relative ease. Although she dreads at the very thought of looking at an Excel sheet.
Now let us say the organisation they want to work for has two BA roles up for grabs. Role #1 has a focus on analysing lots and lots of data and present the findings to relevant stakeholders and Role #2 emphasises on stakeholder management and collaboration between teams. What do you think would happen if Mr X applied for Role #2 and Ms Y goes for Role #1?
Choosing the Right BA Discipline
Understanding your personality in conjunction with your core skills will help you realise the type of Business Analysis Discipline you will feel more comfortable in and can transition into the role with relative ease. Once you have transitioned in the BA role, have spent some time mastering the discipline and now want to challenge yourself further, you can always try for other disciplines.
So, when opting for a career change as a Business Analyst, it is important to understand the skill set that position requires and the personality traits required to not only easily transition in the role, but also to grow in the role. Because if you do not consider all aspects of the role and its requirements, then you might end up in uncomfortable situations more often and would soon feel like a fish out of the pond.
Fresh Out of College/University
When you are starting off a new career or looking for your first job after graduating from college or university, your mind could wander off in many directions. You could end up asking yourself a wide range of questions. Questions such as – what steps should I take to start off my career? How can I make a mark in my very first year and a leave a positive impression? Will I be able to grow in this field? Should I be doing anything different to stay ahead of the competition? Whilst the list of questions can be vast and varied, the basic actions you need take in your first role to succeed should not be complicated.
For starters, being a fresher is a great advantage for you. You are fresh out of university/college, bubbling with fresh ideas, fresh perspectives and eager to prove yourself. Best of all, companies are willing to invest in freshers, meaning you will have the support and learning opportunities unlike your experienced peers. And, if you are in the right organisation, you will be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them.
Whilst the above statements can be applied to many or various fresher profiles, I am here to talk about the profile of a Business Analyst, so let us get into it.
Decide where you want to work
When starting your career, it is understandable that you may not have a lot of options to choose from and often it can be challenging to be fussy, especially when you are just starting off your career. Having said that, you should still do your research on the type of industries you would like to work in (pre-select your domain(s)). Once you have defined the domain(s), shortlist the companies within those domains that can give you the platform to succeed. Some important aspects to consider when making this list include:
- Company Culture – Do some research on the company. Explore job boards and check out the feedbacks from former employees. Check review sites and find out what customers are saying about the company. And most importantly (this is also the hardest part) – do not get bogged down with the negative reviews. Use LinkedIn to connect with people working in that organisation and seek their honest inputs regarding the company’s culture.
- Company Values – mostly you should be able to find this information on the company’s website. Go through the website, understand the services provided, about us section, value proposition (if available), founding principles of the company, how do people view the company (media publications and news articles).
You might be thinking, that is a lot of work, and what is the point of all this anyways? Fair point – BUT – this research is not a waste of time. If you get into one of the organisations you shortlisted, all the research you did has already prepared you for the first few months. You have some understanding of the Business before you join it. It might sound a bit cliché – but isn’t that the role of a Business Analyst? Understand the business and find ways to make it better and help the business achieve its goals and objectives?
Find a few Mentors
Mentors? Are you sure you did not mean – mentor (singular)?
Yes, you read that right – I mean mentors (plural). Since you are at an early stage of your career, it is best not to limit yourself with one person’s viewpoint and experience. In fact, try to gather in sights from at least three to four different mentors. This will provide you with options and broaden your range of knowledge. Every mentor will bring in a unique perspective based on their own experience and overall expertise in their chosen field.
What is important though is that you have a clear view and understanding of what you wish to gain from your mentors. Let’s try and understand this better via an example.
Mr T is a bright young man and has secured a graduate position in XYZ Inc. As part of his initial six-month progression plan, he has been assigned to a project team within the operations department. His task is to sit in meetings, workshops, training sessions and learn all he can. However, this starts to get a little monotonous and daunting for Mr T after a couple of months. There is a lot of information to go through and he starts to feel overwhelmed.
One weekend whilst sipping his coffee and casually scrolling through LinkedIn, he stumbles upon this article. He decides to test out the points mentioned in this article.
The following week, when he goes to work, Mr T takes out the org chart of his department and starts to skim through the people and makes note of some key people who he has already interacted with. He pens down the Subject Matter Expert (SME), the Senior Process Analyst and the Senior Support Specialist (applications). He then reaches out to all three and requests them to be his mentor. Thank fully all three agree.
Over the next 3-4 weeks, Mr T takes time to meet his mentors on a bi-weekly basis and starts to discuss the key aspects of the current functions of their respective areas of expertise. The key question he asks them is – what can he do to better understand their side of the business without getting overwhelmed with too much information? He also asks them about their expectations from his role (i.e., a Graduate Business Analyst). He utilises his mentoring time to clarify doubts and ask questions. During these sessions, Mr T also gets many opportunities to extend his assistance to his mentors, which gives him more hands-on exposure.
Over the coming months Mr T gains a good understanding of the various functions of his department. He also gains good insights on the areas where he can grow, and flourish based on the inputs and feedback he received from his mentors. And best of all, he works out the areas where he may not be particularly good at or areas that he is least interested in.
The time you will spend with your mentors will help you narrow down the areas where you see yourself flourishing and allow you to focus your attention in that area. Having said that, you need to focus on the short to medium term only – say 1-2 years. Why? Because as you progress through your career, factors within or beyond your control will influence your future decisions. So, think ahead but not too far ahead. Try to master one aspect of your Business Analysis profession and move on to the next one.
Jack of All Trades but Master of At Least One
As mentioned earlier, in your early days as a Graduate BA, you will be exposed to a range of information. And after say six to twelve months, you might find yourself in a position where you know a little bit about a lot of things but not enough about anything. Whilst this is not something you should worry about too much; I still recommend thinking about at least one area where you think you have gained more knowledge/expertise than others. And if you cannot think of any, simply ask your mentors and they will surely share their observations about your skills.
Let us look at the example of Mr T again. As part of his learning and mentoring journey, Mr T got exposed to Operational Processes/workflows, Systems, Tools, Documentation, and methodologies. Being a large organisation, the extent of all this information was very vast. Hence, towards the end of his first year in the organisation, Mr T could not see himself as an expert or specialist in any of these areas. As part of his annual performance review process, he nominated his three mentors to provide their feedbacks to his manager. During the performance review process, Mr T had the opportunity to find out the feedback he had received.
Whilst the overall feedback about Mr T was positive and he was seen as a hard-working individual who met the expected performance targets, there was one area where he was seen as exceptional. All three mentors provided the feedback that Mr T was particular good at understanding, articulating and documenting business processes.
So, in this example Mr T himself was unsure of his area of expertise but his mentors, unanimously highlighted the area where he was exceeding their expectations. Which goes to show us the importance of having mentors i.e., they can help us identify our key strengths and weaknesses when we fail to see them ourselves.
Adapting the concept of peer reviews and feedbacks earlier on in your career can equip you with important skills that can help you harness the power of your strengths and work on your weaknesses.
