Hi, I’m Yulia Kosarenko and you are watching the Why Change channel.
In this video, I continue with advice for aspiring business analysts,
especially for those that never held the title of business analyst in their career yet.
In this video, I want to talk about one important question
that always seems to be front and center for every aspiring and junior business analyst.
This question is, how do I find my first business analysis experience?
What to show on my resume if I’ve never held the title?
What do I do if I don’t have any analysis experience?
If I have never done any business analysis, where do I start?
So today I want to tell something very very important, and it is good news.
Everyone has done some business analysis before.
If you look hard enough, if you understand the essence of business analysis activities,
you will be able to relate your past experiences to that.
Just think about the term "business analysis". It’s about analyzing how a business works.
It starts with investigating and learning how a company,
a department or a process works, what does it do,
what works well and what doesn’t.
It’s about looking into what improvements are needed,
and perhaps defining and implementing those improvements.
It’s about solving business problems:
from research, to analysis, to coming up with solutions to problems.
And this is what business analysis is in a nutshell.
Believe it or not, everyone has done in some form or another.
As I talk to people to come from different backgrounds and had very different careers,
as we start to look in this direction, we always find something.
For example, I may ask, have you ever worked with customers?
Well, yes, I was a client support representative, or I was in sales, or in tech support.
Then we explore: what did you do for customers when you were in that job?
Because everyone who worked with customers had to listen to them,
understand their problems, and help them, or find someone else to help them.
Often you have to make additional effort to pinpoint the root cause of their problems,
because the customer may not be explaining everything clearly to you.
And then, you have to think of different solution options for the problem.
It doesn’t have to be about software. It could be selecting the best cellular package,
or figuring out over the phone why customer’s gadget does not behave as expected.
It could be any example where you are helping customer to find the right product,
use a product or a service, or figure out what they are doing wrong or what is not working.
And this is just like business analysis, because you are asking questions,
trying to understand, listening, observing, investigating,
and zeroing in on the problem that needs to be solved,
and then help to come up with possible solutions.
Sometimes, if you don’t know how to solve the problem,
you will go to someone else to help – to a technical support team or the engineer.
Well, this is exactly what business analysts do.
They listen to their customers – who they more often call “business stakeholders”,
they clarify and capture their needs, which they call “requirements”,
and then they share these requirements with technical teams
to figure out the best solution to customer problems.
Another example is research.
As a business analyst, you have to research and learn about the industry,
the company and the business functions you are working with.
You can’t just come and ask, “What is it you want”
if you have no understanding of the business they are in and what’s going on.
You have to do your due diligence to understand the business model, the products, the customer groups,
the services, and how does this particular company work, how is it organized and how it receives revenue.
You will research the company website, look at different artifacts –
perhaps annual reports, or sales dashboards, or portal screens,
procedures or other documentation.
All of this research then helps you ask the right questions
when you meet with your customers.
And this research may help you discover something important
that your customers may even forget to tell you.
So every time you are doing research,
when you are collecting and analyzing information,
you are doing a business analysis activity.
Another example is documenting information, structuring it
presenting it in a way that is suitable for the audience.
It can be student papers, market analysis reports, or project feasibility studies.
It could be graphical representation of the data you’ve collected – charts and diagrams,
it could be visual illustration using models, pictures or creating presentations.
So even if you in another line or work, don’t be scared,
don’t think that you would be starting from ground zero
if you want to become a business analyst.
Think of your student projects, your previous jobs and volunteer opportunities.
Think of you what you did, and keep these activities in mind:
Research
Collecting information
Interviewing experts
Investigating problems
Understanding customer needs
Capturing and structuring information
Analyzing data
Looking for hidden relationships
Presenting information visually
Explaining
Proposing process improvements
Testing products
Implementing changes
All of these things you may have done before are also business analysis activities,
perhaps just with a different label.
And truly, it’s not about the labels at all,
it’s about what you have learned from these activities,
and whether you think like a business analyst,
whether you are developing a business analyst mindset.
Your next step is then analyzing how these things you’ve done in the past
relate to business analysis activities, techniques, concepts and methodologies.
You can do it by reading books, articles, or business analysis body of knowledge materials.
You can watch learning videos or take courses.
And as you learn more and more about business analysis,
you will see familiar patterns and concepts.
As you gain a better understanding of how business analysts do their job,
you will feel more confident about using the skills you already have,
and expanding your repertoire of tools and techniques.
So if you really want to be a business analyst, don’t be shy and don’t be scared.
You will never be starting from zero.
All of us have a little bit of a business analyst inside.
Analyze your own experience from this perspective, apply your analytical skills –
think of it as a business analysis exercise.
If you need any help, go to my website why-change.com,
check other resources there and videos on the Why Change channel.
I love helping people who want to become business analysts.
And I believe the world needs more good business analysts –
to improve how we do things, solve problems,
make our processes more efficient and to reduce waste.
So go for it, best of luck, and remember –
everyone has done some business analysis before,
even if you don’t realize it yet!
I’m Yulia Kosarenko, this is Why Change channel.
Until next time!