42 Reasons To Start a Business Analyst Careerš
š¹You Want To Unleash Your Passion For
#1. Problem Solving. If you are like me, you get very frustrated when being dragged through a poorly thought-out process. (Yes, as irrational as I know it is, Iāve found myself talking irritably to automated phone prompts that leave me at a meaningless dead end.)
#2. Making the World a Better Place. If you can solve even just a few problems and help a few people understand each other better, youāll have done your good work for the day.
#3. Seeing Through Great Ideas. You might not be the one with the best idea, but you know a great idea when you see one. And you are motivated to see through that idea when everyone elseās attention has moved on to the next great thing.
#4. Helping People Communicate. You always seem to sense when people are talking at each other but not communicating with each other. And your at your happiest when jumping into the discussion to clarify things.
š¹You Are
#5. A bit of a know-it-all. You just seem to get it, but you donāt let it go to your head.
#6. A bit like Columbo. You always have just āone more question.ā And yes, it often seems like a dumb one. (Itās not.)
#7. A bit of a preservationist. The idea of reading through meeting notes from 6 months ago might not take you into the upper orbs, but it does get you a wee bit excited, especially when you find the precise bullet point that reminds everyone why you threw that idea out last time, saving an hour of repetitive discussion.
#8. A bit like a āpeople whisperer.ā You understand what others are saying when most of the others seem to be a bit dumbfounded. (You can just keep the secret that itās all in asking the dumb questions to yourself.)
#9. A bit like a 2-year-old. Always asking why, why, why. (Although good BAs ask why with finesse, something we teach you how to do in our Essential Elicitation Skills course.)
#10. A bit difficult or obstinate, although you might not admit it. You are always looking for the best and staying true to the best.
š¹You Want
#11. To build on your deep business experience, whether as a subject matter expert, technical writer, project manager, sales person or recruiter, just to name a few possibilities. All of this experience you have adds up to something and has prepared you to be a great business analyst.
#12. To build on your technical expertise, whether as a programmer, software architect, or quality assurance engineer.
#13. To do something big and make an impact, but you donāt want to be a manager. Or, like me, youāve been a manager and decided it wasnāt the best fit for you.
#14. To drink from a fire hose. The idea of learning a lot of new stuff in a relatively short period of time is exciting.
#15. The money. Given that the average salary of a business analyst in the U.S. is over 80K/year, many professionals are attracted by the prospect of a nice pay increase once they solidify their BA career.
š¹Youād Rather Not
#16. Be in the conflict. Sure, you could take a side but you would much rather step aside and help conflicting stakeholders weigh the pros and cons and reach an amicable conclusion instead.
#17. Waste resources. Something inside cringes from the inside out when you see an army of your companies staffing resources working on the wrong thing.
#18. Mess things up.
#19. Be outsourced. Because BAs need to be close to the business, their roles tend to be safer from outsourcing and off-shoring initiatives. Thatās why we see a lot of developers and quality assurance professionals looking into business analysis careers.
#20. Do whatever it is you are doing now, which is not business analysis.
#21. Manage the implementation of the project. You like finding the solution to the business problem but are content to leave the implementation details to someone else.
š¹You Want To Unleash Your Passion For
#1. Problem Solving. If you are like me, you get very frustrated when being dragged through a poorly thought-out process. (Yes, as irrational as I know it is, Iāve found myself talking irritably to automated phone prompts that leave me at a meaningless dead end.)
#2. Making the World a Better Place. If you can solve even just a few problems and help a few people understand each other better, youāll have done your good work for the day.
#3. Seeing Through Great Ideas. You might not be the one with the best idea, but you know a great idea when you see one. And you are motivated to see through that idea when everyone elseās attention has moved on to the next great thing.
#4. Helping People Communicate. You always seem to sense when people are talking at each other but not communicating with each other. And your at your happiest when jumping into the discussion to clarify things.
š¹You Are
#5. A bit of a know-it-all. You just seem to get it, but you donāt let it go to your head.
#6. A bit like Columbo. You always have just āone more question.ā And yes, it often seems like a dumb one. (Itās not.)
#7. A bit of a preservationist. The idea of reading through meeting notes from 6 months ago might not take you into the upper orbs, but it does get you a wee bit excited, especially when you find the precise bullet point that reminds everyone why you threw that idea out last time, saving an hour of repetitive discussion.
#8. A bit like a āpeople whisperer.ā You understand what others are saying when most of the others seem to be a bit dumbfounded. (You can just keep the secret that itās all in asking the dumb questions to yourself.)
#9. A bit like a 2-year-old. Always asking why, why, why. (Although good BAs ask why with finesse, something we teach you how to do in our Essential Elicitation Skills course.)
#10. A bit difficult or obstinate, although you might not admit it. You are always looking for the best and staying true to the best.
š¹You Want
#11. To build on your deep business experience, whether as a subject matter expert, technical writer, project manager, sales person or recruiter, just to name a few possibilities. All of this experience you have adds up to something and has prepared you to be a great business analyst.
#12. To build on your technical expertise, whether as a programmer, software architect, or quality assurance engineer.
#13. To do something big and make an impact, but you donāt want to be a manager. Or, like me, youāve been a manager and decided it wasnāt the best fit for you.
#14. To drink from a fire hose. The idea of learning a lot of new stuff in a relatively short period of time is exciting.
#15. The money. Given that the average salary of a business analyst in the U.S. is over 80K/year, many professionals are attracted by the prospect of a nice pay increase once they solidify their BA career.
š¹Youād Rather Not
#16. Be in the conflict. Sure, you could take a side but you would much rather step aside and help conflicting stakeholders weigh the pros and cons and reach an amicable conclusion instead.
#17. Waste resources. Something inside cringes from the inside out when you see an army of your companies staffing resources working on the wrong thing.
#18. Mess things up.
#19. Be outsourced. Because BAs need to be close to the business, their roles tend to be safer from outsourcing and off-shoring initiatives. Thatās why we see a lot of developers and quality assurance professionals looking into business analysis careers.
#20. Do whatever it is you are doing now, which is not business analysis.
#21. Manage the implementation of the project. You like finding the solution to the business problem but are content to leave the implementation details to someone else.