joinsway wrote I have worked 7 years as a web developer in an educational software company. Since it's a small company, I had a lot of opportunities interacting with users, collecting requirements as well as design, code, debug each project I was assigned to. My job title was never BA, but I believe I already did quite a lot of what a BA does. Ok, at this point, I am considering switch my career to BA. Question is, what should I do to prepare better for future interviews and new job? Any input is appreciated. Thanks!!

To start, I would say that you should focus your effort in a few tracks as follows:

• Ensure your resume reflects your BA experience: regardless of what your job title is, if you have performed business analysis activities then you have acted in the role of Business Analyst for that project.  So make sure you include in detail in your resume the BA tasks you have performed: requirements elicitation & analysis, analysis & design, types of diagrams you created, types of documents/artifacts you created, etc.  Also, instead of the job title put your role, for example: Programmer/Analyst or Business Systems Analyst & Developer, etc.
• Focus on getting a good foundation of knowledge for the Business Analyst role: read the BABOK published by the IIBA, take one or two Business Analysis courses (including one which provides an overview of the entire profession). => once you do this you can add it to your resume
• Read as many articles, forums, etc. as possible and get into the habit of continuous learning.  If you use ModernAnalyst.com frequently you can put that on your resume: that you are a member of the community.
• Join your local chapter of the IIBA and put that on your resume.

Regards,

- Adrian