Hi everyone,
I need some expert advice. I am working as a Technical writer in Australia with software company. I have 3.5 years of experience in Technical Writing/Analyst . I have done my Masters in IT so i have knowledge about requirements elicitation, UML etc. I was called for interviews for BA roles, but they look for minimum of 1-2 years of Industry experience. I started looking for some certifications for it, but they are way too expensive.
Can you please advise me, how should i go about it, so that i can get into a BA role. Should i read some books or is it necessary for me to do BA certification, which can then be an asset in my Resume.
Looking for advise from everyone....... Thanks in advance.
Sona
Hi Sona,
You Masters in IT coupled with your experience as a technical writer should help you out. Reading books is good but nothing can compare with real experience. A few more things that you can do which could be used in lieu of work experience would be:
Stay away from certifications at this point since any credible certification requires around 5 years of work experience as a BA which you do not yet have.
Find an recruiter who specializes in placing Business Analysts and let them help you find a job. Go to as many interviews as you can because, first of all, you will get comfortable with the process but also you will begin to see what the interviewers are looking for. Make a point at the end of each interview to ask the interviewer if they have any suggestions as to what areas you can improve on and then write those things down and work on them. Consider the job interviews as "free" career advice since generally the interviewers are senior analysts or managers who many years of experience. Don't just let me give the "you don't have enough experience" line. Many companies do hire junior business systems analysts. Ask them what else they think you can do to improve your chances of landing a BA job.
Since you have IT and technical writing skills you might want to consider starting your career as systems analyst (creating functional specifications and designs) and then slowly moving into business analysis.
Hope this helps!
Best regards,
- Adrian
Hi Sona
You are welcome to send me your resume for review and comment. I am not a recruiter but do work in the Australian industry.
Hai Craig,
i am working for a General Insurance in the IT Department for the past 15 yrs. Here my role is Help Desk. The job varies from software Installation to analyse the user queries. I am also involved in the installation of software like Oracle, Linux.
How can i evolve myself into a BA. My email id is [email protected]
Regards
Yoganand
Hi Yoganand,
I get the feeling that you might need to take a course to get started. I would recommend you take a business analysis course which has a longer duration (months rather than days). The courses which are 2-5 days are good for those analysts who have some prior experience in the field.
A longer duration course (probably through a college/university) would allow you the time to do absorb the information slowly. You will also get to do homework and participate in study groups with others who are interested in becoming business analysts.
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