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7/17/2009 6:58 AM

	srikanth
33 posts

Is domain expereience..mandatory?

Hello everyone!!!!

First, thanks every one to update such valuble information for BA's. I recently finished my contract as a BA in an educational company.Now, I am looking for new roles and I find recruiters ask for BA who is specilized in feilds like financial backgroung or expereince in insurance,banking, supply chain, e-commerce, totallly customer focused role etc. They don't want a simple BA who do requirements, UML, UAT and other....

I am a BA with experience in agile..I don't have any domain expertise in the above feilds where more jobs are there in the market. Now due to recession, I find recruiters are more specific in candidates with domain experience,specialized BA, etc .

Now I want to know how far is it important for me to build knowledge in such field? If so ..how can I get expereince in such fields?

Is there a suggestable way, where I can be picked up easily in the market with certain skills which I can learn and keep in my CV.

I understand, that candidates with domain experience/knowledge in such fields becomes easy to get in flow. But how about the candidates with good analysis skills and no expereince in such fields-how do we justify?

Please suggest me how to make a better way to get picked up...?

Regards,

Srikanth.

7/21/2009 1:20 PM

	Adrian M.
764 posts

Re: Is domain expereience..mandatory?

Hi Srikanth,

I would say that domain experience is not necessary to do the job of a Business Analyst especially if you're in a more technical systems analyst role. Having said that, having domain experience is VERY beneficial especially if you are doing business centric analysis.

There are many consultants who move from project to project working on various business domains besides business experience in the given domain. Those BAs with domain experience tend to command a higher salary. Also - it is common for hiring managers to request business analysts with prior domain experience especially in complex industries such as banking.

If you can identify a particular domain in which you are interested in there are some things you can do:

See if there is a professional association for that domain as they tend to offer entry level (overview) courses, books, and references in that domain. That would be a great way to get your feet wet and to understand that industry.
Find any magazines or websites which cover the topics of the given industry.
Try to find a mentor in that industry which can guide you in your knowledge quest.

Even though you don't have business experience in a given domain, it will go a long way to show to the recruiter or hiring manager that you have taken the initiative to learn about the industry and that, hopefully, you've been able to grasp some key concepts.

Hope this helps!

- Adrian

Adrian Marchis
Business Analyst Community Blog - Post your thoughts!

7/22/2009 10:27 PM

	KJ
243 posts

Re: Is domain expereience..mandatory?

Modified By KJ on 7/23/2009 12:29:58 AM)

Hi Srikanth,

I'm a "serial contractor"; that is, I work on various assignments in varying industries in varying domains most of the time and therefore I have a lot to do with recruiting agencies. Adrian is making a major assumption that the recruiting agency has the ability to ascertain the candidate’s experience. Now there are recruiting agencies and there are recruiting agencies!. I was recently interviewed by a reputable agency (or so I thought) for a banking role. During the interview I ascertained that the recruiting officer did not understand my answers so I asked him about his background and how long he had been a recruiter. I was quite surprised at his honesty. The reply was "Mate, I've been doing this job for about three months. Before that I was a LANDSCAPE GARDENER; but I hurt my back and this opportunity came along". I was totally floored!

I related this story to a friend of mine who is a senior Test Manager who reports to the CIO on projects. He recounted his experience where he was interviewed by an ex-CHEF with 2 months recruiting experience.

This is our dilemma; we are in an industry where we have so many middle men (gate-keepers), who keep us away from the real client. Some agencies are squeezed for margins, so they pick people who do not command a high salary and who has no or very little IT experience to work for them.

My most successful attempts at getting assignments are to contact clients directly. Get a friend to introduce you their employers.

All the best!

Warm regards,

PS. INTERVIEW THE INTERVIEWER you will be surprised.