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8/15/2007 4:53 PM

	Patrick
9 posts
www.braceyconsulting.com

Ask Away

I am here to answer any questions that I can related to industry, company, position, interviewing, hiring process, or any questions you may have related to Business Analyst Recruiting. I currently focus on Recruiting Business Analysts and would welcome the opportunity to use my experience to help you in finding your next career or answer your questions of curiosity.

Who I am:

I am a Recruiting Consultant with a 12 year background working for various Fortune list companies. I am currently focusing on Business Analysts in the IT/Healthcare Industry, I reside in beautiful Tucson Arizona however I work with companies on opportunities Nationally.

Looking forward to your questions,

Patrick

11/15/2007 10:10 PM

	magnetoks
1 posts

Re: Ask Away

Hi Patrick,

I hope you can give me some advice. I'm a first year MBA student majoring in Computer Information Systems and I'm interested in becoming an IT Business Analyst. I have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, but do not have extensive experience in the IT industry. I worked as a benefit analyst between college and grad school. I wanted to know which skills are most important to have to pursue this career. I'd really appreciate advice on any particular classes to take, certifications to pursue or organizations to join.

Thanks in Advance!

Margarita (NYC)

11/15/2007 11:22 PM

	Adrian M.
765 posts

Re: Ask Away

magnetoks wrote

Hi Patrick,

Thanks in Advance!

Margarita (NYC)

Hi Margarita,

I could not imagine a better position for you to start your career as a business analyst then where you are. You have a degree in Computer Science which should have exposed you to structured/analytical thinking as well as problem solving. Also, while you don't have work experience, you have probably been exposed to programming and software design in your college courses. Your MBA degree you are pursuing should give you a good foundation on the business side of things. Learn as much as you can and focus on understanding how business processes work - learn to analyze and document business models and processes. Your dual business/computer science degrees are a great foundation to being your career as a business analyst.

You should make sure that you learn some of the more popular techniques and methods for describing and documenting business processes and systems: BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation), UML (Unified Modeling Language), Use Cases, User Stories, Requirement Documents, etc.

Most universities do not teach these tools in their courses so you might want to consider taking a course or two from one of the training companies specializing in training business analysts.

Many MBA students also participate in an internship between their first and second year - I would definitely recommend you think about doing that. Many companies begin looking for interns months the end of the school year.

One of the better way to get lots of experience upfront is to work for one of the big consulting firms like: Earnest & Young, PWC, Accenture, etc. They tend to hire many fresh MBA graduates. They will work you hard but it's great experience and worth considering spending 2-3 years with on of these firms. These are also the firms that like to hire interns - it's their way of testing future employees.

If you have a desire to work in a specific industry (ex: banking, finance, healthcare, etc.) you should also begin to learn the lingo, business models, processes, etc. which are common on the given industry as it will give you an edge when you try to look for a job as a jr. analyst/consultant in that industry.

As far as professional organizations go, the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis) is the non-profit professional organization for Business Analysts. They offer a certification: CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional). However, you need to have a minimum of 5 years work experience and you also need to take a test based on the BABOK (Business Analyst Body of Knowledge) published by the IIBA.

Hope this helps to give you some guidance. Feel free to post any other questions you may have on this forum, read the blogs and articles and begin your journey towards a career as a Business Analyst.

Best regards,

- Adrian

Adrian Marchis
Business Analyst Community Blog - Post your thoughts!

12/1/2007 1:41 AM

	matt
1 posts

Re: Ask Away

Hello Patrick,

I read your post an I want to thank for offering to answer questions. I've been in the IT field, especially programming and Database, for 15 years. Part of what I did is to meet with clients and gather requirements to develop the feature or system for them. I did this in a non-formal way of being a business analyst. I was good at it without knowing that it’s a business analyst job. Now, I am performing as a system analyst for a financial company and they are more structure than what I am used too. I have developed functional requirements before, and still do, and also produced business requirement document which I never had to do before but I leaned real fast and it won the clients admiration. My question is, is there a structured way to this madness as how to go about each step and how many steps are there to the process of a business analyst. I am trying to "formalize" my processes without having to be all over the place. Can you offer any suggestions?

Thanks in advance. If I can talk to you off line would also greatly appreciate it.

--matt

12/26/2007 1:03 PM

	svang
2 posts

Re: Ask Away

Hi Patrick

How are you doing ?I need some advice from you .

I am a Sr. Recruiting Consultant with a 5 years of IT background experience working for all IT companies.
I'm interested in becoming an IT Business Analyst. Yet I don't have any experience or you can say Knowledge how to switch my career for Recruitment to Business analyst.

By education i am Masters in Computer application ,and I am also Pursuing MBA (HR).
I'd really appreciate if you advice me on any certifications to pursue or organizations to join.
I am an Indian ,staying in India, New Delhi .I can't relocate myself,Due to some Family problems.

So Please suggest me for the same

QUOTE]Patrick wrote

Who I am:

Looking forward to your questions,

Patrick

[/QUOTE]