Hi all
Currently unemployed and fed up with programming. I 'm trying to make a transition from development to BA but to no avail. I have had a couple of BA interviews but I 've not been successful.
I'm currently having problems getting more BA interviews. I seem to be getting a lot of rejections from agencies because my CV is too technical.
Starting to doubt if I can make the transition. I was just wondering if I could get some advice on how to proceed or what steps I need to make it
My background : I have an MEng in Electronic Eng with Computer Science.
I worked for a Software vendor in the financial services for 6 yrs. 2yrs as a software developer and 4 years on a client site in Paris where I had a hybrid role did BA/Support/Test and development.
I quit Company A and worked in a Bank for four months as a Technical Consultant before being laid off due to financial crisies. I had a hybrid role there as well.
I 've been studying the BABOK book just to get a better insight
Edit: I 'm based in South East England
Hi Chib,
One major factor in getting a job in a new role that you've never done before is the story you present. If you can make the compelling case why you are made to be a BA then your resume and past experience won't matter (well not as much anyway). I'm not sure if you're just shipping out your resume or actually talking to recruiters, but you need to do what it takes to get in front of them in person and tell your story.
Think about why you want to be a BA (I would suggest thinking about a positive story instead of being fed up with programming) and what you bring to the table that makes its foregone conclusion you should be one.
I got my first job as a full on BA with absolutely zero dedicated or even partial roles with BA in the title on my CV but got two offers within days of each other. I was able to tell people how what I realized what I loved about all my previous roles was the areas that were directly related to what it takes to be a good BA. I plucked very selected examples of how I had done the work of a BA before without even knowing there was a job that actually did that type of work full time. This storytelling did more for me than a list of previous roles ever would have, because of my authentic passion for those times I had acted as a BA.
Work on your story and the rest will follow. Good luck!
Some other thoughts:
Hello,
You have mentioned that you worked in a BA role with the Software Vendor. BAs work with UML such as Use Case and Activity diagram. Can you include that in your resume? You can make these using Enterprise Architect (trial versions are available) or Visio. Volunteer to provide them as work samples. I am sure this will help. Your samples may not be accurate - since providing the real one might have proprietary considerations. You can also provide a small sample of Business Requirements Documents. Read up om FRDs, NFRDs, UAT, Tests Cases and Test scripts (these are more QA roles, but BAs are required to review them for sure) Requirements Traceability Matrix.
Highlight your communicaion and analytical skills in the resume.
Hope this helps.
Hi:
I do not personally know you so this may or may not apply. Most developers that I have known like to be grounded in implementation details. Example: Instead of simply saying that, from an end user perspective, the system "calculates Ohio sales tax", a developer may say "The system roles out the circular polarization to modify the Azel indicators, causing the muffler bearings to self adjust so that the framework of web services cross checks the queries on the SQL database ". Technically, saying such may be correct, but from a BA perspective, it really slows things down.
And interviewers, buy asking just a few questions, can readily "flush out" such people.
How to become more "end-user centric?" Studying is not going to do such. My suggestion: Be bold, join a Toastmasters public speaking group. They really focus on teaching individuals how to be very "other" focused, as such is a hallmark of a good speech.
Tony
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