Hi Ashley,

First of all, don't get discouraged!  You are doing the right first step: getting advice...

To provide you with better feedback, here are a couple of questions:

- in your home country, what did you actually do as a business analysts (what tasks and activities),

- what business analysis/project management tools and techniques are you familiar and proficient with (activity diagram, sequence diagrams, use cases, etc.),

- what does your resume look like, is it geared towards a business analysis position?

In the meantime, consider checking out the Toronto chapter of the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis) - you might even want to join the IIBA as it would look good on your resume.  Being an active member of business analysis communities such as ModernAnalyst.com would also be a good thing.

Wishing you the best!

- Adrian

Hi Adrian. 

Thank you so much for answering my post. 

Yes, the first step is really getting advice, especially since I am in a different country now. My only regret is I haven't done it sooner.  The longer it takes to get a job as a business analyst, the harder it is for me to get back in this career path.  I guess my concern when we got here in Canada was to just get a job, any job, just to be able to survive in a new country, But now that we have somehow adjusted to the life here, I felt that I need to concentrate on my career now,  My resume before was kind of general, just finding a job that would be suited to any position available in the company I was applying for.  I guess because I wasn't that keen yet on looking for the BA position as I was afraid that I won't be considered for the job given that I am new here.

I think one of my apprehensions aslo at applying for a BA position is the fact that the tools and techniques that I know are not sufficient to the positions available.  I never had any formal training as a BA.  The tools that we had I learned mostly on the job, and I am not sure if these are the conventional tools used in other companies.  As a BA in the company I used to work for, we have conducted interviews with the users to determine their requirements, prepared business process charts and program specifications,  performed/supervised user testing, prepared  procedures manuals and business forms, and also conducted user trainings on the new systems that were introduced.  However, with regard to the specific tools and techniques used, I am not aware if these are are structured as what other business analysts are using.  How will I go about reviewing these conventional tools and techniques?  Some of these we might have been using, but I am just not familiar with how they call them.

I'll try to see the Toronto Chapter of the IIBA, althoug right now I do not know if I can maximize the membership since I am not yet in that career.   I guess what I want right now is be able to look for a company that can take in junior BA's or trainees or maybe courses that I can take to upgrade my skills.  Would yo uhave any suggestions? Am I in the right forum though to be asking these questions? Thanks again!

Ashley