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New Post 7/29/2013 2:43 PM
User is offline kjcliff72
1 posts
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Looking for new career - BA Training 

 Hi Everyone, 

 

I hope your days are going well. I'm looking to move into your field as an analyst, and am really having no such luck at the moment. I have five years of experience in sales, as an account executive with a professional sports team. Unfortunately, regardless of my hard work ethic, I was let go recently. I just could not take the repetitive cold calling and a life living with a commission based salary. I tend to want to work on a project and be focused on that as opposed to selling things, so I am wanting to move into the BA field. I like having to learn new things, and want to have much more of an impact on the success of my respective company. 

However, I really have no idea how to get started into theis career field and can't even get an interview anywhere for places I have applied. I am wondering, where do I start? What do I do to get into this field? I know there are certification programs, but will they really help me get placed somewhere? I have been unemployed for far too long and I'm starting to go crazy without having something to do. Thank you in advance for your advice.

 

 
New Post 7/30/2013 8:29 AM
User is offline Sandy
74 posts
8th Level Poster




Re: Looking for new career - BA Training 

Getting that first job in a new profession can definitely be challenging. Certification programs for BAs usually require work experience (such as the CCBA and CBAP), so won't help you at this point in your career.

The first step is to evaluate the skills that you have against those required for entry level BA. This will help you re-work your resume to highlight the relevant skills, and identify gaps for skills that you may need to acquire. The Business Analysis Book of Knowledge (BABOK) lists the 6 knowledge areas for BAs - here is a Modern Analyst posting with links to an online version of the BABOK:

http://www.modernanalyst.com/Community/ModernAnalystBlog/tabid/181/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1341/BABOK-20-Free-DownloadAccess-V2.aspx

Entry level skills usually involve some combination of facilitation, communications, and requirements analysis. Requirements analysis skills and associated tools and techniques are probably the biggest gap coming from a sales career. As you're finding, it's hard to get into any BA role without some training or experience in these areas. You might look into training options to pick up missing skills, if that is something that you're wiling and able to do. Another option might be to look for another type of role that more closely matches your current skills, within an organization that offers opportunities to build skills and move into BA roles. For example, you may be able to find work in a software / product trainer role, that would leverage skills you have and build your analysis skills and software product knowledge - then work on opportunities to transfer into a junior BA position within that company. Many organizations are more willing to give BA roles to employees with less experience than a new hire, simply because they already have some level of confidence in the employee's abilities. So you might look at broadening your job search - but look for companies that are willing to support your professional development and career growth.

Sandy

 
New Post 7/31/2013 2:49 PM
User is offline NitWitNick
259 posts
5th Level Poster


Re: Looking for new career - BA Training 

 "I have five years of experience in sales, as an account executive with a professional sports team."


There is Always something that you do, did or will do, that is Business Analyst Related ...

Did you Optimize any current marketing processes or create new ways to reach New Markets (issues and opportunities) ?

Did you meet with Clients to discuss Schedules, Fees, Contracts, Advertising, etc ? (Client-Facing, Statement of Work, negotiating, presentations) ?

Did you meet with your team to discuss issues, manage them, coordination (Team Management) ?

Did you have to meet with various people across your organization and discuss matters in different ways for people to understand (Cross-Functional, Bridging a Communications gap) ?


Just think of everything you do and try to relate it to what a Business Analyst does.


Heck, even a Back-Yard Grease-Monkey is BA in some way ...

A person has a Broken Car towed to your place .

You Interact with that customer by asking questions … What Happened, Where, Symptoms, etc. (Interviewing).

With that information you can Identify the problem (Issues).

While we are doing that can we also fix this (Opportunity).

If you don’t do something, what could happen (Impact Analysis, Risk Analysis).

Write up a quote for the fixing (Statement of Work).

Talk with customer about a price (client-facing, negotiating).
 
Did the custome change their mind on something (Scope Change, Cost, Time, Re-Negotiation) ?

If Agreed, Execute your plan (steps taken to fix the car).

Can you do it or someone else needs to do it (In-House, Out-Sourcing, Build vs Buy)
 
Perform Repairs.
 
Unit Test the car (Unit Testing).

Have customer test drive the car (User Acceptance Testing).

Do you have a warrantee period (warrantee period, audit period).

Sign-off and get paid.

etc ....
 
Never think you have nothing to offer ... I flew airplanes for 15 years and the instrumentation layout in the various cockpits helped me with designing web-page and screen layouts (the instrumentation in most planes are laid out in a certain way (UX /UI). 

 
 
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