I was hoping that I might be able to elicit some impactful feedback that might help my situation here. If you have any ideas/suggestions please feel free to share them and I apologize if this post is rather lengthy.
I am a 32 years of age and about to be finished with Bachelor's in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Analysis (16 credit hours left). And I want to get into a BA role. I have an extensive retail banking and brokerage background in both sales and management and from what I've read/been told I should be able to transition into the financial domain rather easily due to my background and my strength of the soft skills needed to be successful. I have learned quite a bit so far as I have taken and completed BA courses for my degree (use cases, diagrams, requirements gathering, etc.) so I feel like I have a solid foundation in place but I could certainly stand to learn more as I'm sure even the most seasoned BA can and does daily.
I have a few questions posted below so if you can provide any feedback I'd certainly appreciate it!
1) I live in the Washington DC area where there are tons of opportunities however I also live within commuting distance to Richmond VA where there are also opportunities, it seems like all positions are seeking experience, any advice for how I can position myself to get one of these openings?
2) What are good resume resources? I want to transition my banking experience over the past 9 years to highlight my strengths that relate to a BA position but I also do not know if my official job titles would stand out against me since none of the positions were BA positions.
3) What are your thoughts on online courses such as Udemy? I noticed there are some specific BA courses I can take on there to acquire more knowledge that are inexpensive and also that grant certificates of completion, would this help my cause?
4) There are consulting companies out here that will train you and supposedly help you get a position or let you work as a contractor for the company. Should I be open to this? They charge a rather steep amount and from what I gather they focus mostly on people w/ H1 visa's from abroad which makes me feel like they could possibly be looking to just make a quick buck but some of the people who have worked w/ them swear by it, thoughts?