I get this question and variations of it all the time! What is a senior business analyst? What skills do I need to develop to become one? What are the most valued business analyst competencies?
This is a tough question. And although finding the answer can be difficult, it’s also a tough question because it has multiple answers. Business analysis, like many, if not most, professions, exists within an organizational context. Different organizations value different competencies and so senior can mean something different depending on the organization in which you work and the strengths you bring to the table.
We are not alone with this challenge. Many professions have specialties and multiple ways of recognizing senior-level contributions. Consider software development. You might be a great PHP programmer, but if you are trying to succeed in a .NET shop, you will be starting back at the bottom and working your way back up. In a similar way, many business analysts find themselves in senior positions at one company only to find that jobs outside their organization require specific business or technical domain knowledge or general business analyst competencies that they did not develop in their previously limited business analyst role. What makes you senior in one context is not going to necessarily make you senior in another. This is just part of the reason it’s so important to stay up-to-date with current trends and network regularly with other business analysts.
Yet, the question is still asked and deserves an answer – What is a senior business analyst?
There’s a set of complex set of questions and criteria that go into determining the answer to this question. So instead of providing a straight-forward answer, I’ll help you ask the right questions to find the answer for yourself. Essentially, let’s start unraveling the “it depends” of senior business analysis.
First, consider your organization and your current role.
- What responsibilities do you have?
- Looking at your last few projects, what were your primary contributions?
- How does your organization value these responsibilities?
Now, look forward in terms of what you want this role to be.
- What would be true if you were a senior business analyst?
- What do you enjoy most about your current role that you’d like to do more of?
- What do you enjoy least about your current role that you’d like to minimize?
- What new responsibilities are you interested in taking on? If you are stuck on this one, consider some common senior business analyst responsibilities.
Now look outward and compare your ideas with your organization.
- Does your organization value the activities that you’d like to wrap your role around?
- What benefit would your organization receive if you were a senior business analyst?
- Are there career paths within other departments that you could leverage for the business analyst role?
Finally, look outward, outside of your organization and into the BA environment.
- What responsibilities are other business analysts taking on in your location or industry?
- How do their organizations value the business analyst role and the senior business analyst role?
Now, with these answers in hand, consider “What’s next?” for you and your career. Do your goals work within your organizational context or are they more likely to be achieved elsewhere? Do you want to be the senior business analyst your company wants you to become? Are you ready to set to work on your business analyst competencies and building relevant work experiences qualify yourself for this new role?
As you consider these questions and the many more that will arise as you start down the path of finding your senior business analyst role, be confident in yourself. You can define a career path that suits you as an individual as well as creates new value for your employer. As much as we hunger for defined paths and external validation of our own success, senior business analysts know their strengths and their weaknesses and create opportunities to excel and achieve. As you become increasingly self aware and carve your own path, you’ll find your answer to the question “What is a senior business analyst?”
The Promotable Business Analyst, due out July 8, 2010, will help guide you through finding the answers to these questions, paving your path up the career ladder (and building the ladder where necessary).
Author: Laura Brandenburg hosts Bridging the Gap, is the author How to Start a Business Analyst Career and of the forthcoming eBook The Promotable Business Analyst, a guide book for crafting a fulfilling and successful career as a business analyst.