Before we get into the question of How do I become Business Analyst?
You need to understand ; What is Business Analysis? What is a Business Analyst? How does Business Analysis help? Click this link to visit the article.
How do I become a Business Analyst?
Before getting into the answer you need to identify under which of the below two category you fall into?
Category One:
• You are thinking about a career change and was suggested as Business Analyst as one option.
• You have been asked to take on some business analyst tasks and you do not have a clue on how to go about it.
Category Two:
• You want to pursue a career in Business Analysis but are not sure how to go about it.
• You are not sure on whether you possess the right skills to become a Business Analyst
Category Three:
• You want to get certified as a Business Analyst
All three categories above have different levels of commitment and hence require different understanding and approach. If you are in category one, before going ahead with this article you need to go a step back to understand what Business Analysis is . Read the earlier articles on this blog, which should give you enough details on understand whether this is what you are looking for . Unless you are clear on the concept of Business Analysis there is no point in getting further as you could end up creating either a golden cage for yourself or a structure which is weak in its foundations and could collapse any time. Either way you won’t be satisfied in your job.
If you belong to Category two and are aware of Business Analysis and want to make a career in It they carry on reading.
If you want to pursue a career as a Business Analyst for whatever career path you may be, as a first step you could get involved in any projects or activities that involve changes in your organization. This could include helping in providing and collecting requirement for the changes in progress, testing or designing and writing process manuals. This will ensure you work with a Business Analyst and get to know how the job functions.
Attend seminars or workshops which give details on how to get a smooth transition as a Business Analyst.
Have a mentor who is an experienced Business Analyst and who can guide you through your training and handhold you during the transition.
In order to become a Business Analyst you need to possess or ensure you brush up on the below mentioned skills sets
• Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving
o You need to possess the ability of thinking beyond what is seen. A situation could be a result of various circumstances and depending on the magnitude of the circumstances situation could vary. You need to have the capability of Analyze the situation based on these varied circumstances and its impact to give the solution to the problem. Looking at the situation from only one set of circumstance could not solve the problem for all the situation
• Leadership and Influencing
o You need to have an uncanny ability of convincing the stakeholders on the solutions suggested by you. This would be possible only when you have a hold on the domain that that you are working on. There could be difference of opinion and opposition to the your suggestion but your need to have the ability to convince the stakeholders without loosing your cool.
• Negotiator/Mediator
o As a Business Analyst one would need to deal with different departments and stakeholder. A change for one department would have an impact on others. As a facilitator and a Negotiator you need to ensure all such impacts are taken into consideration and solutions or justifications for the impact are identified and solutions suggested and implemented keeping the overall interest of the organization in mind.
• A proactive Facilitator
o Dealing with various departments and across the levels in the organizations and at times involving different time zones the Business Analyst has to be a seasoned facilitator to involve the stakeholder together keeping their constraints, strengths and shortfalls in mind to get the desired result from the activity.
• Business Knowledge
o Adequate domain knowledge, if not a Subject Matter Expert, is vital for a Business Analyst to do justice to the Job. It is better to understand the domain and work on improving the knowledge of the domain than jumping into the activity with inadequate knowledge on the subject.
• Communications Skills both written and Verbal
o Understanding the change to be implemented and ensuring the stakeholders are on the same level of understanding will leave no ambiguity in the project and result successful completion of the project. Communication both verbal and written plays a vital role in success of a Business Analyst. Whatever is spoken needs to be recorded and circulated in writing to the stakeholders. One needs to possess through knowledge of the official language of the organization.
If you do not posses any of the skills or are lacking in any one or more of these skills there is nothing to get disheartened you can brush up on all as most of them are pertaining to soft skills.