Anyone here a Business Analyst?

sports_brah

sports_brah

sports_brah

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Just wondering if anyone here has been a business analyst. There is a very interesting looking job that is being offered quite literally 10 miles away from myself. They want my type of degree and are offering full training, and a quick google shows that it isn't a bad paying job (one of the questions is salary expectations which is always difficult).

Now, the default response for myself is that if I have no real clue what it entails, then it probably is beyond my remit!

Here is the job description.

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The bottom two I have, the excellent computer skills, I have a working knowledge of websites, the office suite, the adobe suite and all round stuff. I did a term of object orientated programming and I learn very fast. Not sure about advanced excel though, that is something I'd need to learn fast.

Got the excellent communication skills and a degree in Business.


The one that I'm intrigued about is the line with the "proven blah blah blah". What exactly are they requiring here? I've done strategy, accounting, operations management etc etc during my time at university, and in some jobs I've had to keep strict records and follow strict procedures, but I figure they're asking more as the job description points to it quite strongly.

Proven numeric skills? I'm okayish at basic maths and I can sit down and figure stuff out, but I'm unsure if they want someone with a very high level in something particular?

Basically any advice would be very useful. :)
 
There are two types of business analyst - finance and technology / change.

That's a finance role by the looks of things.

For the 'proven....' bit they are looking to make sure you can follow their process accurately and that you understand the reason for strict adherence to processes in finance.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;24547497 said:
There are two types of business analyst - finance and technology / change.

That's a finance role by the looks of things.

For the 'proven....' bit they are looking to make sure you can follow their process accurately and that you understand the reason for strict adherence to processes in finance.
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That doesn't sound too bad....

Is it a particularly challenging job? Does it require an innate set of skills/talents or is it something that a bit of skill and a whole load of work would be able to do? Any way to make myself sound more atttractive? :)
 
Learn about share options and how to exercise them 'quick'. It's fairly simple.

Find out what a business analyst does. You're obviously not suited for the role but you could blag your way in.

Sure you want to go for it ? Sounds excruciatingly boring ?
 
Business analyst is such a vague term it's almost void of any meaning.

I'm classified as a statistical modeller, data mining analyst, business analyst in my current role - pending on who asks.

But for the above role, it's actually quite light on requirements so you will be fine, I mean if you break them down.

1. Managing a portfolio of companies operating employee share plans within a team framework.
Translation, customer management & teamwork.

2. Interaction with clients on operation transactions related to their share plan program.
Translation, have decent interpersonal skills & be able to assist with queries, sales, purchases & general day to day.

3. Execute the timely processing of operational transactions, data management, reconciliation, process, reporting & problem solving.
Translation, work quickly & accurately - be able to fix problems or things you may have missed.

4. Organise, develop & maintain procedural & process documentation related to client companies' programs(s) to ensure accurate transactions process & minimise risk.
Translation, document stuff & find way of improving the process/reducing the chances of error.

5. Assist in identifying new systems tools and enhancements to existing system's.
Translation, if you think of a better way of doing something, say.

It's pretty light, but if the money is good/you don't like your current job then go for it.
 
I have just recently" discovered" the business analyst profession and have been trying to get my foot the door. I'm looking at the "IT" sort of BA, but it seems so difficult to get into as most places want experienced people.

Would becoming a data analyst first help me into getting into the BA route?
 
NoodleKing said:
I have just recently" discovered" the business analyst profession and have been trying to get my foot the door. I'm looking at the "IT" sort of BA, but it seems so difficult to get into as most places want experienced people.

Would becoming a data analyst first help me into getting into the BA route?
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Many BAs come from IT Development or Testing back grounds. It is indeed difficult to get your foot in the door, but check places like the IIBA (http://uk.iiba.org/) or the BCS (http://certifications.bcs.org/content/ConCertification/51 for more information on Certifications etc.

The Role is fundamentally about demonstrating a sound theoretical and practical understanding of the field (understanding business problems and the software lifecycle etc.)...although that is over-simplifying it somewhat.
 
Almost every single BA I've worked with has been an idiot to be honest, all fluff & no meat.

Strong data analytical skills should be the cornerstone of a BA, or to be honest anybody working at that level (but it seems to get missed off the list of requirements when they find the people for the roles) - which to those familiar with working with BA's is pretty ironic.
 
Thing is, "Business Analyst" will be something slightly different to pretty much every company looking to employ one, so it's hard to give a completely quantifiable answer to what you'll be doing. Are you applying to a graduate programme, where they'll actually train you up to perform analysis properly, or a smaller company that just wants someone with enough education in their background to sit at a desk and crunch some numbers?
 
elmarko said:
Almost every single BA I've worked with has been an idiot to be honest, all fluff & no meat.

Strong data analytical skills should be the cornerstone of a BA, or to be honest anybody working at that level (but it seems to get missed off the list of requirements when they find the people for the roles) - which to those familiar with working with BA's is pretty ironic.
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Are you in IT or Finance? If in Finance, no harm done ;)

isonomicjedi said:
The best excel site on the net is this http://www.youtube.com/user/ExcelIsFun?feature=watch


Has loads of walkthroughs with voiceover explaining what is what. and downloadable workbooks
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U wot?
 
whilst I am not a BA myself, I have worked with many over the years.

Basically....they get paid a lot of money for very little work

If you want £50k+ and don't mind sat talking to people and drinking coffee all day then it could be the ideal job

Think you have to drink filtered coffee though, and leave the bits in the kitchen sink for other people to clean up
 
Random Guy said:
Are you in IT or Finance? If in Finance, no harm done ;)
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Bit of both, business intelligence.

"BI technologies provide historical, current and predictive views of business operations. Common functions of business intelligence technologies are reporting, online analytical processing, analytics, data mining, process mining, complex event processing, business performance management, benchmarking, text mining, predictive analytics and prescriptive analytics." - fits what we do pretty well.

glen8 said:
whilst I am not a BA myself, I have worked with many over the years.

Basically....they get paid a lot of money for very little work

If you want £50k+ and don't mind sat talking to people and drinking coffee all day then it could be the ideal job

Think you have to drink filtered coffee though, and leave the bits in the kitchen sink for other people to clean up
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This reflects my experiences of BA's mostly :p
 
You have to do all of that Glen. It's a rule.

I act as a BA on most of my projects. As well as technical resource/architect and PM.

I have done some pretty good PMI stuff on Business Analysis.
 
Hey, we do important stuff; that coffee ain't gonna drink itself you know.

elmarko said:
Strong data analytical skills should be the cornerstone of a BA, or to be honest anybody working at that level (but it seems to get missed off the list of requirements when they find the people for the roles) - which to those familiar with working with BA's is pretty ironic.
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Can you define 'strong data analytical skills' and tell me why I need them? I've been doing process analyst, ba and product owner roles for 15 years in waterfall and agile project teams. Some data analysis is required, but I wouldn't say it was the cornerstone of the job description. Maybe in your organisation, but I don't generally work in finance or BI, I've done some retail finance (the tosh that is six sigma) but mainly media.
 
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elmarko said:
Bit of both, business intelligence.

"BI technologies provide historical, current and predictive views of business operations. Common functions of business intelligence technologies are reporting, online analytical processing, analytics, data mining, process mining, complex event processing, business performance management, benchmarking, text mining, predictive analytics and prescriptive analytics." - fits what we do pretty well.
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Ah okay, for BI your statement makes absolute sense. For the conventional IT BA, data analysis is probably the most redundant skill in the book (with the very rare exception).
 
^ ^ Ay, as Random Guy said.

BI/BA to be more specific, all facets of business intelligence require at least a good core understanding of analytics's (BA's specifically need it as they are meant to gather the requirements & often either do nothing (this one happens most, drinking coffee & chatting), come back with insane proposals which are impossible or have no measurable value).

Almost all of the ones I've worked with within the field of BI are useless (bar a couple of exceptions).

But it does highlight how meaningless the term BA really is, very much pendent on the field you work within what kind of skills you will need.
 
elmarko said:
BI/BA to be more specific, all facets of business intelligence require at least a good core understanding of analytics's (BA's specifically need it as they are meant to gather the requirements & often either do nothing (this one happens most, drinking coffee & chatting), come back with insane proposals which are impossible or have no measurable value).
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This happens a lot. However, BAs will also tell you that the reverse frequently happens too; developers and architects don't want to get involved in the discussion around what is and what isn't possible. They just want the requirements and to code. Of course, this generally isn't possible on projects as the BAs tend to be generalists and so need the technical input to help bound the scope.

elmarko said:
But it does highlight how meaningless the term BA really is, very much pendent on the field you work within what kind of skills you will need.
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Hence I describe what I do for a living as 'stuff on IT projects'.
 
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