Where To Start Your Business Analyst Journey?

If you have gained your BCS Business Analyst Foundation Certificate or participated in a Business Analyst course, but you do not know where to start applying the business analysis theory and skill sets you’ve learnt, then we highly recommend you start applying the business analysis skills at your current workplace even if no one has told you to do this.

It is best you start applying the knowledge you have gained in your current workplace, so you can start sharing your opinions with your peers or management about process improvement or make suggestions about how a slight change in XYZ could increase certain results for the organisation you are working for.

You can start by analysing the full start to end business process at your current workplace. For example, if you are working on a complaint handling project such as PPI, Pensions, Mortgages, or Investments you can start analysing the step-by-step process of dealing with the customers complaint and writing down this process. You can even go as far as drawing out your current process on a process map on a free tool called draw.io. You can then start writing down any flaws or gaps in the process and how the processes can be improved.

Secondly you can look at the current system you are using and start documenting how the systems can be improved. You can do this by creating a use case or a set of user stories describing the functionality of the systems. Or you can create a wireframe and comment where you believe the improvement can be made.

Thirdly, we believe being a Business Analyst, a vast part of the role requires you to be a good communicator. As the Business Analyst job will require you to gather requirements from key stakeholders and sometimes you might even have to liaise and communicate with external stakeholders. We appreciate that we’re not all-natural born speakers but it’s definitely a skill you can improve upon through constant practice. The great investor Warren Buffet once said his greatest fear was public speaking but over time and through constant practice, he’s become one of the best speaker’s in the world today.

You can improve your communication by doing little things like taking notes in your next meeting or round up session and then summarising the key points towards the end of the session. This will allow you to build your confidence in communicating with your peers and management team.

Finally, no matter how you look at it, your success in an organisation depends on your ability to successfully network. We strongly believe your network is your net worth. Some people consider networking "office politics" however successful networking means being able to communicate effectively with your peers and your management team.

Finally, all these key skill sets will be an essential asset for you when secure your first Business Analyst role.

To find out more on how you can become a Business Analyst by gaining internship experience and benefitting from our recruitment support. Check out the Business Analysis Programme.