What is a Business Analyst? Explore the Business Analyst Career Path

The Day-to-Day as a Business Analyst

Business Analysts use their skills in business and project management to analyze problems and provide data-driven solutions to those problems. Business Analysts' day-to-day responsibilities will vary dramatically between different employers and each specific day. They might work for a corporation, a government organization, a medical company, or a software or IT company. They often lead a team of liaisons from each portion of the company, work on their own with input from upper-level management, or work remotely.

They usually work full-time and on-site, but they can sometimes find freelance or remote opportunities. A Business Analyst's tasks usually include investigating a business's goals, issues, and potential solutions; analyzing information; communicating with point people in the business; documenting their findings; presenting their findings; evaluating solutions; implementing solutions; liaising between teams; and arranging and attending meetings.

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What Skills Should Business Analysts Have?

Business Analysts should be self-starters with strong leadership and decision-making skills. They should be fantastic at problem-solving, communication, analytical reasoning, research, and active listening. They should know how to collect information through research, interviews, and meetings strategically. Mastering basic project management, testing skills, spreadsheets, as well as project and team management tools typically happens on the job.

Each employer will have their own technical expectations for you. Most will prefer you to be able to understand and implement agile business and software practices. Most will also expect you to know certain coding languages, databases, software, or technologies that they use within their business or the specific project you’re working on. Testing software and designing business systems will likely be a large portion of the role of a Business Analyst.

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Learn the Skills You Need to Become a Business Analyst

SQL

SQL stands for Structured Query Language. It is a computer language used to store, manipulate, and retrieve data which is stored in a relational database.

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Excel

Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft that runs on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. It is used for calculation, graphing, data visualization, and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro programming.

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Microsoft Office

Microsoft Offices is a family of client software, server software, and services. The Office suite includes Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Outlook Publisher, Access, and OneNote.

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Data Analytics

Data analytics uses analysis techniques to infer conclusions about raw data. Algorithms and machine learning have optimized data analysis over time to find trends and answer questions more efficiently.

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Tableau

Tableau is a data visualization tool. This tool can be used to simplify raw data, reformat data, and perform efficient data analysis. Tableau can also be used to create data visualizations, dashboards, presentations, and worksheets.

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PowerPoint

Powerpoint is a software package developed by Microsoft that is used to create digital presentations consisting of a series of separate pages or slides.

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Business Analyst

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Business Analyst Salaries

A Business Analyst in the United States makes, on average, $86,142 annually, according to Indeed.com.

Salaries for Business Analysts vary by region within the the United States. Listed below are some Business Analyst salaries for specific areas with the United States compared with the average national salary:

U.S. Average $86K source n/a
Alexandria, VA $107K source
+24.48%
Orange County, CA $98K source
+14.88%
Los Angeles, CA $96K source
+11.89%
Washington, D.C. $94K source
+9.73%
Fairfax, VA $91K source
+6.3%
Chicago, IL $89K source
+4.27%
U.S. Average $86K source n/a
Dallas, TX $85K source
-1.18%
Miami, FL $80K source
-6.79%
New York City $77K source
-9.49%
Houston, TX $61K source
-28.33%

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Typical Qualifications to Become a Business Analyst

Business Analyst positions usually require a bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, business administration, economics, statistics, political science, or sociology. Some employers might prefer a Master of Business Administration. Because most training for this role happens on the job, most positions won’t require you to have certifications.

Some employers, however, might prefer it if you have an IIBA certification like Certificate of Capability in Business Analysis (CCBA) or the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP). Certifications will most likely lead to a better salary as well. Business Analysts do not need to know how to code, but they should have a high-level understanding of software engineering so that they can communicate with their development or technical teams, understand which solutions might work, and understand the business's current software limitations.

Searching for Business Analyst Jobs

Most Business Analyst positions are within larger companies. Some might be remote or contract positions, but the majority are in-house. You might even find that some businesses have a budget for education which you can use to get better certifications or attend educational workshops and conferences with. Upward mobility within a larger company from Business Analyst to a management position is certainly possible and much more likely with a certification. Plus, these positions usually lead to a pay raise.

You can find Business Analyst positions on these sites:

Indeed
Glassdoor
Hired
Dice
ZipRecruiter
IIBA Job Board

Learn more about job websites for Business Analysts

Tips to Become a Business Analyst

To get a job as a Business Analyst, you should make sure your LinkedIn is up-to-date, searchable by recruiters, and your headline is optimized for your job search as a Business Analyst. Ensure that you’re using keywords from the job description within your resume. Most larger companies looking for Business Analysts will use software to preliminarily sort resumes and yours won’t stand out without making it past the first round.

Professional certifications can boost your resume because they represent a standardized set of skills that employers or recruiters are searching for. This is something to pursue after you’ve found your first or second position in business analysis. Make sure any courses, certifications, and projects you’ve worked on are represented on your profile and your resume.

Spend time practicing your skills, including soft skills. Practice mock interviews. Recruiters can detect poor soft skills within only a short interview. There are websites that simulate an interview or you can ask a friend to help you out.

See the full guide on how to become a Business Analyst

What Job Titles Would a Business Analyst Hold?

A Business Analyst has a few job titles to choose from, but most of the variety actually comes in the specific industry that the Business Analyst chooses to specialize in. Rising through the ranks in the Business Analyst position is possible and so is pivoting into more technical positions. Each of these career changes will likely lead to a pay raise in the long run.

Business Analysts can look for these job titles:

Junior Business Analyst
Business Analyst Fellow/Apprentice
Business Process Analyst
Functional Analyst
Business Systems Analyst
Business Systems Architect
Business Process Coordinator

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The Day-to-Day as a Business Analyst

What Skills Should Business Analysts Have?

Learn the Skills You Need to Become a Business Analyst

SQL

Excel

Microsoft Office

Data Analytics

Tableau

PowerPoint

Business Analyst

Business Analyst Salaries

Typical Qualifications to Become a Business Analyst

Searching for Business Analyst Jobs

Tips to Become a Business Analyst

What Job Titles Would a Business Analyst Hold?

Additional Business Analyst Resources

Related Careers

Salary Comparison to Business Analyst

Data Analyst

Financial Analyst

Product Manager