Does anyone know how the job market for Business Analysts is right now? People who are looking for jobs can you share your experiences?

I work as a BA in a Fortune 500 financial company.  My job is supporting the Project manager which includes pulling, analyzing data and making some recommendations based on that data.  I use SQL, SAS, Microstrategy and Access to pull data.  I use VB to write macros in excel and use a lot of pivot table function.    I also have to give presentation in front of the team sometimes.  I don't know anything about QA but I do some project testing as well.  About the degree, many BA have business degree with some IT background. 

For BA, you just need good communication skills regardless of whatever your academic background is. For QA, its not mandatory to have technical bckgrd but its better to have one..but if you practice using some tools, then it will be easy, also as for writing queries you can learn it soon...good luck

Jonny,

I have a bachelor's degree with Finance major. Where do I start if I were to pursue BA as my career? What abt SQL and other programs? Where do I learn them?

Quagmire, Since you have a Finance degree, it might be better for you to look job as a Financial Analyst.  It is some what similar to BA but it does require Finance and GAAP understanding.  You can try looking at financial companies career page around your area.  Also, FA makes more money than BA but since many financial companies have taken TARP money, it might be difficult for you to get sponsorship if you are looking for one.  Good luck.

i think this quagmire dude has a GC so he doesnt have to worry about all this. But about the BA, i am sure a lot of the things will be learned from on the job training and all projects are diffferent. My question is what are the transferable skills you need to have for this. can u be specific as far as the softwares and programs goes? thanks jonny

It depends on the industry and like you said many companies do give on the job training if new software or program is introduced.   About transferable skills or software and programs, many BA job posting I have seen does ask for SQL, SAS and/or Microstrategy experience.

Quagmire,

I have been a consulting BA for several years. Roles of a BA has not yet been that clearly defined, and can vary from company to company. QA and BA roles are somewhat interchangable for a lot of companies. Depending on the size of the project, sometimes BAs also required to do some QA and testing work. More often than not, BA requires more communications/interpersonal skills than QA; you must be able to run meetings and requirement gathering sessions. You also have to author a lot of documents that focus on managing and communicating requirements. You don't need a lot of technical expertise for a BA role, but you absolutely need to understand the software development lifecycle, and the different development methodologies used. There are a lot of buzz words and terms in the industry these days that you should be familiar with, Waterfall, RUP, Agile development, usecases etc etc. In most cases one is able to quickly learn the process at work, but you cannot be clueless if it comes up in the interview.

I highly recommend you visit http://www.theiiba.org/am/ and possibly be a member if you are serious about making a BA career. Once you are a member you will get what is called a BA Book of Knowledge, a.k.a BABOK in the BA community. This is an extremely helpfull manual for BAs.

Good Luck!!

Appreciate your responses guys. I'm contemplating on what I should do - Open a store, start a business, pursue my MBA, get an Insurance license....and what not....

thanks ar es...your info is really helpful..can you also throw some light in the employment prospect at this time? i am assuming you are working but what are the possibilities like right now for BA? I know that some techniques like Agile does not require a BA per se as its based on direct communication back and forth between the customer and deveopers....

 

Pixie,

I have not been on the BA market for several years since I started at my current client, but from what I've been hearing, it is difinitely not the best of times right now. And I am talking about consulting BAs, since a majority of companies are under hiring freeze these days and will not even consider full times employees. But there is still demand for consulting BAs but the main problem right now is heavy competition. More BAs on the job market. So the client can demand much more experience and qualifications. And the billing rate has gone down by almost 30-40%

For someone begining a consulting career, I would advise you be ready for both QA and BA positions. It's easy to switch back and forth, and both experience are relevant to each other on your resume. It is said that a good BA will write requirements like it is a test script, so experience in writing test scripts is definitely a plus for BAs. What I see happening in the market, due to clients' ability to demand more experienced contractors, a lot of PMs are being hired for BA role and BAs are being hired for QA role. That should change as the job market improves and QAs can also transition to BA roles.

ar es and Jonny, 

Guys,,,u still think taking a business analyst training and get into a project in this poor market? 5 yrs resume goes into Trash..u have to have minimum 7 yrs exp to get a vendor call at least...i would rather stay in OPT for sometimes....

Hey Guys

I also want to join this BA and QA market. I am in Boston and prefer classroom training for QA. I prefer classroom training than online. Do you guys know who are offering good classroom training. If you have good experiences in online training, please share.

Do you know some nice trainers who can give one to one training?

I have been working as a BA (consulting) for about 3 years now with Fortune 50 companies. One of the important skills of BA is being very analytical and for that you need a very good understaning of the system you are developing or will work on and the business practices. I do feel that you will learn in the job more than through text book, etc. But you should also be good at learning various softwares without much assistance from others. I really enjoy the job but would love a full time position now since i am tired of working as a consultant.

Bumping this thread with a query on my mind....

Is QA/BA a pursuable career for someone who's not an extrovert? I tend to be hesitant while meeting new people and I'm about to start my training next month or sometime later this summer and I don't wanna waste my time seeking a career that's not meant for me.....

Anybody care to shed some light? 

Messiah: If you're an extrovery, i would say complete NO for a BA role.  BA is more like a talker as you have to deal with the client and your communication skills should be 10/10. However for QA, you can handle that but you need to be more technical.

Hope that helps.

What about Financial Analysts. Anybody got some ideas?

Guys

Market has improved... especially domains related to Finance, Insurance and Health Care (EDI) sector. Especially with Obama's push in the healthcare sector, lot of EMR projects are booming left and right.

There's a free monthly training going on now.. focus geared towards Health Care EDI, Banking and Insurance along with placement service. No contracts... operate on good rapport. Feel free to partake on the course & good luck.

315 886 1313
nicoenterprises2(at)gmail.com

What courses do you offer, solitude man? and what are the requirements?