Whether you have years of experience or are just getting started, sometimes to advance your business analyst career it’s time to seek out a new job opportunity. But finding a new job can be a frightening proposition. Here in the US, we are fed rather frightening monthly unemployment statistics. This makes it feel like it’s an impossible time to find a new job and, especially, to find a job that also represents a forward step in your career.
Richard Nolles, in What Color is Your Parachute? (the world’s best-selling job-hunting book) taught me that when you look inside the month between 2 and 3 million vacancies were filled each month during 2009 and early 2010.
In today’s economy, yes it’s more difficult to find a job. But 2-3 million people are letting us know it’s not impossible. What does it take to be one of those 2-3 million people? Richard Nolles provides many job hunt strategies, and a core concept he shares is focus - know what you want and do what it takes to achieve it.
I couldn’t agree more. This consolidated list of tips will help you optimize (and focus) your business analyst job search. We pull from stories lived in all kinds of roles — job seekers, hiring managers, mentors, local professional leaders, recruiters, contractors, and consultants to give you the tips about what it really takes to find a business analyst job.
Business Analyst Resume Tips – Position Your Qualifications
A resume is a marketing document — it presents you as a qualified candidate to a potential employer. Your resume doesn’t have to be a complete catalog of your professional history. The posts below will help you make good decisions about what information to include in your resume and what information it will be best to leave out.
3 Resume Tips to Ensure You Get Calls for Business Analyst Jobs
Is your resume a hodge podge of varied career experiences?
How to blend accomplishments and responsibilities on my resume?
How to handle job titles in a business analyst resume
How to write a resume summary for a business analyst position
Hiring a resume writer: Interview with Steven Gara, CBAP
Business Analyst Job Search Tips – Cut Through the Clutter
Job searches take lots of time and energy. With a bit of focus, you can streamline your search and present your best self for the best business analyst opportunities. These tips will help you narrow your focus to expand your possibilities.
How to increase your chances of finding a business analyst job in this tough market
Thoughts on the business analyst job market from an IT recruiter
How industry expertise can impact your business analyst job search
How do I get beyond being a ‘jack of all trades’?
Overcoming common challenges to find business analyst contract jobs
Do I accept this business analyst job offer or shove it?
Business Analyst Job Interview Tips – Seal the Deal
Once you land an interview for a business analyst job, you’ll want to do everything you can to ensure you’ll be successful. Preparation is key, as is research. These tips will help you prepare for a job interview with confidence.
How do I answer these BA interview questions?
What questions should a BA ask in a job interview?
5 Tips to land more business analyst job interviews
Professional Networking Tips – Leverage the Hidden BA Job Market
We hear about the “hidden job market” (i.e. those jobs that are never posted before they are filled), but how do we tap into it? One answer: our professional network. Professional networking doesn’t have to be cheesy and it can be fun. Use these tips to grow and cultivate your professional network and increase your chances of finding out about new opportunities.
6 Simple Tips for Building a Professional Network
Jenni Doyle on professional networking and your job search
Using social media as part of your job search strategy
How do I find a BA job in a new city?
Don’t Make These Business Analyst Job Search Mistakes
Wait, there’s more. Subscribe to our free email course and receive a lesson on 5 Business Analyst Job Search Mistakes We’ll help you avoid the most common pitfalls business analysts face when looking for their next job opportunity.
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By Laura Brandenburg. Laura Brandenburg is passionate about business analysis. She's found her niche helping aspiring business analysts find transferable skills and position themselves in the BA job market. To stay up-to-date on the latest from Bridging the Gap be sure to sign-up for our free email course and weekly eNewsletter. View more blog posts by Laura Brandenburg |
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow — next time someone asks me this question I’m sending them directly to this page. Thank you for the comprehensive list of resources, Laura!
And thank you also for taking the time to add Amazon affiliate links to the books you mention or recommend here. With this initiative, Bridging the Gap is sponsoring the acquisition of books to improve the education of 30 underprivileged children in Brazil (via Projeto 100%: http://projeto100.org/eng) — their only chance to escape the vicious circle of poverty that has trapped their families for generations. Your help is much appreciated.
Thanks so much for the positive feedback Adriana! And, we are happy to support Projeto 100% – what an appropriate recipient of funds from BAs buying books.
Laura, this is amazing – thank you for all the great tips.
Could you provide tips to not appear ‘meek’ in interviews and during your first days on the job?
Thanks, Michelle. It is quite amazing sometimes to see how many articles we’ve written on a topic over the course of the last 2 1/2 years…you don’t really realize it until you pull them all together like this.
I like your question and let’s take it for the Help a BA! series … can you give me a bit more info, though? When you mention appearing “meek” in interviews and on your first days on the job, what’s the context? Is this your own assessment of your behavior or feedback you’ve received from others? What problems or issues does this cause with your job search or your positioning in the organization?
Hi Laura, when I start a new job I usually am quiet while I listen and gather information. I am called a sunny person because I smile and talk postively around everyone. So, the context is from other people that are going to be working with me, after 5 days on the job – observing me. My latest manager has reported this to me that the functional analylsts are worried because I seem meek. I checked with a former boss and he thought so too at the beginning. So, I guess having been seen like this in several jobs – I don’t think that is the way I want to come across. How do you seem strong, capable and intelligent without being meek or going the other way and seeming like a bulldozer.
Michelle,
Thanks so much for sharing. I think I often act similarly in a new position and it is great that your latest manager took the opportunity to give this feedback…otherwise how would one know about how such laudable actions (taking time to understand before being understood and cultivate a positive relationship with your stakeholders) are being perceived?
Let me think about this one. A few ideas are percolating as well as some advice I’ve received from other managers in the past. I’m excited to write this blog post.
I am an MBA graduate looking out for Business Analyst roles in the UK. And I am glad I stumbled on to this site. It is really very helpful.