It’s no secret that many (if not most) of the people doing business analysis work do not hold the title of “Business Analyst.” While Jake Calabrese wrote an eloquent story about how “business analysis can be a career ender…“, most of you aren’t considering swapping “management consultant” for “business analyst.” No, most of you have what we might consider less glorified or in some cases plain inaccurate titles, such as:
- Systems analyst
- Technology coordinator
- Product coordinator
- Project analyst
- Functional analyst
- Requirements analyst
Or, maybe it’s time that your business analysis responsibilities are recognized more highly and you should be consider titles such as:
- Senior business analyst
- Strategic business analyst
- Enterprise analyst
- Business consultant
- Strategy consultant
- Business advisor (a cool title Kupe suggested over at BATimes in his article “Business Analysis May Be the Problem”)
- Or {insert your favorite combination of fun words here}.
Are you ready for a change?
Annual performance reviews can be a good time to test the waters and see if a title change might be a viable option this year. This topic can also trigger a conversation about the professional development you’ve been doing outside of work. Your manager’s reaction to your suggestion of a title change might also help you discover how your work is truly perceived — just be ready for an honest assessment!
I made the switch from “Systems Analyst” to “Manager, Business Analysis” back in 2005. I remember telling my manager that I had found this group of people doing what I do. I told him that while we thought this role was something unique to our projects, I had found this whole profession developing. There were others like me helping scope technology projects and they have a title that is more appropriate for what I do. My manager didn’t put up a fight. So, while we went back and forth about the “manager” piece and who I would report to (a completely separate topic), I won “business analyst” without a pause.
In that moment of my career, the title change was not a super big deal. But as I moved forward, having the right title helped me stay connected to the BA profession and fully leverage the resources available to me. It played a role in how I saw my career and my work. And, I think, it also helped communicate to a new set of business stakeholders who I started working with that I didn’t just care about “systems” I also cared about the “business.”
A new, more appropriate title can formally recognize your role and help raise your profile within the organization. And even though I’m happy to continue writing for a group of functional requirements systems technical analysts who do business analysis, words do matter. They help form people’s perceptions. You might deserve better than you have today.
The question is, are you ready to ask for your title change?
Looking forward to your feedback on this one. Have you recently experienced a title change or received feedback when you asked for one?
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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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Not sure if sth like “Business Engineer” or “Process Engineer” would belong to first or second category …?
I suppose it depends on your context. Does your title accurately reflect what you do and the value you provide to your organization?
I do like “Business Engineer”…this seems fairly high-level to me. Process Engineer seems like another term for Process Analyst, but I may be misinformed. Any context you can provide would be helpful!
I strongly believe in “Requirements Analyst”. It is what we do most, so be proud.
Fair enough. Most of the jobs that I’ve seen recently with the “Requirements Analyst” title tend to be lower-level roles, often lacking responsibilities in enterprise analysis. In my mind, this has made this job title, while valid, start to gain the perception of a more junior-level business analyst.
I’d have to agree with both of you Laura and David. While it IS what we do, the profession is maturing enough where there is beginning to be a little stigma assigned to some particular titles, such as Reqs Analyst for the reason Laura mentioned.
As for myself with the the title, Head Doormat (actually it’s Application Web Developer Lead), I’m ready for ANY change that is more aligned with what it is I do. As soon as I can narrow that down to one role to apply a title to, I’ll approach the boss.
Have a great day!
Interesting. I work with a lot of companies and have not seen the “Requirements Analyst” being used anywhere.
In the one exception, I was involved in introducing requirements management to a company that had Business Analysts, but their work was really a Systems Analyst job, so we recommended Requirements Analyst as the title for people doing requirements.
I think what makes a job title more/senior/important is how much importanec is placed on the work. If requirements work is seen as “low”, so will the job.
In the company I work for the common title used to be “Systems Analysts”. In the last 10 years it has moved towards “Requirements Analyst”. Trends indeed. Lately I have seen lots of professionals wishing it would change to Business Analyst though.
I have seen Requirements Analyst used in so many ways. Outside of a particular company, it is pretty meaningless. One of my recent contracts, all the contractors were call Requirements Analysts to differentiate them from the employees who were called Business Analysts. The reason was the huge difference in knowledge and experience between the two groups of people, so folks wanted a handle to know what the person’s experience was.
I have seen people called System Analyst, when they were really a Business Analysts as IIBA defines it, and other people called System Analyst who were looking through existing code to figure out what a system did.
Business Analyst can also mean a person who does a financial analysis of a business, which is quite different from working on requirements for a software project. I am leaning toward the title Business System Analyst to differentiate from a financial Business Analyst. I see Business System Analyst appear more in ads in Canada and Europe.
Geri
Perhaps we should give up on job titles, and focus on what a person actually does. Can you describe what you do in 25 words? focus on your results, what you deliver to other people.
I couldn’t agree more. With the definition of Business Analyst being so varied (e.g. from members of finance teams, to the project managers who are in the process of writing business cases to the service desk and application support staff) the BA title just seem to be misused. Particularly in large organisations where people are allocated to projects based on their title not their experience.
I personally believe that we should be concentrating more on clarifying the role of a BA in an organisation and what they deliver, and making people understand that all those other people who don’t fit into the (quite large) bucket are not BA’s rather than trying to find more titles that will just confuse people/organisations more and never give the BA’s the recognition that we deserve
I giggled when I read this post. For years my husband struggled to understand what I do and provide an answer when someone asked about my vocation. His answer when pressed: “she gets people to talk and she writes it down”.
Getting experts to think in a structured way and to share what they know, transcribing disparate information into a blueprint from which others can build. Quite a talent!
“Getting experts to think in a structured way and to share what they know, transcribing disparate information into a blueprint from which others can build. Quite a talent!”
Well said, bravo…
I’ve been reflecting and quiet…seeing where this discussion would go.
I think where we got to in this particular discussion is that BA roles are messy and we need to help the business understand our role better, but that titles are not really that important in doing so…metaphors and clear statements might be better.
Though Geri and Tatiana do seem to think titles are important as well (as do I obviously).
Doug and Joan, I agree: “Getting experts to think in a structured way and to share what they know, transcribing disparate information into a blueprint from which others can build. Quite a talent!” Well said, bravo…
But how do we say this in 3 words or less (i.e. a job title)? Or is that truly unimportant?
I think what we put in our email signature, our LinkedIn profiles, and how we are labeled in organizational charts sends a message. It’s just one small part of the message, but it’s part of the message nonetheless. The more consistent communication that comes about our roles from professionals with a common title, the more recognition the role will get overall.