Write your real job description

Before heading off in a new direction, it is helpful to understand where you are at. Taking a bit of time now to take stock of your current (or most recent) position will help you frame up where you are headed in your business analyst career.

Yesterday we kicked off a week-long series of posts about the question “Can I be promoted as a business analyst?” In today’s post, we take the first step by writing our own job description.

Most of you probably have a job description. How many of you have looked at it in the last 3 months? The last 6? The last 12?  If you have read it, how relevant is it to what you are doing today?

While job descriptions might be updated annually (emphasis here on might), jobs and roles are fluid and tend to evolve over time. Assuming that the job description was accurate in the first place, new managers, new processes, new organizational initiatives, new hires, and small changes to the organization’s structure can all contribute to your job changing. Also possible is that you have evolved so much in your role that your job description simply no longer describes what you do. (Hint: This can mean it’s time for a promotion!)

Since your job description might have bearing on what you are actually doing, it can be a worthwhile exercise to write your own. Now before you start worrying about what HR will say or what your boss will think, rest assured that this job description you’ll be writing doesn’t have to be shown to anyone. Once you work through the exercise, you may choose to share it with someone, but it will not be necessary. The primary purpose of this new job description will be to clarify your own understanding of what you do and how you add value.

So let’s get started. Get out a blank sheet of paper or open a new file on your computer. The key is to start from scratch.

Now, start by giving yourself a title. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should accurately describe what you do. Maybe “business analyst” works or maybe “business systems analyst” or “business process analyst or “business analyst / project manager” is more accurate. You can be creative. Maybe “Go-to person for Salesforce” or “Help the CTO consider what the business wants to do with this new technology” does the trick.

Start a list of what you do on a day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month basis. Start just by looking at what you did yesterday. Then last week. Then in the last month. It can help get past “writer’s block” if you are more specific than generic at first. Don’t cheat by pulling out the BABOK or other book on requirements and go down the table of contents. Think about what you actually did.

As you list out activities, patterns will emerge. Capture these as responsibilities. You are starting to build a picture of your real job description now.

Another way to pick up patterns is to consider the outcome or the accomplishment from each of your activities or responsibilities. Really look at how you spend your time and ascertain what you were responsible for achieving for your organization. Consider what motivated you to hold a particular meeting or draft a specific model. As you do this, you will start to see your role in a broader context of how it fits into the organization.

Put this aside and come back to it later on in the day or later on this week. Before you leave, take a moment to leave a comment here about this process or share the creative title you’ve given yourself! And check back tomorrow to explore some possible senior level roles within the business analyst profession.

Editor’s Note: Interested in learning more about being a Promotable Business Analyst? My next eBook will address this topic specifically. Learn more and sign-up to be the first to know when The Promotable Business Analyst is published.

By Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg. Laura Brandenburg is an independent business analyst consultant. She is passionate about the BA profession and is committed to contributing by supporting this blog as a forum for business analysts to build on each other's experiences. View more blog posts by Laura (Brandau) Brandenburg

Related posts:

1. What’s your next step toward earning that business analyst promotion?
2. Can I be promoted as a business analyst?
3. Building a transition plan to onboard a new business analyst hire