One of the most common questions I get asked is “how can I become a Business Analyst with no experience?” Roles for business analysts often ask for prior experience, but how can you get experience if you can’t get a role? It’s a tough one. I’ve listed a few tips in this article that I hope will help you if this role is what you want
Speak To Other Business Analysts
A great way to get a role as a business analyst with no experience is to speak to other BAs. This isn’t to ask them for a role. It’s to ask them how they got into it.
It’s a good way to get information on any role, not just BAs. Business analysts all had to start somewhere, whether it’s in development, testing, or even in a non-IT role.
Ask the business analysts in your team or your company how they got started, and if they have any recommendations or tips on how you can get into it. Most of them will appreciate your interest and respect for the role and should be happy to help.
Start Reading Project Documents
The main role of a business analyst is to speak to users and translate their needs into business requirements for a project team. This is a complicated skill, and there’s more to it than just that one sentence.
However, as someone looking to become a BA, you can read some project documents to learn how they are written. Some documents you can read are:
- Business Requirements Documents, which include project definitions, business requirements, and process flows. I have a template here if you’re interested.
- Technical Requirements Documents, which include more technical information and specifics on how requirements can be implemented.
- Project plans and other plans, which are created by project managers, but as a business analyst, you should have some knowledge of them.
Your workplace may use different names or different documents, but the ideas are the same. If you use an Agile approach to software development, the documentation may be in other areas such as cards.
Ask Your Manager For Advice
Your manager should be able to help out if you have an interest in becoming a business analyst. They would want to see you do well and improve your career, and they are in a role where they can monitor you and your work performance.
I got my current role as a BA where I was working in the team as a developer and data analyst. My manager was looking for someone to fill a BA role, so I mentioned my history and was given the chance.
Even if they don’t offer you a role, they can give you some advice on what you can do and how you can go about getting into business analysis. Any little bit of advice is helpful, so even if they don’t tell you what you expect, it’s useful for a business analyst with no experience.
Start Doing Some Business Analysis Tasks
This point ties in to the previous points about asking your manager and speaking to other BAs, but isn’t quite the same thing.
A great way to get some business analysis experience is to start doing some tasks that BAs do! Ask your manager for any tasks that are usually performed by BAs. Even if it’s something small, such as matching functional requirements to business drivers, it’s a start. The experience will be useful and it should create a different method of thinking.
You can also ask other BAs that you know if they need assistance, or if there are any tasks they can recommend for someone in your position. They might be able to help you out with some tasks to improve your knowledge.
If you do enough of these tasks, you’ll build up a bit of experience here and there, and eventually it will be enough to approach your manager or HR and ask for a role as a junior business analyst!
The Main Tip
If you were to take one main point from this article, it would be to focus on getting business analysis experience where you can. If you’re looking to get a business analyst job with no experience, use the role you currently have to slowly build up your experience in this field. As you get to do more work, you’ll learn more, and be given even more work in different areas. Eventually you’ll have enough experience, as mentioned above, to make a move.
I hope these tips on how to become a business analyst with no experience are helpful for you. Do you have any other tips? Share them in the comments section below