Who's a Business Analyst?
Business analysts help a company grow larger, stronger and better. They look closely at a company’s or department’s operations for areas of weakness, and come up with solutions to overcome those weaknesses. If you like to help people find ways to better themselves and their work, this is a great career option for you!
As a business analyst, you are the bridge between a business and the technical processes needed to run that business. You would analyse business models or ideas, and come up with ways to make them more efficient.
What will you do?
Where will you work?
How do you get there?
What skills would you need?
Communication Skills
It’s harder than ever to get people’s attention, what with so much information being thrown at them. But, people cannot resist a good story. Every good marketing campaign has a story to tell their customers and relate to them on an emotional level. Marketers who tell great stories through their marketing campaigns are always in great demand.
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Problem-solving Skills
Patients will be coming to you with different issues with fertility. You must be able to assess their problem, analyse the reason and work on coming up with a solution.
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Technical Skills
You will be frequently using accounting software and other financial tools as many CAs need to work with technology to analyse data and prepare financial reports. build this skill
Creative Skills
As a marketer, you need to get people hooked on your brand. This requires you to come up with fun, entertaining, and exceptional ways to engage your audience. There is a lot of competition in the market, and the only way to be on top is by constantly doing something new and innovative.
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Attention to Detail
Working with eggs and embryos is a very tedious task. Every little detail matters when you are observing them. If you are good at giving attention to detail, then your job at the laboratory will be made much easier.
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Social Skills
You will be working on a lot of cool projects and will be meeting a lot of potential clients and customers on the job. And so, a big part of your job will involve interacting with these people. You could be great at coming up with ideas, but that is only one part of your job. You will need to talk and meet people, build a rapport with them, to establish your credibility. Especially if you’re a freelancer, you will need to have certain social skills.
build this skillHow do you make it to the top ranks?
Product Analyst
Your initial responsibilities in business analytics would include collecting, analysing, communicating, and documenting existing and potential new products that your firm may wish to bring to the market.
Business Analyst Specialist
As you get promoted to Business Analyst Specialist, you will have to provide analytical and technical support to a business by developing innovative software and solutions. At this level, you can explore your creativity to come up with ideal solutions.
Business Manager
This is your first step towards a management position. You will be responsible for coordinating the efforts of multiple business analysts on a project. You must determine how the project’s requirements will be managed, create budgets plans for the project, and ensure that all analysts on your team maintain quality and consistency in their work.
Senior/Lead Business Analyst
At this stage, you will choose and lead a specialisation (industry or product). Your primary task is to recommend solutions and provide inputs on projects related to your field. As you’re in a senior position, you will also have to mentor junior analysts within your organisation.
Chief Technology Officer
This is an executive-level position. Here, you will be responsible for a particular company or companies. Apart from IT-related issues, you will develop, employ, manage and analyse the company’s technological resources.
Note: At any stage in your career, you can choose to become a consultant and use your experience to advise and implement analytical solutions in organisations.
Pursuing your career locally VS abroad
As India continues to be a powerful IT hub, the demand for business analysts in the country continues to remain high. It is predicted that by 2020, India will have the highest number of business analysts in the world. These professionals are entering several sectors like retail, corporate finance, banking, healthcare, e-commerce, hospitality and manufacturing, among others. Aspirants could get into this field with a BBA, or even pursue an MBA for better prospects in top companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Accenture, etc. The average fee of a bachelor’s course ranges between INR 1,00,000 to 2,50,000 for the three-year programme, while a two-year MBA course in Business Management may cost between INR 1,00,000 to INR 6,00,000.
Business analytics is gaining wide popularity in major organisations and sectors across the world. Business analytics professionals are particularly valuable in Silicon Valley, where a large number of tech startups need the data-driven advantage to make a breakthrough. With India being a major outsourcing hub of IT-related services, business analysts from the country are highly in demand. If you wish to pursue this career abroad, start with an overseas MBA degree. This may cost anywhere from INR 20,00,000 to 50,00,000 for tuition fees with additional living costs and other expenses. The minimum duration for an MBA is 12 to 14 months for a short-term course. Some of the best colleges to pursue an overseas MBA are Harvard Business School (USA), London Business School (UK), University of Toronto: Rotman School (Canada), Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne (Australia), Nanyang Business School (Singapore).
How much would you get paid?
The exact number will depend on where you’re working, your education, skill-set and internship experience.
What are your career options?
Operations Manager
As an operations manager, you will overlook the daily tasks of various departments in the company and ensure that business goals are met. You will be responsible for identifying and analysing business needs such as current products and services, and standard operating procedures. You will also provide technical or non-technical recommendations for the overall improvement of the business and its resource management. This job role requires a bachelor’s degree in any kind of business-related course with additional soft skills like conflict management, business negotiation, business organisation, decision making and leadership.
Product Owner
A product owner is a business analyst with a background in information technology. As a product owner, you are responsible for maximising the value of the company’s product in the market. You will take on several roles such as business strategist, market analyst, product designer, customer liaison, and project manager. A background in business management with certification programmes in Scrum, Lean, XP and Kanban, will help you learn which practices can be employed.
Project Manager
A highly popular career path for business analysts, project management involves planning and executing a wide variety of projects within the organisation. As a project manager, you will oversee the project’s development while ensuring that it meets stakeholder expectations, stays within the allotted budget, and meets the deadline. This role requires a diverse set of skills; you can opt for proper management training after completing your business course or while on the job. Additionally, you need to be good at communication, leadership, team management, negotiation and risk management.
Business Architect
Business architecture is concerned with developing and maintaining an organisation’s business capabilities as per the business strategy and goals. As a business architect, you would work on projects at an enterprise level to improve business processes through different strategies and ideas. Pursue an MBA and gain several years of experience in the field before you choose this specialisation. You will need a sound understanding of business principles, have the ability to implement the latest technologies, and need communication skills to work with various departments in the company.
Relationship Manager
Business relationship management is the understanding and application of activities related to business networking. Relationship managers are mostly senior-level business partners who support and advance business objectives for overall growth. As a relationship manager, you would understand and influence stakeholders while building a strong relationship with them. Naturally, you will need excellent communication and listening skills along with the ability to visualise and solve complex problems within an organisation. This role requires an MBA in business or IT-related courses.
Subject Matter Expert
Subject matter expertise is a top choice for business analysts who wish to focus on particular interests and develop their abilities in those fields. As a subject matter expert (SME), you would have sound knowledge and experience in a particular domain or industry, and will often be called upon to train young aspirants in that field. While most business analysts overlook various areas in a project, you would understand the inner workings of a department in terms of teamwork, processes implementation and so on. You would evaluate how a change in business policies can impact your department and, thus, how change must be introduced for overall business growth. Most SMEs have a bachelor’s degree in business courses and work their way up by gaining experience in the field.
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