Whether you’re looking for your first job as a Business Analyst, want to grow in your career, or have chosen to shift trajectory and make a career change, being able to highlight your qualifications and skills will help you stand out in your interview. In this article, we will take a look at some of the notable skills that employers look for in a prospective Business Analyst.
Personal Skills Employers Look for in a Business Analyst
Long-term success as a Business Analyst depends on upholding standards and being relevant in your industry. In your Business Analyst job interviews, you should be able to show off your industry knowledge and credentials. Here you need to focus on your commitment to personal development and the interpersonal skills you bring to the table.
Business Analyst skills are a combination of hard talents and soft skills, which will vary depending on the industry and the company itself. It goes without saying that formal training and certificates are the best way to demonstrate that you have learned the foundational skills of BA. However, Business Analysts come from many walks of life, and therefore their interpersonal skills as just as important.
Let’s look at a list of the personal skills needed in a BA:
Problem Solving
Business Analysts are problem solvers. Their role requires them to analyse problems in a business and use their skills to develop a solution. You must have a passion for researching why something isn’t working and enjoy investing time and energy into finding a way to fix it.
Time Management
A Business Analyst’s work schedule is jam-packed with tasks, so efficient time management is essential if they are to complete them all on time. Understanding priorities and then setting up daily tasks are the two most important components of time management for Business Analysts. Multitasking is an important sub-skill since it allows you to complete multiple things at the same time.
Active communication and listening
A key skill to have as a Business Analyst is communication skills. Business Analysts need to be strong communicators because many of their tasks require they interact with people. A BA must be clear and concise in their communications to present their points well and effectively, as well as to act as an “interpreter” between different departments in the business. They must be able to articulate to stakeholders the problems of the business and subsequent solutions with clarity and confidence while remaining open to all suggestions and remaining unperturbed by disagreements in opinion.
Analytical Capabilities
Analytical abilities are needed to investigate the problems that the business is facing and for gathering solutions to those problems. BAs must be able to gather information, interpret, analyse, and then communicate it effectively to relevant stakeholders, and the business at large.
Emotional Intelligence
Understanding how emotions function in a business’s culture enables you to use them in intentional ways to influence processes, remove roadblocks to collaboration, transform conflicts and challenges into opportunities, and strengthen your persuading skills. A BA works across the entire business, with a variety of different personalities and people. It is incredibly beneficial that they can build and maintain relationships with all of these individuals.
What are some of the additional skills that a BA requires?
- Adaptability and the ability to work under pressure
- Negotiation
- A keen eye for detail
- A passion for change
- Confidence
Are you thinking about becoming a Business Analyst?
Business Analysts can come from any walk of life and enter the profession at any stage in their career. The best way to get started as a Business Analyst, though, is to gain qualifications in the discipline.
If you’re just beginning your career as a Business Analyst, or you hope to make a move to a BA role soon, you’ll want to develop a broad understanding of the basic principles and approaches. The International Diploma in Business Analysis offers everything you need.
Here at Manager Training, we specialise in providing accredited qualifications to professionals looking to pursue a long and rewarding career. If this is the ideal career path for you, our Course Advisors are ready to discuss your options and help you take that first step toward becoming a BA.
Get in touch today to start the journey to your dream qualification.
