Becoming a BA

Have you ever met a Business Analyst that started their career off as a BA? I sure haven’t. It is just one of those fields that people don’t really seem to seek out, but find themselves thrust into.  Of course, that isn’t a bad thing. When you become a BA you bring with you the sum total of all your previous experiences.

I started my path to being a BA back when I was a sales operations manager. We were installing a new CRM system and since I had more of a technical background than anyone else on the team I was appointed to liaison with the technical team. I was knee deep in requirements gathering before I even knew what hit me. At the time I had never even heard of a business analyst, yet I found myself functioning as one. Long story short, since the CRM system was my baby I wound up taking it over and assumed training and system administrator responsibilities. I also continued to function as a BA for that system.

In my next job I was again an administrator for a CRM system. The company did not have any BAs on staff, so I again functioned as a BA on my own system.  At this point I had been doing the work for several years, yet didn’t officially have the BA title.  I found that I really enjoyed the BA work, so I decided that I would shift my focus when I made my next move.

In my next job I was lucky enough to find a place that was looking for a BA that had CRM experience.  This was the perfect place to make my transition! Even though I had never had the BA title before I had the necessary skills, so I was able to land the job.  After a couple of years there I moved out of state and am now happily continuing my journey as a Business Analyst.

So, you may be wondering why I made you meander through my job history. There is actually a purpose!  I want to encourage anyone who is interested in becoming a BA to take a look at what they do on a daily basis. You may not have the title, but there is a good chance that you either have the skills or you can develop them.

Next time we will talk a bit about the kinds of skills that you need to be a successful business analyst.

Until then, keep on being a B.A. Boss!