Many people get confused about what they really do because while their job title says one thing, their actual responsibilities might include tasks that are traditionally performed in other roles.
It doesn’t help that many organizations have creative job titles for Business Analysts such as :
- Programmer Analyst.
- Business Analyst/Project Manager.
- Techno-Functional Analyst.
- Technical Analyst.
- Business Relationship Manager.
There are so many creative job titles with generic job descriptions for Business Analysis jobs that it is very easy to get confused about what it is you actually do.
But my only advice to aspiring Business Analyst’s is : be flexible, because no matter the situation you find yourself in, you have to be open minded and willing to adapt.
As I have written before, I started my career as an ERP developer, i.e. a programmer but over time I transitioned into pure business analysis support roles roles.
As I left the world of programming and scripting languages, I found myself thinking less like a programmer and more like a business user.
So when I applied for my present job and the interview questions were all about Business Analysis, I felt confident that my Business Analysis journey would continue.
But to my surprise, I slowly started taking on more Business System Analysis tasks and before I knew it, I was writing PowerShell scripts and SQL queries.
Naturally, I was a little nervous especially when I was assigned a task to create my first SharePoint site.
I was scared that I won’t be up to the task and I would disappoint not only myself but my team.
But if there is no room for failure then there would be no room for growth.
My colleague who was guiding me through the process was very supportive and encouraging and before I knew it I was creating new SharePoint sites in as little as 1 minute.
So while it might be nice to stay in your comfort zone and continue with what you know, don’t be too scared of change because you might need that change to show you what you are capable of.
So don’t limit yourself, constantly encourage yourself and if you fail, learn from it.
As I frequently say, no one became an expert in a day, we all have our horror stories.
I can remember when I was working on my first ERP project, I was on site to conduct some User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and based on the feedback from the clients I wanted to delete the entries in a table.
Due to my lack of experience, I deleted the number series in the customer table and I didn’t know how to recreate it.
I started sweating profusely as I tried everything but it still didn’t work.
After an hour of panicking, my colleague came to the clients location and within 5 minutes, she was able to recreate the number series.
But She didn’t chide me or embarrass me, instead she made sure that I watched her while she was doing recreating it and till today I can never forget how to create a number series in that ERP application.
And that knowledge helped me in my second job, because I needed to recreate the number series in a table and as I did it, I remember my first project with a wry smile.
So, no matter your job title always remember that no knowledge is lost.
What you might consider pointless today might distinguish you from another applicant tomorrow, it might just be the extra point you need to edge out the competition. In today’s ever changing and unprecedented times, we all need all the help we can get.
As a Business Analyst, you are supposed to implement changes in an organization so why dont you start by implementing that change in yourself.
Be the change you want to see in the world.