I’ve been a Business Analyst for over 12 years, and I’ve often wondered whether the biggest problem with the role is… the name.
“Business Analyst.”
In my experience, the Business Analyst role is still not particularly well understood by people who don’t work in a related discipline. And perhaps the job title doesn’t help. It can make the role sound like a job for someone who sits at a desk all day, analyses data and loves formulas. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I think it’s misleading.
And whilst "analysis" is certainly part of the job, that description misses what I think the most important parts of the job are.
A Business Analyst needs to build relationships.
You need to network across teams, understand different perspectives, ask insightful questions and, sometimes, get people who fundamentally disagree to find common ground.
You need to be curious.
You need to be able to walk into a room where you know very little about the problem and ask, “Why do we do it this way?”
You need to listen - and I mean truly listen! Because what someone says they "need" isn't always what they actually need.
And you need to understand problems. Not just document them. Understand them.
The role sits in a fascinating position between business, technology, people, processes and change. You get to see how organisations actually work - and, more importantly, how they could work better.
Is it glamorous?
To me, absolutely! But to a school leaver, a university graduate or someone working in another industry who doesn’t really know what the job involves? Maybe not.
I think it's a seriously underrated career.
And perhaps if the job title was something like Business Problem Solver, Business Change Enabler or Business Improvement Director, more people would realise just how interesting a career in Business Analysis can be.
After 12+ years in the profession, I'm still learning.
And that's probably one of the things I love most about being a BA.