How to get more interview callbacks as an aspiring BA

I completed my 6-week BA/Agile training in the middle of July 2021. Then I decided to give myself 15 days to prepare and clear the PSM and PSPO certifications, after which I would start applying for BA roles.

I cleared both exams but was not at all ready to participate in interviews. It was not because of a lack of confidence, but because I was just waiting for the right time (when I would know everything).

I badly spoiled the chance of getting more interview calls by:

1. Waiting for the right time, which practically would never come.
2. Not updating my resume and social profiles with the right keywords.
3. Not being active on job sites.
4. Simply hitting apply on JDs without reading them completely or without updating my resume accordingly.
5. Not networking enough for referrals.

I did a poll on LinkedIn a few weeks back to know which is the biggest issue people are facing in their BA transition journey, and 38% of people complain about not getting enough interview calls.

I can guarantee they are making one or all of the above mistakes I made.

I am talking about it today because I know how demotivated you can feel when you have everything you need to be in a specific role but you’re not getting the opportunity to prove that.

After reading this article, I hope the issue will get resolved from the list of your concerns. I was also shocked after looking at the responses I got when I did some tweaks to the way I was applying for a role.

It's funny that I was eventually struggling sometimes to schedule interview calls between my office hours due to the increased number of them.

So, here are 6 strategies I followed religiously for about 2 months which got me 3 offers by the end of October 2021, among which 2 were from the Big 4 companies.

Change your thought process

First thing first, accept the fact that you cannot be fully ready for an interview and stop wasting your time around it.

The worst thing that could happen is rejection, but you need to practice your interviewing for these roles, which you can get by starting the process asap.

I avoided it for the first 15 days and then one of my training colleagues explained that I was missing out on the chance to get more prepared for bigger companies.

Renovate your resume

I cannot emphasize more on the importance of this piece of paper.

Rebuild the whole resume with the Business Analysis skillsets that you possess, including the project experience section. Use the important keywords that recruiters usually search for on job websites — simply google it or do some research on LinkedIn by looking at various JDs.

Make it concise and simple to read with a clean template. At last, make sure to check compliance with applicant tracking systems (ATS) and keep improving it accordingly.

Update social profiles

In today’s digital era, recruiters look at your social profiles first to understand you completely and if you fit in their bucket, they’ll contact you then.

The reason is that you cannot put everything on your resume due to restricted length but you can put it on your social profiles.

I made a mistake when I worked on my LinkedIn but never looked at the Naukri profile (which was the most used one in India and I got the maximum calls from it).

Don’t forget job sites along with LinkedIn to be updated 100% with the latest resume. Keep your headline crisp and clear for what you want to be searched for because this is the first section that comes to the recruiter’s screen when they look for any particular profile.

Skillsets should again be containing important keywords. Work experience should be relevant to what role you are looking for, not what you are currently doing.

Be active and engaged on social profiles

Another mistake I did was just updating my social profiles and never visiting them and then complaining about not getting interview calls.

Remember that recruiters will find you on social profiles as “actively looking” only when you are doing so. Hence, it’s not just 100% profile completion but visiting and editing them to show you are a frequent visitor and active job seeker is equally important.

Every day, take out just 2–3 min to log in to your profile and edit a small piece of information and you’ll see the results.

I used to always open LinkedIn and Naukri in other tabs along with my office work and edit it during the breaks. I was amazed by the responses I started getting through calls and emails after that.

Stop hitting “Apply” simply

This was also one of the mistakes I did out of laziness — simply scrolling through all job openings on LinkedIn and hitting apply. I used to get really frustrated even when they asked me to fill in all of the details.

Just think of a JD where they want Excel experience to be the top skill and you are uploading the same old resume where you had nested this keyword somewhere. I mean how are you going to get a response?

So to avoid this, please look at the job description patiently and see if you can tweak your resume a bit to get better results. Notice the skills required and put those keywords on top to get detected.

I know it's an extra effort for every job you are applying to but hard work never goes in vain.

More networking

Did you know that the number of responses you can get through referrals is much more than directly applying to any job role?

This is where networking comes into the picture. I always point out the importance of connecting with people and helping them in any way you can. You don’t know when karma will pay you back.

I got more than 5 interview calls through referrals and those were the people I connected with randomly during my preparation journey on LinkedIn.

Since then, building my network has been really important to me. Never underestimate the power of social networks.

P.S. Let me know if you want to understand how to reach out to people on LinkedIn for referrals.

Quickly summarizing the process for you:

1. Change your thought process and start applying.
2. Rebuild your resume.
3. Update your social profiles, not forgetting the job sites.
4. Be active on social profiles.
5. Stop hitting apply without even looking at the JDs.
6. Network more & more.

These are some of the changes I made in my transition phase which gave me a 200% result. I even implement them today, which helped me get the Product Owner role in an entirely new country.

Let’s connect to understand more in-depth, and how you can work on these steps thoroughly.

Follow Bhavini Sapra for more such insights on the BA lifestyle and how you get to live one.

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