How I Landed a Business Analyst Role as a Fresh Graduate
Honestly, I had little to no knowledge about business analysis (BA) prior to applying for my first role in the field.
I was one of those people who, the day after graduation, was clueless about what to do next. I had an information systems degree but was uncertain about what to do with it. As any resourceful, determined, and anxious person would do, I turned to Google and typed “careers for information systems graduate”.
At this point, it is important to note that my programming skills are subpar. Sure, I got an A+ on Programming 101 but that was before I got “distracted” in college. But that’s a story for another day.
I knew that a career in software development, cybersecurity, database, or data won’t be a great idea because I was lazy enough to learn the basics of it. In other words, I was unmotivated. But I always thought of myself as a good analytical thinker. I loved talking to people, listening to their problems, and hopefully, giving advice that would at least nudge them into making the right decision. Luckily, one role stood out that seemingly spotlighted this aspect of the job, or as they call it in most business analyst duties “building meaningful relationships”.
How I Got Into It
As far as I’m concerned, Jobstreet.com.ph was the go-to job market platform. This online employment company made it easier for professionals to search and apply for jobs, myself included. All I had to was type in the keywords “Business analyst”, and press Enter, and there were thousands of BA job posts. I wasn’t targeting to work for a particular company, but rather just eager to get my foot in the door and start working as a business analyst.
As simple as it was to apply for the job, the waiting game and the job interviews were the complete opposite. After applying to hundreds of BA posts, answering many aptitude and personality tests, attending multiple interviews, and being unemployed for almost three (3) months, I was eventually hired as a BA for a Norwegian shipping company based in Manila.
These are the steps I took to prepare for interviews:
- Research on the company. With each interview invitation I received, I dedicated time to study the company. This meant getting a comprehensive understanding of what the company is about or its purpose including its mission, vision, values, and culture. Tip: Check and read current news surrounding the company you’re interviewing for. This can help you appear well-informed and tailor your responses accordingly.
- Review the roles and responsibilities. Each outlined role presented an opportunity for me to assess whether I have the capability to perform it. If I realized roles where I’m lacking confidence, I turned to online learning platforms like Coursera as my companion because they offered free, but relevant courses. This allowed me to acquire the necessary knowledge and build confidence before the interview.
- Reflect. Since I have no work experience, I relied on the knowledge I learned in school and relevant extracurricular activities to compensate. For instance, I participated in business analytics seminars so I leveraged the skills I gained through that activity to demonstrate initiative in learning and bridge the gap in professional experience.
- Practice. There are tons of mock interview questions for a business analyst role. Here are the actual interview questions asked of me:
- Tell me about yourself
- Describe an experience when you successfully communicated with someone who does not personally like you / who is
not easy to please. - Describe a time when you went over and above your job expectation. What motivated you to put forth this extra
effort? - Describe a situation in which you felt you were able to motivate someone.
How Did It Go?
On my first day, as soon as I sat in my cubicle, I got pulled to my first of many DSMs. DSM stands for Daily Scrum Meeting or sometimes called Daily Stand-up Meeting. Picture a group of individuals standing face-to-face, collectively gauging the progress of a current sprint (I’ll talk about sprints in a future blog post).
Naturally, I wasn’t aware of what they were doing back then. Fortunately, I had two leaders who guided me and laid the groundwork for becoming a good business analyst. They introduced me to gathering business requirements, facilitating sprint ceremonies, and crafting well-designed user stories. Certainly, there were moments of struggle and underperformance, but hey, I choose to focus on the positive things.
Takeaway
My journey as a business analyst began with uncertainty and a lack of experience. However, through perseverance and resourcefulness, I was able to leverage my knowledge from school and extracurricular activities to compensate for my lack of professional background. With each challenge overcome, I continue to grow as a business analyst and look forward to the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.
