Some may say I am a success story, but I am still on the path of my success story; however, I can say that I know “Success” for me, comes in many shades, accolades, emotions, and intervals and although, there are many definitions for success, for me, no one thing defines it. My career has hit a pivotal point, but it is a combination of learning new skills, education, perseverance, not settling and confidence.

I have worked in the Information Technology arena for over 20+ years, but prior jobs earlier in my career, allowed and prepared me for a career in IT, and I am still using past experiences in my continued growth. I don’t want to give you my entire business life experiences, but I will say that not being afraid to go after certain jobs or within specific industries, has helped me on my path to success.

A quick snippet is, I started working in the Insurance industry at 17, manually typing forms, attaching documents, and assembling policies. I graduated to becoming an All-Lines Insurance Rater. This job consisted of manually calculating all the necessary rating elements to determine a premium for a specific coverage and line of business, based on a specific state’s rules and exception laws. (I am telling my age).

A prime example of my past experiences helping me, is working as a Rater, which landed me several jobs throughout my career and is the main factor that opened the door into the IT industry. Yes, I did attend college for 2 years while working but for an entirely different career. I would never tell anyone not to get an education, but I want to encourage people to not let that hinder or stop you from applying for a job or going after your dreams. We are smarter than we even know, have talents that we keep hidden, and have so much to offer, that an education cannot teach you.

I have learned something from all the jobs I have held, and I want to encourage others to invest in learning from all you do. No matter how small or the length of time when exposed to new things, people, cultures, or environments, be willing and open to learn, and then use that knowledge as a steppingstone or a bridge for your next success.

After years of hinderance for one reason or another, I decided to go back to school to earn my BA in Management, and it has been rewarding emotionally, physically, and financially. I am a girl that did not go to college until late in my life but was determined not to give up and stood firm in what I knew I was capable of learning and doing. I say this to reiterate, that Success can come in many shades, accolades, emotions, and intervals!

Being a good, no great, Business Analyst takes skills that we all possess. When I first started my career, I listened in the beginning and asked questions. But I also was not afraid to speak my mind - sometimes that got me into trouble, but most of the time, it paid off. I rather risk it than hold onto the regret of having said nothing.

Along the way, I picked up non-technical skills that separated me from other BAs like communication and specifically email etiquette which allowed me to effectively communicate with different stakeholders. Learning how to tailor your response based on the person is key.

As I learned to be a successful BA, I took the skills I learned becomes a successful BA and moved more into Strategy and Operations which can be a natural progression for many. A lot of S&O these days is implementation, and you do a lot of that as a BA.

I like what I do because it pays well so I can survive and enjoy life as well.
For a more professional answer: I like being the connector between diverse groups. I gain energy out of producing ideas and seeing them through execution.

I plan to take the skills I have learned as a Business Analyst and start my own company one day. Having learned skills like effective communication and data analysis will definitely help me get there one day.

When I first started my career as a Business Analyst, the skill that made me great at my job was communication. I learned early on that being able to effectively communicate with my team by speaking in meetings, responding to emails with questions around my work/project. As a BA, you should be able to communicate between various groups that may not understand the technical language.

A skill that I have found helpful throughout my career has been dealing with data in Excel and SQL, specifically - manipulation of data to find the answers - including pivot tables and lookups to other Excel files

As basic as it sounds a fundamental asset to being a successful BA is the ability to ask good questions.
Honestly, I know, it sounds like an odd skill, but its only way your project will not have as many bugs. Being able to understand the project in its entirety by asking questions to various teams in the company that will be affected by it.

I started with the basic skills that I mentioned – being inquisitive and asking questions and being organized. Along the way I began picking up skills like data manipulation to pulling complex data queries and creating detailed user stories and requirements. I have been able to pass my knowledge on analysis skills to others on my team and training those that were onboarding. I have moved forward in my career path from knowing the absolute basics of business analysis to being able to train those under me in the beginning of their careers.

I love my job – I find satisfaction in seeing the end-product that I created become available to many users. Seeing any small to large, changes in the websites to how the backend system works makes it worthwhile, seeing the impact it has on the overall product – all skills that Analyst Skills will teach you.

There is a lot of room to move up as a BA. I see myself moving into a management position in the near future and having a team of my own analysts giving me the opportunity to pitch my ideas to executes of my company.