Shadowing

I am grateful and consider myself to be super fortunate that I am able to work in a profession I still enjoy today.

I've formally been a BA for about 10 years now.. And non-official BA for about 15 years and counting.

They way I transitioned from network provisioning to BA work was … I happened to be in the right place at the right time.. The outcome coming from doing a little extra voluntary work and getting support from some really great managers who encouraged and offered the transition.

Business Analysis is generally not a very easy career path to get into especially early on in your career…  same goes for Project Management.

-- Yes there are a select few who do get into straight it via Graduate programs.. But these opportunities are very limited)

Over the years I have had a few handful of people reach out wanting advice on how they can potentially get into doing BA work.

The following would be my advice for anyone interested in breaking into BA work

-- Seek out to see what project work is happening in your company/enterprise/division etc
-- Get in touch with the associated Project Managers - ask them the type of work that is on-going and if you can be involved in some way… at the very least be able to view documentation around project scope, requirements, design etc. Understand the change that is taking place and why.

-- If there BAs involved on said projects, see if you can get in touch with them directly and seek their guidance and advice.

-- If there are future projects in the pipe-line see if there is room for you to be directly involved. If they require certain skills as a prerequisite, seek out, study and come back to them.

Fundamentally, it comes down to two things..

1 - talking to people and building relationships.

2 - Getting exposure.

Once you learn and understand the overall BA lifecycle work that is involved, you should be able to use that and apply for specific BA roles within the organisation or perhaps even externally.

Again… if there is anyone in my network who knows of anyone that wants to get into BA work. Please reach out. I'll be happy to consult with whatever knowledge I have.