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Relatively new graduate looking to persue BA career, and eventually become contractor

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    #11
    Originally posted by Prabs91 View Post
    Just out of interest how do you guys think the market will change in approximatly next 5 years, and how have you seen it change in previous years?
    I'm not a BA, but I'm familiar with what they do as I often work with them and rely on them in some cases to get my own job done. I can't imagine the IT world without them really.

    It also seems to be one of those roles that isn't massively affected by changes in the technical landscape. Some may disagree with me there, but from working in a technical field I can see a huge difference between how IT affects what I do and what a BA does.

    It'd be interesting to hear from any BAs how the trade has been affected by offshoring. My own theory is that BAs have always needed to be close to business, and their local knowledge (laws, business practices, geography, etc.) and command of the english language is going to be vitally important for the BA and the client co.

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      #12
      Originally posted by Prabs91 View Post
      Am I also correct in beliving a BA role can open access into project managemnt roles too?
      I've seen this happen, but its not always a good thing. Personally I can't see much overlap between the two roles.

      At the last clientco I worked with 3 PMs who were BAs in their previous role. Each one of them contractors in fact.

      The first two were utterly hopeless. For one of them it was down to a lack of experience, the other just didn't have a clue. The third one made a pigs ear of their project, I think in part because they couldn't get out of their BA mindset and getting too involved in the scenarios and requirements. After a while this one did manage to learn from their mistakes fast and recover things.

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        #13
        Now I am not a BA either but it seems to me that BA is a horribly generic term and comes with a load of associated skills and has it's own experience hierarchy from general report runner/analyser right up to business/program change analysis for example. We were looking for BA's recently and 90% of the CV's just went in the bin because many of the applicants stuck the CV in because they saw themselves as just a BA and not a BA with experience in xxxxxx.

        Would be interesting to know if experience BA's also see this or do they expect the fact that they have the title BA means they can turn their hand to anything.
        'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

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          #14
          Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
          Now I am not a BA either but it seems to me that BA is a horribly generic term and comes with a load of associated skills and has it's own experience hierarchy from general report runner/analyser right up to business/program change analysis for example. We were looking for BA's recently and 90% of the CV's just went in the bin because many of the applicants stuck the CV in because they saw themselves as just a BA and not a BA with experience in xxxxxx.

          Would be interesting to know if experience BA's also see this or do they expect the fact that they have the title BA means they can turn their hand to anything.
          As an experienced BA I can turn my hand to most things but you do tend to specialise as you take contracts that interest you and turn down those you're not so keen on.

          The term 'Technical BA' crops up quite regularly these days but really irritates my as a 'Technical BA' is basically a System Analyst with bells on. It really irritates me as BA's and SA's possess different strengths but clients expect 1 person to perform both roles. I'm not deeply technical and so don't apply for this type of contract.

          I focus on the Business and Service Management side of analysis but having an IT background means that I can speak to all stakeholders and understand their point of view.
          "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
          - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

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            #15
            Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
            Now I am not a BA either but it seems to me that BA is a horribly generic term and comes with a load of associated skills and has it's own experience hierarchy from general report runner/analyser right up to business/program change analysis for example. We were looking for BA's recently and 90% of the CV's just went in the bin because many of the applicants stuck the CV in because they saw themselves as just a BA and not a BA with experience in xxxxxx.

            Would be interesting to know if experience BA's also see this or do they expect the fact that they have the title BA means they can turn their hand to anything.
            You are not wrong there the majority of BA roles that I have been offered are on inspection just data admin/analyst roles.

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              #16
              Originally posted by Prabs91 View Post
              You are not wrong there the majority of BA roles that I have been offered are on inspection just data admin/analyst roles.
              Don't diss Data Analysis - there's good money to be made atop that greasy pole...
              "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
              - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

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                #17
                Originally posted by cojak View Post
                Don't diss Data Analysis - there's good money to be made atop that greasy pole...
                haha anything but dissing them, I currently am one!

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                  #18
                  Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
                  But before you get giddy at the rates remember


                  That is now. Rates and availability are different to what they were 5 years ago and will be very different in the next 5 years
                  Roles are getting bobbed out at pace now so the market for new/mid skilled BA's in 5 years could be a little different to say the least.
                  If nothing else, I am glad I came to this board to learn what 'bob' means!

                  NLUK makes a good point about the difficulty of predicting what the contracting market will be in 5 years. The IT Leadership Team in my last three roles has been looking at their 'IT Operating Model' in other words asking 'what can we get away with outsourcing.' From my experience it seems that roles that are strategic, commercial or customer/business facing are most likely to be retained in house. Almost everything else is potentially up for grabs but in reality going too far outsourced may bring a higher level of risk so every IT organisation has to try and find a suitable balance.

                  I usually work in an internal IT relationship management type role, sometimes akin to being a 'mini-CIO' for a business division. My Lead BA is my right hand man along with an Enterprise/Solution Architect. I would dread the day that BAs, for example, were predominately outsourced. Having said that, some of the long term on shore guys at my last place had business knowledge as good as or better than some permies.

                  Based on my thoughts above I believe it's unlikely my type of role will disappear to some bloke in India in the next few years. However I'm not naive enough to think it may never happen. To that end I'm doing what is often recommended here - constantly trying to improve my skills, experience and marketability.

                  I'm only in my first contract but it's in an industry I've never worked in before and I am responsible for 15 countries in Europe, again a step up from the scope of what I've done before so my CV looks better for my next potential contract.

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