One of the most important decisions you have to make is about what type of business analyst you want to become. This is a pivotal decision that can stay with you for the rest of your career.
That’s what I cover in this video.
You can also read the related article that provides examples of the BA, BSA, and BPA.
What Are The 3 Types of Business Analysts?
The three Business Analyst archetypes are:
- Business Process Analyst (BPA): focuses on the business side of things rather than on the I.T. side.
- Business Systems Analyst (BSA): focuses on the system side of things, typically on the polar opposite side of a BPA.
- Generalist Business Analyst (GBA): started off as a BPA or BSA and has grown their skill set into the area they didn’t start off in.
What Type of BA Are You?
Let’s talk about the most important thing that you have to consider when you’re trying to make a decision. What is the right fit for you? My advice to you is to choose your BA Type based on wherever your existing strengths lie.
Type 1: Business Process Analyst
Chances are you’re going to be a much better fit for the business process analyst role when you’re starting out if:
- you like bringing people along with you to certain conclusions about how things should work
- you like to work a lot more with people than with software
- you like to negotiate
If your natural instinct and your natural aptitude is to work a lot more with people than with software then you want to go for the BPA role.
Type 2: Business Systems Analyst
The flip side of the BPA role obviously is that if you like tinkering around with data. If you’re the type of person who:
- Enjoys trying to figure out how the software works or how devices work in general, or,
- If you’re an engineer then you want to aim for the business systems analyst type of role.
Developers interested in moving into an analysis role go for the systems analyst role. They can carry over a lot of the skills that they have as a developer as you are the primary one.
Type 3: Generalist Business Analyst
The Generalist BA is what I like to call a well-rounded business analyst. I cover the benefits and drawbacks of becoming a generalist business analyst. As someone who has become a GBA and it’s not a role that anyone fits in.
How Much Does Each BA Type Earn?
Job Difficulty Level For Each BA Type
Look At Job Postings
Looking at a company’s job postings is like a treasure trove of information about what kind of business analyst that company hires and gives an idea of what are their biggest needs.
I’ll start to review some job postings and I’ll help you to decrypt them. Start to understand what it is that this employee or hiring manager is actually looking for and what kind of insight the job posting actually gives you about how the company actually functions.
I’ll explain to you why and how that can help you.
Even if you have no intention of applying for the job. Start to scan some of the job postings that you see that are available on recruiter websites. Go to find a target company that you’re interested in working for and start to scan their career section to try to find job postings because in another video.
There is an article specifically that I’ve written called The Three B.A. Archetypes. Read that article because in that article what I do is I give actual examples of a company that would have a business process analyst a business systems analyst and a well-rounded business analyst and I give you a more clear description of some of the types of tasks each of those different roles might do.
Great information for the beginners
Thank you Harpreet.