Quick Video describing a day in the life of an entry-level business analyst on my team.

As an entry-level business analyst most of your daily activity will fall into 4 categories.

• Meeting with the business team
• Meeting with the development team
• Conducting & documenting analysis work
• Getting feedback.

Below is a list of books that you are unlikely to find in any list of “Books For Business Analysts”. For most of them, I found by chance, whether they were recommended by a podcast, or came up on a random best-seller list. For whatever reason, I gave them a shot, and not only did they make me a better business analyst, but they also made me an all-around better friend, partner, teammate, husband, and now a parent.

3: Finding the Confidence to Be A Strong Problem Solver

 The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life

Why It Helped: As a business analyst, part of your job is to solve problems, and when you have to deal with the constraints of reality, sometimes you need to be able to get creative to solve those problems. Contrary to what many believe, creativity is not some genetic anomaly we’re born with. It is a trainable skill. This book breaks down the creative process that comes naturally to some, so it is accessible to anybody. That creative process is not about a sudden spark of genius. There are methods of thinking that prepare you to be a more creative thinker and problem solver that can help you in all areas of your life.

2: Effectively Leading My Stakeholders to Better Decisions

Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work 

Why It Helped: As a business analyst, your job is to help your stakeholders make the best possible decision. This book breaks down how we as humans often get to decisions, the biases that we’ve built for ourselves that sometimes hinder our ability to make the best decisions, and ways we can overcome many of the obstacles in the decision-making process. This will help you lead your projects, your teams, and yourself through the decision-making process for better results.

1: Quickly Creating Trust with My Stakeholders

How to Win Friends & Influence People

Why It Helped: All of us through our experiences with the different people in our lives (friends, siblings, parents, teachers, coaches, mentors, etc), have developed habits around how we interact with others. This book is broken down into several sections from creating good first impressions to having to criticize someone’s work without making them hate you. For me, it helped me highlight my habits that are working in my favor as well as those that aren’t helping me develop the kinds of relationships I want to develop. If you are going to read only 1 book from this list, it should be this one. 

Bonus: The Path To Greatness & Leadership

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Why It Helped: The key to creating strong teams is motivation. A team that is motivated to put in work will likely achieve more and a common mistake most people believe the best way to motivate is with rewards. That’s been proven to be quite incorrect. The benefit of this book is twofold. By breaking down what motivates us at our core, we learn a little more about how to motivate ourselves to be great, and in the process, we learn how to motivate others.

This video focuses mostly on 3 styles of employment, full-time employee, consultant at a consulting company, and independent contractor in the context of large organizations with complex needs.

I ask this is because you should know it is coming. Everyone knows it’s coming. And you should be prepared. It should be a nice slow pitch that you can knock out of the park and get some confidence and comfort before I start throwing fastballs.

This video explains some tips on how to craft your “Tell Me About Yourself”

The business analyst salaries you’ll see here are based on US averages (glassdoor.com). The actual salary you make as a business analyst will depend on the company and region you live in. For example, a business analyst in San Francisco will make more than a Business Analyst in Atlanta (cost of living and stuff like that).

If you aren’t sure exactly where you fit into the different levels of salary, check the breakdown of Levels of Business Analyst Professionals.

Keep in mind that as you progress in your career, you may not necessarily always go by the title “Business Analyst”. To see more comprehensive write-ups check out business analyst career path.

Entry Level Business Analyst or Junior Business Analyst Salary

0-5 years of related experience

You perform routine assignments as required for an entry-level BA role. Solves a range of straightforward problems; analyzes possible solutions using standard procedures.

Average Salary: $44,000 – $77,000

Senior Business Analyst or Business Analyst III to IV Salary

5-8+ years of related experience

Uses best practices and knowledge of internal or external business issues to improve products or services; Solves complex problems; takes a new perspective using existing solutions; Works independently; receives minimal guidance

Average Salary: $65,000 – $120,000

Lead Business Analyst or Business Analysis Manager Salary

Masters Degree
10+ years of related experience

Acts as a resource for colleagues with less experience.  Provides input on enterprise-wide technology planning, decisions, and processes.

Average Salary: $73,000 – $124,0000

IT Strategic Consultant, Enterprise Architect Salary

Masters Degree
10+ years of related experience

Is recognized as an expert within the organization; Anticipates internal and or external business challenges and/or regulatory issues; recommends process, product, or service improvements. Operates with no supervision in a complex environment.

Average Salary: $97,000 -$176,0000

…rely on their experiences to help them on the job. These business analysts may come from other related areas (Developers, Project Managers, or a Business Unit). Too often they don’t bother ever going back to work on the true business analysis skills they may not have ever trained on. The result is your average experienced business analyst, still lacks some key skills to really produce high-quality, industry-standard deliverables and work products.

New Business Analyst On the Other Hand…

… have no previous experience to lean on.  Maybe a few basics, but in general, you have a lot to gain, and only a short period of time before your performance is going determines whether you are a keeper at your company. The mistakes you make in the beginning will be overlooked, but that won’t last forever, and you won’t have any experience to fall back on. Your lack of experience, if you are motivated enough, might force you to channel other ways to become a competent business analyst.

Great Business Analysts Don’t Need Years of Experience to Be High Performers…

Gaining experience takes time and there isn’t much you can do about that. Skills come from practice, and practice is something that can be done efficiently and effectively to allow you to gain and use the skills fast.

So what kinds of skills are we talking about?

• The ability to learn, analyze, and associate information quickly and easily
• The ability to transform abstract ideas into digestible and easily understandable material
• The ability to quickly build trust and rapport with your stakeholders

All with little to no experience.

Check out my course on Teachable  to learn more about producing high-quality business analysis deliverables

As a business analyst, you may come to a point in your career where you start thinking about moving to another company. You get out to places like Linkedin, Dice.com, CareerJet, Indeed, Glassdoor, or whatever to start scoping the market for what is available. Every once in a while you see business analyst-level designations.

Junior Business Analyst, Senior Business Analyst, Business Analyst I, II, II, etc.

This post is going to be my best effort to describe the progression of business analyst skills. I can’t say for sure that at the company you are applying to, all the definitions will match, but you will be able to better define yourself. At the end of the post, I’ll include a video explaining the progression of non-IT professionals.

For my list, I cover the BA SME track, which assumes you aren’t a manager necessarily. Keep in mind that as you progress in your career, you may not necessarily always go by the title “Business Analyst”. You might become an IT Partner, Enterprise Architect, IT Director… and I’m sure the list goes on. This list is heavily based on the progression structure set by the company I currently work for. 

Entry Level Business Analyst, Business Analyst I

At this level, you are just doing what you are told, probably by a lead or senior business analyst. You perform routine assignments as required for an entry-level BA role. At this point, you are just developing your competence by performing structured work assignments.

• Completes limited phases of broader software development projects
• Acquires and applies BA knowledge

0-2 years of related experience

Business Analyst I, Junior Business Analyst

Requires knowledge and experience in business analysis; still acquiring higher-level knowledge and skills; Builds knowledge of the organization, processes, and customers; Solves a range of straightforward problems; analyzes possible solutions using standard procedures; Receives a moderate level of guidance and direction

• Reviews and analyzes system problems to identify solutions or make referrals
• Plans, designs, and analyzes user requirements for development and/or support
• Software engineering methodologies
• Basic system requirement identification and documentation analysis

2-5 years of related experience

Senior Business Analyst, Business Analyst III-IV

Requires in-depth knowledge and experience; Uses best practices and knowledge of internal or external business issues to improve products or services; Solves complex problems; takes a new perspective using existing solutions; Works independently; receives minimal guidance

• Leads process modeling and translates requirements into design
• Conducts user need analyses to establish requirements
• Offers advice on process improvements and technical solutions
• Coordinates and monitors projects
• Applies broad knowledge to Identify and resolve core problems
• Project management methodologies and practices
• Plans, organizes, and directs concurrent software design and implementation projects
• Considers enterprise-wide solutions and impact

5-8+ years of related experience

Lead Business Analyst, Business Analyst IV, IT Partner to Business

Represents the level where you can coast for many years or even until retirement; Acts as a resource for colleagues with less experience; May lead a team of para-professionals or support roles; Works collaboratively with direct reports.

• Oversees and ensures compliance with industry and internal standards
• Provides input on enterprise-wide technology planning, decisions, and processes
• Applies In-depth evaluation of interlocking programs to lead the development of global solutions
• Develops strategies for business-critical solutions
• Leads the design and implementation of new technology across the enterprise
• Focal point of contact with all stakeholders
• Recognized expert 

Masters Degree
10+ years of related experience

IT Strategic Consultant, Enterprise Architect

Is recognized as an expert within the organization; Anticipates internal and or external business challenges and/or regulatory issues; recommends process, product or service improvements; Solves unique and complex problems that have a broad impact on the business; Contributes to the development of functional strategy; may lead a team of senior professionals;

• Operates with no supervision in a complex environment.
• Leads the design and implementation of new technology across the enterprise
• Establishes an architectural framework for enterprise software development efforts
• The focal point of contact with all stakeholders
• A recognized expert and at least one major process discipline (e.g., sales, supply chain; services)
• Sets Company-wide technology strategy and long-term business solutions

Masters Degree
15+ years of related experience