Is the Business Analyst Profession a Transit Station?

Is the business analysis career merely a transit station for most?
People who became Business Analysts often use this career as a stepping-stone to become a Project Manager. This happens very often and is a common practice whether we like it or not. But is this a fair aspiration for a business analyst?
BECOME A PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS ANALYST – do the Advanced Training Program and work towards Professional Certification.

The Business Analyst Profession is becoming more and more recognized as an extremely valuable role within the organization, but one place it still falls down is with its career path potential.

The business analysis career path is not clearly defined when looking at the hierarchy within the organization. The only senior role within the business analyst profession is to aim to become a Business Analysis Manager. The key limitation with this career path is that you might be called a business analysis manager, but you are far removed from practicing business analysis. Instead, your primary role is as a resource manager with a few bells and whistles attached. Don’t get me wrong, this can be a great career for the right individual, but the nuts and bolts of the role don’t involve much business analysis. Another potential specialization for a senior Business Analyst is the role of Enterprise Analyst. However, very few organizations appreciate this role enough yet to make it a solid alternative for Business Analysts to aspire to.

The reality of the Business Analyst Profession ‘s career path is that when it comes to climbing the career ladder, it is certainly not yet as solid as for the Project Management profession. This is why Business Analyst’s often uses this Business Analyst Profession to get their ‘foot in the door’ of the Project Management world. This then gives them the opportunity to develop their career and progress to the top of the organization.

For Project Managers it is much clearer and easier to move up the hierarchy because they simply manage larger projects which become programs of work. It is easy to see that this profession has a natural progression into the higher levels of the organization. This makes it very attractive for Business Analysts to transition to because it gives them that management recognition so many people aspire to within the corporate world.

There is a lot being done within the Business Analyst Profession to create even more awareness of what the Business Analyst can offer and already offers within the workplace.. It is a great profession to embark on and it is very challenging and rewarding to be a Business Analyst. However, the fact remains that this profession doesn’t have a natural career ladder to climb like the project management profession has which means that the Business Analyst looking for a career ladder to climb will most likely keep jumping the fence!
Article written by: Esta Lessing (CBAP®), Business Analysis Excellence Pty Ltd

– Become a Professional Business Analyst – do the Advanced Training Program and work towards Professional Certification.