A business analyst resume should sell your strong knowledge, skills and competencies to a prospective employer. A business analyst’s duties include understanding the company’s goals and analyzing the effectiveness of the company’s systems. Business analysts are usually involved with strategic planning, analyzing business models, defining and implementing processes and working across multiple departments. Business analysts may also work within IT departments to study the company’s technology integration and how it affects the company’s operations.
Target Your Resume
To write an effective business analyst resume, you should highlight these key roles and skills from your previous employment. Using the right terminology is important, especially when so many resumes are screened by computer. You should always target your resume to a specific job posting. Whenever you apply for a job, rework your resume to mention the key criteria the employer lists as most important to their hiring decision. Remember, your resume is a sales document. Rather than making it a mere list of your skills and accomplishments, use it to sell yourself and your qualifications for the specific role you’re seeking.
Summary Section
The business analyst resume should be precise and informative, and it should grab an employer’s attention immediately. Start with a summary defining yourself as a business analyst and stating your years of experience and most important skills. If you are a recent graduate, include the degree you earned, and any certifications you have relating to the position.
Key Accomplishments and Core Competencies
Next, make a section within your business analyst resume that consists of bullet points outlining your key accomplishments and core competencies. These will include all of your technical and functional skills and your accomplishments relating to the position you’re seeking. Include all the software products you have experience with and, more importantly, the main job functions you’ve done in the areas of strategic planning, analyzing business models, managing change, and creating and implementing processes. Make sure you emphasize your success in communicating with various departments and creating consensus.
Work Experience
When you write the work experience section of your business analyst resume, present it in reverse chronological order. List the name of the company and your most recent title first. You should make your job titles bold face so they will stand out to an employer inclined to skim over the body of the resume. Give a date range for each title and list, using bullet points, the highlights of your experience in each role. These highlights should include the role you had in specific projects, your responsibilities and the outcome of the project. You should also include some of your key personality traits, especially those that enable you to do a good job as a business analyst. If your teamwork ability, talent at synthesizing large quantities of information quickly, or skill at motivating others led to the success of a particular project, be sure to include it. Finally, add your education and certifications at the end, unless you’re a recent graduate. If you’ve just graduated and you don’t have much work experience, put this section after your key skills list and before your work experience. If you are ready to begin creating your Business Analyst resume, click here!