Welcome to the first in a series of posts we will be putting out with the objective of helping young women discover their ideal career paths. Often, people struggle to pick the right career that fits their skill sets due to a number of reasons. This post has therefore been designed to help you identify the steps needed to become a business analyst.

This can range from a lack of understanding of what skillsets they possess that can be resourceful in an organizational setting to a lack of information to a general lack of motivation due to an absence of passion. Studies indicate that lack of information and awareness is one of the factors that affect the career choices of women.

In today’s post, we will be looking at business analysis as a profession with a focus on the following areas;

What is business analysis?
What does a business analyst do?
An overview of the job market for business analysts
Responsibilities of a Business Analyst
Skills Required to Become a Business Analyst
Organizations hiring business analysts
WHAT IS BUSINESS ANALYSIS?
There are several definitions that exist to provide an understanding of what business analysis is.

The International Institute of Business Analysis defines it as “the practice of enabling change in an organizational context, by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders”. While the Project Management Institute defines it as “Identifying business needs. Recommending relevant solutions. Working with stakeholders to elicit requirements. Analyzing, defining, documenting and managing requirements”.

Both definitions have some common denominators – the identification and definition of need, stakeholder engagement, and recommending solutions with the objective of delivering value. These can be viewed as some of the core principles that underline the practice of business analysis. This brings us to the next question…

What does a Business Analyst do?

In very simple terms, a business analyst is simply a person who acts as a bridge between the IT department and the business department. A business analyst uses data analysis to elicit or extract, understand, and document business processes, goods, services, and software products. A business analyst’s job is to help drive business efficiency through their understanding of both IT and business operations. That means the person has to be fluent in “IT and business-speak”.

OVERVIEW OF THE JOB MARKET FOR BUSINESS ANALYSTS
Now you have a general understanding of what business analysts do, you might be wondering what the job outlook for business analysts is like.

As technology continually advances, now more than ever business analysts are in high demand. The reason is simple. Someone has to make sure that resources are being prioritized for the right products and services. The evolution of digital products is the driving factor behind the field of business analysis.

Business analysts make an average of...

Read more on https://www.dukkysbusinessblog.com/how-to-become-a-business-analyst-career-outlook-and-salary/

HOW TO BECOME A PRODUCT MANAGER

For those considering roles within technology companies without coding knowledge or experience, this is possible if you do decide to become a product manager. Let’s face it, everyone wants to work in tech. Think about it, you can work remotely, the company-branded swag bags are always top-notch, and the pay is divine. However, some people have the notion that you have to possess coding skills to work in a technology company. While proficiency in Scala, Kotlin and Ruby programming languages may help you snag the top-paying jobs in the tech space, those nerds or in Nigerian parlance “tech bros” need someone to help them understand the vision.

WHO IS A PRODUCT MANAGER?
In simple terms, a product manager is somewhat like a business analyst (you can read up on the business analysis role here). They are tasked with first understanding the needs of users. This means they carry out quite a lot of research. The research they carry out include but are not limited to market research, user testing, focus group studies etc. This activity helps them identify the gaps in their products and also helps them decide on the best product direction. This brings us to our next point.

The product manager is a visionary. They focus their energies on “what might be” rather than “what is”. They are not restricted to information about the current status quo but often focus on the bigger picture. So if you say they are the definition of “out-of-the-box” thinkers, you would absolutely be right. This skill is essential when working in radically innovative companies such as Apple and Google.

To summarize this section, we can say that the product manager is the person primarily responsible for establishing the product or product line strategy, developing the roadmap, and defining the features of the product.

OVERVIEW OF THE JOB MARKET FOR PRODUCT MANAGERS
This is a role that is always in demand as the advancement in technology drives the launch of new software and hardware products every day.

Product management has slowly but consistently included more external contact with customers in recent times. It is gradually moving away from its internal or technological focus to include more business-related activities.

Product teams can create better products that benefit a wider audience by gaining a deeper understanding of what users actually need. Therefore project managers will always be needed.

According to Burning Glass, the current wait time to fill a product manager post is 36 days. This shows that businesses are spending a lot of time looking for quality individuals who are available

PRODUCT MANAGER SALARY AND OPPORTUNITIES
According to Glassdoor, product managers make an average of $...

Read more on https://www.dukkysbusinessblog.com/how-to-become-a-product-manager-in-depth-guide/