Business Systems Analyst (BSA) is unique in that there isn’t a specific training program to develop your skills. You can have a PhD in physics or a Bachelor’s in chemistry. It is not your background that defines you. It is the skills and experience that define your ability to succeed as a BSA. I, myself, have a master’s degree in chemical engineering. I have had no training on Business Systems Analysis prior to my first BSA role. However, through a bit of luck and continuous hard work, I was able to thrive as a BSA and build a career that I thoroughly enjoy.
In this blog, I am going to unfold my story layer by layer.
What is my career change and why?
Chemical engineering is a field that combines chemistry and physics. The willingness to innovate its practical processes is very limited. Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds with each passing day. However, adoption of technology is slow in chemical engineering. There are many leading-edge research ideas available in the labs, but they require huge amount of efforts from engineers, designers, contractors, investors, and governments to approve, develop and scale a new technology to the chemical plant level. Therefore, most chemical plants are running the old processes that were created decades ago.
Gaining professional experience in chemical engineering is difficult. Working experience plays a vital role for a person’s development in almost any industry. In Chemical engineering, probably the only way to gain experience is through chemical process design projects. In many cases, a chemical engineering project can take years from approval, design to production. After a project is completed, you will likely be assigned to another similar project. This is because a chemical process is too complex to be fully understood by entry-level engineers. From the company’s perspective, the safest way is to assign them to do the repetitive work on which they have already had experience. The question is, how can you develop your career if you are only experienced in similar projects?
But why Business Systems Analyst? Firstly, I value this role because there isn’t a typical day on the job. Everyday is different. Business Analysts work more on the business side, while Business Systems Analysts work more on the technical side. BAs focus on defining and adjusting process flows, while BSAs focus on designing technical solutions to meet business needs. Both roles involve combing through logics in business requirements and writing up functional specs to which developers can code and QAs can test. These attributes make BSA a perfect position for me to combine my engineering background and logical thinking, translate business requirements into technical design, and ensure the development team is building the right products while coping with changes.
Secondly, as a chemical engineering graduate, I was involved in projects related to process control and improvement. I learned how to design processes, and I had experience working with various types of data: flow data, thermodynamic data, sensor data, financial data, productivity data, etc.. I queried date for reporting and applied mathematical models. That was my first foray into the world of data analysis. Then I learned the basics of SQL and then took on tasks of increasing complexity. The seed of business data analysis has been planted since!
How I did my career change and what support I received from WeCareer?
2020 was a tough year for me and everybody else. Thankfully, I grew out of it a stronger person, personally and professionally. The COVID-19 pandemic undoubtedly reduced the number of jobs on the market and most of the jobs I applied for (BA or DA) did not match with my chemical engineering background. Nevertheless, I submitted more than 1000 resumes in 5 months, participated in at least 30 interviews, and obtained 4 job offers – Bell, IDC Canada, KGS Research and PokerStars. I customized my resume to look relevant to every job I applied for. After submitting my resume, I tried my best to research the company and the role, and wrote a short script for a potential interview. In the first 3 months, I barely received any interviews. My WeCareer mentors never gave up on me. They encouraged me when I felt frustrated, helped polish my resumes regularly, summarized the company and insider information in bullet points so I could easily consume it when I received interview invites, provided insights on what questions to expect and how to tell the best stories during interviews. They have done their part dutifully. However, as a mentee, I have to do my own part. I know it was never easy for me to make a career change, or even obtain a job offer. I have zero working experience; how could I convince hiring managers and tell them “I am the best candidate you have been looking for?” In order to prove my value, I have never stopped practicing my hard skills. I have also completed my BI and data analytic projects under my mentor’s guidance and showcased my portfolio to employers at final interviews. My portfolio was more powerful than words (on resume or during interview) to deliver a message on what I am capable of achieving. I really appreciate the direction, guidance and support that my mentors have provided me.
What am I doing at my job?
My current role acts a link between business and technical groups in the organization, I plan and coordinate task delivery between business and development teams. Frequently, I review high level business requirements, translate them into detailed BRDs, and determine how new features fit into existing IT systems. Additionally, I use up my time to get my hands dirty on gaming data analytics deliverables.
At the end of the blog, I would like to quote from Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it is done.”
