Are you getting ready to apply for a business analyst job? Or maybe your job search is already in full swing but you can’t break the deadlock and finally land an interview? In both cases, there is just one thing that may be holding you back from success. It is your business analyst resume.
You may be a superhero in your work or a promising fresher with solid skills and passion. But it doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t communicate your strongest points to potential employers and recruiters in a clear and engaging way. So, is there a working formula for success?
If you are wondering how to create a job-winning business analyst resume sample, you’ve come to the right place! In this guide, you will find:
- Expert resume writing tips
- Lots of great business analyst resume examples;
- Business analyst resume sample for freshers with tips;
- And much more!
How To Write a Business Analyst Resume
If you are wondering how to write a resume for a business analyst position, SkillHub has got you covered!
Below are the main steps and tips that will help you craft a winning resume with ease:
- Read the job description. In order to create a resume that can engage hiring managers, you first need to figure out what business analysts do. Thus, take your time to study the job description before you move on.
- Define how to translate the data from a business analyst job description to writing a resume. During the next step, you need to take the information and requirements from a job description, as well as your entire career path, and break it down into smaller pieces of information that will shape your resume. You need to align the information you will include in your resume with the job description.
- Find business analyst resume samples. This step is not obligatory, but it can help you a lot with writing your resume.
- Define the best format. Basically, you can choose from three resume formats - reverse-chronological, functional, and combination. In most cases, the reverse-chronological format will be your best bet, especially if you are writing a BA resume. It concentrates on your latest accomplishments and strongest sides. But, if your work experience is vast, the combination format can also work great.
- Choose a suitable business resume template. Be sure that it has:
- Lots of white space
- Proper formatting
- All required sections (i.e. a header, summary, education, experiences, skills, and additional sections)
Write a Business Analyst Resume Summary or Summary Objective
There are two ways to start business analyst resumes:
Summary
You should start with a resume summary if you have vast professional experience and have some accomplishments to share with a recruiter.
Business analyst summary example:
Professional Business Analyst with a Ph.D. degree and over 9 years of experience in a role of a senior business analyst. Managed a team of over 15 people and increased the last employers’ warehouse profitability by over 60%. I am looking to apply proven analytic and management skills at [company name].
Objective
You should use a resume objective if you lack experience or want to change a filed.
Business analyst resume objective example:
Expert Product Manager with 6+ years of experience looking to transition to a Business Analyst role at [company name]. I possess BA in Finance and MA in Computer Science. I have strong analytical skills and can boost sales performance by leveraging big data analysis.
How to Write a Business Analyst Resume with No Experience
If you want the job, but are not sure how to become a business analyst with no experience, we have some good news! Let’s start with the best part - it is possible. But, you also have to know that entry-level applications require a different approach.
Typically, when writing a resume, you would make the biggest bet on your professional experience. However, if you want to write a business analyst resume with no experience, you will need to find another way to make a good impression on recruiting firms.
There are a few tricks that can make your entry level business analyst resume great:
- If you have something to boast in terms of education (e.g. MA or Ph.D. degree, additional training, relevant certifications, etc.), emphasize this.
- Make your non-related work experiences count by highlighting crossover skills.
- Show that you are a good employee by adding sections to your business analyst entry level resume.
Put Your Education on Resume for Business Analyst
Not all business analyst jobs require you to have a higher education. But don’t think that this section doesn’t have any significance and your resume doesn’t need it.
All in all, there are no special secrets or tricks for shaping your education section. Basically, all you need to do is to list your education, providing some basic details about every place of study.
Here are the details that should be included in your job application:
- Degree and major
- College name
- Location
- Years of studies
- GPA, awards, honors, courses, and other add-ons that can confirm your business analyst technical skills or be of interest to a hiring manager
Please note that the education section should always follow the experience. Even if your experience isn’t broad enough, the education part still should be placed after it.
If you are still studying in college or university, you can still list it and mark it as “in progress”.
Put Skills on a Business Analyst Resume
To drive the recruiter’s attention and prove that you are a worthy applicant, you should showcase your key skills on your resume.
To make a great business analyst skills resume section, be sure to read the job description and align your skills with it. Also, be sure to include both hard and soft business analyst skills.
In the list below, you can find some of the most relevant skills for business analyst as keywords:
- Business analysis skills
- Communication
- Benchmarking
- Businesses process re-engineering
- Gap analysis
- Attention to detail
- Public speaking
- Directness
- Negotiation
- Persuasion
- Adaptability
- Organizational skills
- SWOT analysis
- Financial analysis/modeling
- Teamwork
- Problem-solving
- Risk analysis
- Risk management
Pro Tip: remember that recruiters will only scan your resume first to see if you are a good match for the job. This only takes about 7 seconds. Therefore, when listing your technical skills for business analyst, highlight your best points first.
Add Contact Info to Your Resume
Every resume business analyst should begin with a resume header with a contact section. There are no secret tricks to shape this section right. All you need is to provide accurate, relevant, and up-to-date contact information.
Here is what to include in the contact section of your resume for business analyst positions:
- Full name
- Job title (Business Analyst)
- Phone number - ensure there are no typos or mistakes
- Email address - create a professional email (namelastname@gmail.com) if you don’t have one yet
- Location - this point is optional, use it if you are applying for a job in another region.
Add Other Sections to Your Effective Resume
So, you’ve already read a business analyst job description sample, chosen a suitable format and template, and written the key sections of your business analyst resume. What’s next?
Many job seekers choose to stop there. Indeed, a basic resume template that consists of a summary, experience, education, and skills can eventually get you a job. But, if you want to get more interviews in the process and land a job faster, you may want to provide some additional sections as well.
Additional sections will help you show your personality and explain what makes you a unique candidate. Okay, but what sections can you add? Here are a few ideas that will look good on a resume for business analyst:
- Special training
- Relevant certifications and licenses
- Industry awards, honors, and other standouts
- Publications
- Conferences
- Languages
- Volunteering
- Interests and hobbies
These are some of the best ideas for additional resume sections. You can add one or a few of them, as you see fit. But, be sure not to go over the top with it. Add only information that brings additional value. Also, ensure that all extra sections are extremely relevant and show you as a perfect candidate for the particular job.
Use Key Action Verbs
“Responsible for,” “worked,” “managed,” and so on - all these are explicit examples of what not to write in your business analyst (or, in fact, any other) resume. These are generic words that have long turned into cliches. Using them when describing your professional experiences will make you look like just another applicant whose resume will get lost in a later-pile.
To avoid this, you should replace those generic words with powerful resume keywords and action verbs. Here are a few examples of great action verbs:
- Monitored
- Conceptualized
- Supervised
- Initiated
- Led
- Spearheaded
- Achieved
- Determined
- Streamlined
- Formulated
- Foreseen
- Determined
Business Administration Resume Sample
Now, you know how to create a business analyst resume. The guidelines, writing tips, and a business analyst resume sample we’ve provided to you earlier will work great for most related positions. But, if you are writing a business administration resume, there are a few extra tips we can give you:
- Choose summary over an objective. A summary statement will help deliver your strongest points across first and engage recruiters, so it is a perfect way to start a business administration resume.
- Show your credentials. Administration jobs require different certifications and other credentials compared to analyst jobs. To get things right, never forget to read the job description and tailor your resume to it.
- Only list the most relevant experiences. When writing the Experience section, highlight the experiences that are most relevant to administration jobs and include a few bullet points to showcase your skills and achievements.
- Add concrete numbers. To make your business administration resume even more effective, provide numbers that would confirm your professional successes and accomplishments.
- Include some extra sections. Provide potential employers with more information about you, your interests, abilities, and wins by including some additional resume sections like volunteering, conferences, certifications, etc.
Senior Business Analyst Resume Sample
If you follow the instructions from this article, you should be able to create a job-winning professional business resume for a standard business analyst job. But what if your experience and education let you opt for higher positions? Then you might want to revise your approach to resume writing.
Resumes for business analysts of a higher rank have a few distinctive features. Let’s take a closer look at how to write senior-level analyst resumes.
You can choose either a reverse-chronological or a combination format for a senior business analyst resume sample. Both formats will help you spotlight your biggest strengths and accomplishments.
When applying for senior-level business analyst positions, start your resume with a summary. A well-written resume summary focuses on selling your professional experience, so it is your best bet for a senior business analyst resume. Whereas a resume objective will look disadvantageous on such a resume.
Also, pay special attention to your experience section. To make it truly impressive, don’t just list the duties you had at each workplace. Instead, create bullet lists where you can specify your biggest professional achievements. And, feel free to quantify your accomplishments with some numbers. This trick will help you stand out from the crowd.