Business Analyst Resume Example

Business analytics is a rapidly-growing field with many diverse employment opportunities for skilled and capable individuals. Business analysts, through gathering and interpreting data, introduce and shed light on problems in an organization while also offering solutions to those issues.

Whether you’re an experienced professional or an entry-level analyst, here are three expert writing tips to help you put together a successful business analyst resume.

1. Start your business analyst resume with a great resume introduction

First impressions are key. Hiring managers often review many applicants for a single position, and can’t devote much time to a single resume.

To grab the attention of the hiring manager, it’s important to start your resume with a convincing resume introduction.

Create a strong resume objective if you’re an entry-level business analyst

If you’re a novice business analyst and looking for your first job, you should write a resume objective (also known as career objective) because it emphasizes your passion for the job and your career goals.

If you’re a young professional, you’ll want to structure this part of your resume differently than if you already have many years of business analysis experience. You’ll want to include the following information about your background:

• Highest diploma received
• Relevant coursework and internship experience
• Awards and certificates if applicable
• Job-relevant skills

If you’re looking to write a resume for a career change instead, and have little experience or directly relevant educational background, focus on the following in your resume objective:

• Key transferable skills
• Any relevant work experience from previous employment
• Your highest achievements
• Job-relevant certifications

Write a confident resume summary if you’re a seasoned business analyst

A business analyst resume summary should include the following information about your career:

• Relevant experience
• Achievements
• Education
• Awards and certificates

If you’re confused about what experience specifically to focus on, using the job description as your guide is always a safe bet. For example, if the job description emphasizes the need for cost-benefit analysis, then your resume summary should explicitly mention this and include any applicable experience you have.

Additionally, your resume summary should include your relevant certifications. For business analysts, a Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA) has become the industry standard, and immediately shows employers that you’re qualified for the job.

2. Prove yourself in your work experience section

Business analysts serve in many industries and have a variety of responsibilities that are specific to each field.

A hiring manager in the IT field may not know the responsibilities of a business analyst in the medical field, so it’s important to make your resume work experience section as clear and specific as possible.

Here’s a work experience bullet point that illustrates how to write a convincing work experience section as a business analyst:

• Translate stakeholder requirements into over 10 different tangible deliverables, such as functional specifications, user cases, user stories, workflow/process diagrams, and data flow/data model diagrams.

This bullet point is detailed, providing a clear description of the candidate’s duties as a business analyst.

Some experts also suggest dividing your work experience entries into “Responsibilities” and “Achievements”: 

“Both responsibilities and achievements can be uniquely categorized for each bullet point to showcase a quality or skill. For example, if you have successfully and calmly handled an aggressive client over a period of time and hence helped secure the next order from the client, add that in bold letters as a category right at the start of a bullet point. 

For example, start with words like Stakeholder Management or Conflict Management in bold and then start with the bullet point description. This uniquely highlights your responsibilities and achievements, making them distinctly visible to the recruiter at a glance without them having to go through the section in detail and creating a solid impression about you!” — Abhijeet Kulkarni, CEO and founder of Exuberant Coaching International

Include hard numbers when possible

When writing your work experience section be sure to use hard numbers to quantify and illustrate the impact you made as a business analyst.

For example, include the amount of money (in dollars) you saved a company, the estimated percentage you improved efficiency, or the number of people you’ve trained.

Below, we’ve included an example of how to quantify a work experience bullet point with hard numbers:

• Evaluate risks related to requirements implementation, testing processes, project communications, and training, saving the company on average $5,000+ annually

Using hard numbers reassures the hiring manager that you can perform the required tasks, but also helps them grasp the scope of your previous duties as well as understand the value you brought to your previous employer.

Utilize strong action verbs

Being good with numbers isn’t the only thing you’ll need to prove to a hiring manager in your work experience section. To show you’re proactive, autonomous, and know when to take the initiative, use strong action verbs at the start of every bullet point.

By using concise verbs to describe your responsibilities and accomplishments, the hiring manager can better understand the scope of your role. To help your achievements stand out further, use verbs like the following:

• Conceptualized
• Determined
• Formulated
• Developed
• Analyzed

3. Stand out with job-relevant skills and certifications

If you’re a business analyst (or an aspiring one), the skills section of your resume needs to be specifically tailored to the job.

Hiring managers are looking for specific technical skills from business analysts based on the industry they work in. Business analysts also frequently communicate with stakeholders, holding presentations to show how they’re making improvements to a company.

Consequently, business analysts need to have great interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills. Creating a clear list of skills on your resume is one of the best ways to showcase that you’re competent and experienced.

For your reference, below we’ve included a list of top technical skills as well as common hard and soft skills for business analysts:

Technical skills:

• Jira and Confluence
• Wrike
• Balsamiq
• Pencil
• Microsoft Visio
• Google Docs
• Project management
• Microsoft Office Suite
• Microsoft Access and SQL
• Agile software development

Hard skills:

• SWOT analysis
• Financial analysis/modeling
• Risk analysis and management
• Facilitation skills
• Stakeholder analysis
• Process modelling
• Strategic business planning
• Business process improvement
• Data mining and analysis
• Quantitative and qualitative research
• Cost-benefit analysis

Soft skills:

• Time management skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Consultative and interpersonal skills 
• Oral and written communication skills
• Public speaking
• Negotiation and persuasion
• Adaptability
• Organizational skills 

Beyond the scope of resume skills, listing certifications on your resume is another great way to show that you’re a competent candidate and a good fit for that business analyst position that you’re currently eyeing. On the other hand, if you’re a career changer, including key certifications will prove you’re a capable analyst worth taking a risk on.

Here’s a list of the top 10 certificates for a business analyst:

Top 10 Certificates for a Business Analyst

• Certified Analytics Professional (CAP)
• IIBA Entry Certificate in Business Analysis (ECBA)
• IIBA Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA)
• IIBA Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)
• IIBA Agile Analysis Certification (AAC)
• IIBA Certification in Business Data Analytics (CBDA)
• IQBBA Certified Foundation Level Business Analyst (CFLBA)
• IREB Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE)
• PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PBA)
• SimpliLearn Business Analyst Masters Program