Business Analyst Resume - 6 CRITICAL Tips

Hey, DocSquad. Dr. White here with the Business Analysis Doctor. Today, I'm giving you six critical business analyst resume tips to get more interviews. But before we get started, if you want more business analysis training and tips, be sure to subscribe to the page and turn on that notification bell. With that said, let's get started. Business Analyst Resume Tip Number One. Make your resume ATS-readable. An Applicant Tracking System, or ATS, is an application that allows recruiters to enter specific keywords or phrases that employers identify as requirements for a specific role. These keywords are then used to scan resumes to filter out those that don't have enough keywords. This creates a shortlist for more qualified resumes for the recruiter to review. This is one of the most important tips because if your resume doesn't make it past the Applicant Tracking System, your resume will never make it to an actual human. Some key stats regarding the Applicant Tracking System are 99% of Fortune 500 companies use an ATS to filter resumes. Also, 75% of recruiters use an Applicant Tracking System. The first action item for an ATS-readable resume is to include relevant keywords. The average job description includes 43 keywords consisting of both hard and soft skills. You can copy and paste the job description into a word cloud tool to see which keywords are used most often. Generally, the larger the word in the cloud, the more often it's used in the job description. See which of these keywords most align with your background and apply them naturally without keyword stuffing. Also, be sure to use a simple format. Use clear headings and paragraph and bullet points with simple language to communicate your work history. Avoid visuals such as pictures, graphs, charts, or tables because these items can confuse the ATS system. This also helps make it more human-readable as well because both recruiters and employers usually just skim through resumes. Remember, recruiters and hiring managers only spend an average of 6 to 15 seconds reviewing your resume. Key sections to including your resume are contact information, executive summary, relevant skills, employment history, education and certifications, as well as a software application section. Include in-demand hard skills and soft skills. This ties into the first tip. While you're using the word cloud tool to identify keywords, be sure to take note of hard and soft skills that are presented. Be sure to include those in your resume where appropriate. Also, incorporate broader skills that may not be listed in the job description as well. Hard skills represent the teachable skills and technical knowledge you've gained through educational training and experience. Hiring managers are interested in these skills because they are specific to the practice or role and can indicate how much training you might need should they bring you on board. Soft skills are the personal characteristics and traits that impact how effectively you work on your own and with others. While these skills are less teachable, they can be improved upon with practice. Stats regarding in-demand business analyst skills reveal that on average, candidates only include 60% of the hard skills required on a job description and only 28% of the necessary soft skills. The top hard skills for business analysts include requirement writing, user stories writing and decomposition, requirements elicitation, visual modeling, stakeholder analysis, data analysis, and knowledge of both waterfall and agile frameworks. If you don't already possess these skills, seek training or coaching to increase your competencies in these areas before adding them to your resume. The top soft skills for business analysts include communication and listening, creative thinking, organizational skills, leadership, emotional intelligence, teamwork, storytelling, and adaptability. Tip number three, include relevant business analysis software. This tip requires analysis and judgment. While acquiring business analysis skills can be effective at any organization, experience with a specific software is only effective if the organization you're applying to uses that same software. According to the National Job Skills Coalition, 92% of jobs require specific digital or software skills. The action item for business analysis software include identifying the software applications that are required in the job descriptions and being sure to list any of those that you actually have experience with. If you don't have direct experience with the software listed but have experience with a similar application, list those as well as employers may still find that valuable. Also, consider taking a course to become more proficient in software that you're not proficient in, but only if you notice that many of the jobs that you're applying for all require experience with that software. Being proactive regarding software can be a challenge because you don't want to spend time and resources on learning new software and then get hired at a company that doesn't use it. This is why you only want to consider learning those programs that are widely used in the BA profession and within your local area. So knowing the widely used software in your region or industry is key. Commonly used software applications and business analysis include JIRA and Confluence, Modern Requirements, Stories on Board, Balsamiq Wireframes, Visio, Tableau and Power BI, and SQL Server. Business Analyst Resume Tip Number 4. Include measurable results. Measurable results attract a hiring manager's attention because they can quantify what you're capable of achieving for the organization. These results are most often captured in the form of metrics. Business metrics quantify a business process or characteristics of the performance of the process. Common business metrics include revenue, cycle times, and defects. Statistics for measurable results convey that 59% of resumes include less than three quantifiable outcomes and 36% of candidates don't include any quantifiable outcomes at all. The action items here is to include metrics and quantifiable results achieved from the activities you've performed using numbers and percentages. For example, instead of just writing wrote effective user stories and acceptance criteria, a better description would be introduced a formalized user story acceptance criteria format that decreased the average defect rate by 15%. There, the defect rate is the metric and the 15% decrease is the measurable result. A description like this can help hiring managers understand the value you can bring to the organization and the team. Business Analyst Resume Tip Number 5. Include a link to your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is a powerful social networking site for business professionals. LinkedIn also is a place where employers can go to recruit and hire top-tier candidates. Creating a professional resume-like profile allows hiring managers and recruiters to learn more about your work history, areas of expertise, and professional development endeavors. According to ResumeGo, candidates with a comprehensive LinkedIn profile are 71% more likely to get called for an interview, and candidates with bare-bones LinkedIn profiles were less likely to get a call. The action items for LinkedIn will be Add a link to your LinkedIn profile to your contact information in the resume. The link should be hyperlinked directly to your LinkedIn profile page. For this tip, you'll also want to have a strong LinkedIn profile. This includes having a professional headshot and background cover, a compelling headline, a complete about section, and a complete experience section that aligns with your resume. Other key sections include your education, licenses and certifications, skills, and any recommendations you might have. A bonus tip is to display your interest in business analysis by joining a BA-focused LinkedIn group and commenting on BA-related posts. Also, share any business analysis-related certifications that you might have or related courses that you've completed. This is especially important if you don't have any relevant BA experience. Tip number six, use the appropriate resume length. It's no secret that neither recruiters or employers spend large amounts of time reviewing your resume, so you don't want to have one that's long and drawn out. While at the same time, you do want to have enough information to allow your skills and achievements to stand out. Here are some interesting stats regarding resume length. According to Talent Wise, the ideal resume length is between 475 and 600 words. It was also noted that resumes longer than 600 words are 43% less likely to get hired. Here's some action items for the perfect resume length. When creating your resume, utilize the word count tool to make sure that you are within the range to optimize your chances of getting called for an interview. When considering this range, be sure not to remove items that are key to communicating your skills and achievements. Also, avoid trying to inflate the word count by adding additional buzzwords or fillers in order to reach the minimum word count for the range. Now let's look at what business analysts, hiring managers, and recruiters are looking for when reviewing resumes. These days, employers want BAs who are familiar with both Waterfall and Agile frameworks. As Agile frameworks continue to be an area of interest for most organizations, many of them are still transitioning and using a hybrid model consisting of Waterfall project management and Agile software development. Other organizations may select Waterfall or Agile frameworks depending on the type of project. Employers want candidates that can provide optimal value in any of these environments. They also want business analysts who are familiar with a variety of business analysis techniques. As technology advances and competition increases, organizational projects are getting more and more complex. Therefore, hiring managers want BAs who can determine the best approach to navigate through these complexities using various tools and techniques. Also, certified business analysts are in high demand. Hiring managers are focusing less on degrees and more on certifications. Employers have become aware of how critical the BA role is to project success and therefore want candidates that are equipped to introduce and incorporate best practices to the organization. Business analysts who are comfortable with both in-person and virtual meeting environments will definitely have an edge. In the current work environment, a BA may be working with on-site team members for one meeting and the next might involve working with stakeholders in another state or even another country. Employers want candidates that can toggle seamlessly between either of these mediums. And finally, hiring managers want BAs who have exposure to a broad range of project responsibilities. Employers want to get the most out of their investment and there may be times when a BA may need to play multiple hats to fill in gaps where there are shortages within the team. Well, there you have it, folks. Those are my six business analyst resume tips to get more interviews. The next video you need to watch is my video on the 35 most essential business analyst interview questions. The link to that is in the description. Also, be sure to check out all of the business analysis and BA certification training we have available for you on the website at thebadoc.com. Thank you so much for watching. Have a productive and prosperous day, and I'll see you next time. Bye now!