Santanu Das Sharma is exploring a career in business analysis. They enjoy problem solving, making the world a better place, and seeing ideas through to completion. They have technical and business experience that has prepared them for the role. As a business analyst, they would like to facilitate meetings, work independently and with others, continuously improve processes, and help people solve problems. They care about developing timeless skills, job security, and using their experience to make an impact as a business analyst.

1. My CareerExplorationRationale & Goal(as Business Analyst)
Santanu Das Sharma
I am sincerelyexploring a career in business analysis.Ido not wonder if the career is a good fit for my interests and
experience as I gather that I know pursuing a career as a business analystis worth for me.
In what follows,I’ll walk through the reasons for myselection ofa career in business analysis and whyit could be a
good fit for my skills,experiences,and qualifications.
I Want To Unleash My PassionFor
#1. Problem Solving. I get very frustrated when being dragged through a poorly thought-out process.
#2. Making the World a Better Place. I have pastexperiences to solve a few problems and help a few people
understand each other better, and I always look forward to do such things as mygood work for the day.
#3. Seeing Through Great Ideas. I mightnot be the one with the bestidea,but I know a great idea when I see one.
And I am motivated to see through that idea when everyone else’s attention has moved on to the next greatthing.
#4. Helping People Communicate. I always seem to sense when people are talking ateach other but not
communicating with each other. And I’m at my happiestwhen jumping into the discussion to clarify things.
I Am
#5. A bit of a know-it-all. I justseem to get it, but I don’tlet it go to my head.
#6. A bit like Columbo. I always have just“one more question.” And yes, it often seems like a dumb one.(It’s not.)
#7. A bit of a preservationist. The idea of reading through meeting notes from 6 months ago mightnottake me into
the upper orbs,but it does get me a wee bit excited, especiallywhen I find the precise bulletpointthat reminds
everyone why I threw that idea out lasttime, saving an hour of repetitive dis cussion.
#8. A bit like a “people whisperer.” I understand whatothers are saying when mostof the others seem to be a bit
dumbfounded.(I can justkeep the secretthat it’s all in asking the dumb questions to myself.)
#9. A bit like a 2-year-old. Always asking why, why, why. (Although good BAs ask why with finesse applying
Essential Elicitation Skills.)
#10. A bit difficult or obstinate, although I mightnot admitit. I am always looking for the bestand tend to staying
true to the best.

2. I Want
#11. To build on my deep business experience, whether as a subjectmatter expert, technical writer, sales person
or business manager,justto name a few possibilities.All of this experience I have adds up to something and has
prepared me to be a great business analyst.
#12. To build on my technical expertise,whether as a requirementanalyst,process monitoring & control engineer,
quality control engineer or service supportengineer.
#13. To do something big and make an impact, I’ve been a manager and decided itwasn’tthe bestfit for me.
#14. To drink from a fire hose. I consider the idea of learning a lot of new stuff in a relatively shortperiod of time is
exciting.
#15. The money. I am attracted by the prospectofa career with high potent of growth where I do not need to be
concerned aboutthe pay once I solidifymy BA career and the growth path.
I’d RatherNot
#16. Be in the conflict. Sure, I could take a side butI would much rather step aside and help conflicting stakeholders
weigh the pros and cons and reach an amicable conclusion instead.
#17. Waste resources. Something inside cringes from the inside outwhen I see an army of my company’s staffing
resources working on the wrong thing.
#18. Mess things up.
#19. Be outsourced. Because BAs need to be close to the business,their roles tend to be safer from outsourcing
and off-shoring initiatives. (That’s why we see a lot of developers and qualityassurance professionals looking into
business analysis careers.)
#20. Do whatever it is I am doing now, which is not business analysis.
#21. Manage the implementation of the project. I like finding the solution to the business problem butare content
to leave the implementation details to someone else.
#22. Be on call. While many IT roles require some degree ofweekend or evening work, a typical business analyst
role allows me to turn off my cell phone and keep a fairly standard workday.

3. I Like To
#23. Write on the white board. BAs get up and draw on the white board…a lot!
#24. Facilitate meetings. Especiallyworking,productive meetings where everyone leaves feeling like their time was
well spent.
#25. Spend a fair amount of time working independently, maybe as much as two thirds of your day. (as business
analysts tend to spend about2/3 of their time working independentlyand 1/3 of their time in meetings and interacting
with stakeholders.)
#26. But I also like to work with people. If I had to spend the other third of my day all alone working on some
technical problem or doing repetitive work, I mightjustpack up my things and quit.
#27. Change things. And make sure that when I make a change,there are no unexpected negative impacts.
#28. Learn how things work. I am naturally curious and like to figure things out.
#29. Continuously improve. No matter how good things look today, I know me and my organization can do better.
(This is called business process improvement)
I Am Willing To
#30. Learn to present big ideas to executives, since that’s where the future of business analysis is headed.
#31. Help drive change in organizations, whether that means sitting down with the customer service rep to
understand their process or working with the VP to reorganize their department.
#32. See the big picture. I don’t tend to get lost in the forest.I like to pick my head up often to see where I am at and
guide my team through it.
#33. See the details. But I know that some trees are important,or importantto some people.So I don’t lose track of
importantdetails either.
I Like People And
#34. I like the idea of working with lots of different people, at all levels of the organization.
#35. I want to help others by making their work more enjoyable and productive.
#36. I want to help others solve problems.
#37. People tend to come to me with their problems, because they know I’ll find a way to help.
#38. I have deep respect for what every person brings to a project.

4. I Care About My Future
#39. I know competencies matter. Even if the BA profession shriveled up and died tomorrow, it’s notthe
competencies thatI’ll build as a business analystwill make me less valuable to our increasinglyinter-connected and
fast-changing organizations. Instead,itwill make me more valuable.
#40. I want to build timeless skills. I mightwantto take some time off in a few years (to raise children,take care of
parents,and take a long sabbatical) and I wantto be able to jump back into a profession with a relatively timeless skill
set.
#41. Job Security. I am looking for some job securityand see the evidence everywhere that business analysis is a
growing profession.
#42. I am searching for a new job and have realized that mostof whatI’ve done in the pastsounds a lotlike what
keeps showing up in business analystrole descriptions.It’s time to jump on the bus!