Do you need a degree to become a Business Analyst?

The short and straightforward answer to the question is that if the Business analyst needs to have a degree – that’s ‘No’. There is no such formal requirement of possessing a degree for becoming or applying for the Business Analyst position.However, without having any degree and applying for a Business Analyst role might be difficult unless you compensate it with either professional certification or possibly some Bachelor’s degree. 

It is also said that when a person has a degree – they can demonstrate that they have the ability to study and learn, grasp the concepts, have an understanding of meeting the deadlines, and even make a commitment and perform well under pressure. Because to get the degree – one has to study well and clear the qualification examinations per the university education curriculum.

Well, we have concluded that there is no formal requirement of having a specific degree for becoming a Business Analyst. However, it is also true that if someone possesses multiple degrees (like or Bachelor, as well as Masters in various fields) but doesn’t have the necessary skill-set that a Business Analysis professional should have – then they won’t be fit for a Business Analysis role.

So the question arises that then how do employers set selection criteria for Business Analysts if there is no formal degree requirement?

How do Employers Select Business Analysts?

Employers look for the following while they look out for the Business Analyst:

1. Those having certification in the Business Analysis field such as ECBA Certification or CCBA Certification.
2. Those having Bachelor’s degree in a field like Business Administration, Computer Science, Information Technology, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Economics, or Human Resources
3. Those who may have prior experience and job titles like Business Architect, Data Analyst, Enterprise Analyst, Management Consultant, Process Analyst, Product Manager, Product Owner, Process Analyst, Requirement Engineer, or System Analyst but have performed business analysis tasks in their previous experience. These tasks can be like:
   1. Performing the business analysis planning work as choosing the right business analysis approach, having an understanding of how to collaborate with stakeholders, have participated in governance approach in their previous organizations, having an understanding of information management
   2. Have previous experience with mentoring business analysts and monitoring their performances
   3. Have performed elicitation activities and have knowledge on conducting interviews, brainstorming, and workshops with the stakeholders
   4. Have experience in Requirement lifecycle and know how to write the good requirements like business, stakeholder, and solution requirements
   5. May have worked on the testing side and know how to evaluate a solution
   6. Have experience in devising the strategies for enterprises in terms of moving from current state to future state
4. Someone who has related skills like development, testing, technical documentation, or content writing can also move to a business analysis role but would have done the training in the fields of business analysis. 

Key Take-Aways:

Work experience in similar fields as mentioned in this article can help candidates to switch to a Business Analysis role even if they have or have no formal degree. However, professionals who want to broaden their knowledge or even those who want to switch to a business analysis role and don’t have similar experience should go for training and professional certifications in the field of Business Analysis. These are the well-recognized professional certifications that can be done:

1. IIBA, Canada Business Analysis Certifications:

1. 1. CBAP (for professionals having at least 8-10 years of work experience)
   2. CCBA (for professionals having around 5 years of experience)
   3. ECBA (for freshers who want to start their career in business analysis)
   4. AAC (for Agile Analysis)
   5. CCA (for Cybersecurity Analysis)
   6. CBDA (for Business Data Analytics)

If you are looking to get certified in above mentioned certifications you can refer to Techcanvass. Techcanvass Is an Information Technology certifications training Organization for professionals. It offers internationally recognized certifications in the fields of Project Management and Business Analysis like CBAP Course, CCBA Course, ECBA Certification Training and Agile Analysis Certification (AAC) Course.It is a premier Authorized training partner (ATP) of Project Management Institute (PMI), USA and a premier Endorsed Education Provider (EEP) of International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), Canada.

2. IREB, Germany Business Analysis Certifications:

1. 1. CPRE-FL (Foundation level certification)
   2. CPRE-Advanced Level
   3. CPRE-Expert Level

3. PMI

4. PMI Professional in Business Analysis

4. IQBBA

1. 1. Foundation Level
   2. Advanced Level