Want a job in business analysis? Check out these tips.

1. Where Do I Go From Here: Career
Insights From the Author of Get The Job
Pamela Paterson, CBAP, PMP
www.pamelapaterson.com
For IIBA GLO
February 8, 2023

2. Pamela Paterson, CBAP, PMP is an international best-selling author, award-
winning speaker, and a senior business analyst consultant for enterprise IT
projects, having worked with +50 organizations including Red Cross,
KPMG, PwC, Siemens, Hewlett-Packard, and the federal government. She
wrote the #1 international best-seller Get the Job: OptimizeYour Resume for
the Online Job Search.
Get the Job was profiled in national media outlets and has been used as
course material in several educational institutions. Pamela uses a scientific
approach to getting a job and has taught these techniques to thousands of
job seekers, HR professionals, job coaches, and career specialists.
Previously, Pamela taught project management at a Toronto, Canada
college, and has a background in communications, information design,
engineering, and chemistry. She has written several books, including 2 best-
sellers. She can be reached at pamelapaterson.com.

3. OBJECTIVES
¡ Identify your career goals
¡ Determine additional skills you may need to
meet your goals
¡ Apply business analysis thinking in pursuit of
your dream job
¡ Approach job-seeking with a scientific
approach

4. Myths About Resumes and the Job Search
Resumes are always
2 pages
HR robots read resumes
the same way humans do
You need more skills and
experience to get your
next job

5. What Can Job Strategies Do?
¡ One candidate was underemployed for several years … and within one year tripled
his income
¡ Another candidate was visually impaired and suffered from mental health issues and
unemployment for a few years … got a job in one week
¡ A newcomer faced difficulty in understanding the job market … got a job in one
month

6. DesignYour Strategy to Get to Desired Future State
Current
Job State
Desired
Future Job
State

7. What do you enjoy? What are you GOOD at?
What are yourVALUES? What are the job keywords that
line up with ENJOY, GOOD, and
VALUES?

8. ENJOY:
Belonging
Cleaning
Connection
Helping people
Leadership
People
Positive environment
Positivity
Reading
Relationships
Teams
Develop people's “best
version of themselves”
GOOD AT:
Communication
Continuous improvement
Emotional intelligence
Helping people
Intelligent
Leadership
Process improvement
Relationships
Social insight
Social skills
Teaching
Thoughtful
VALUES:
Coach / teaching
Continuous improvement
Efficiency
Empathy
Goal-oriented
Helping people
Mentor
Create impact
People-centred
Process improvement
Relationships not transactional
Society / community-oriented
Thinking about others
KEYWORDS:
Coach
Communication
Continuous improvement
Coordination
Coordinator
Leadership
Mentor
Organization
Planning
Process
Process improvement
Project coordinator
Project management
Project plan
Project schedule
Relationships
Schedule
Scheduling
Stakeholder Management
Stakeholders
Train
Training

9. What do you enjoy? What are you GOOD at?
What are yourVALUES? What are the job keywords that
line up with ENJOY, GOOD, and
VALUES?

10. DEMO

12. Appeal toYour First Stakeholder: HR ATS
Know how Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) read
resumes
¡ Mandatory keywords—which ones?
¡ Clean up your social media

13. Now let’s take a look at what HR does on
Monday morning

14. KeywordsYou Need
Do data analysis on the job postings

15. What Does
IIBA® Say Is
the Average
Salary?
IIBA, 2022 Global State of Business Analysis Report

16. What Does IIBA® Say to Learn?
IIBA, 2022 Global State of Business Analysis Report

17. IIBA, 2022 Global State of Business Analysis Report

18. IIBA, 2022 Global State of Business Analysis Report

19. IIBA, 2022 Global State of Business Analysis Report

20. IIBA, 2022 Global State of Business Analysis Report

21. IIBA, 2022 Global State of Business Analysis Report

22. Help Sarah
Can a Starbucks Barista get a
business analysis job?
YES or NO?

23. SARAH HUSSEIN
Barrista/Customer Service, Starbucks,Toronto, 2022 –
current
• Served coffee and food to customers
• Cleaned store
• Restocked supplies
• Handled cash with high accuracy
• Provided excellent customer service

24. SARAH HUSSEIN
Barrista/Customer Service, Starbucks,Toronto, 2022 –
current
• Assisted customers their selections based on their unique needs
and requirements
• Verified system and manual counts of cash and reconciled records;
achieved 99% accuracy in transactions
• Identified inefficiencies in ordering process flow and created a new
process, resulting in 30% improvement
• Provided several recommendations to improve staffing, inventory
and maintenance processes that were accepted by management
• Diagnosed and repaired equipment defects, removing the need to
call a service technician, and reducing downtime rates

25. What if we communicated our skills
in terms of the job we want
instead of the job we have?
Focus On Future State

26. BA Top Skills
If I asked you the top BA skills and tools
needed for a job, what would you say?

27. Myths About Resumes And The Job Search
Resumes are always
2 pages
HR robots read resumes
the same way humans do
You need more skills and
experience to get your
next job

28. 10 Steps ToYour Future Job
1. Document current state
2. Create desired future state
3. Determine
obstacles/challenges/risks and
address them (clean up your
social media)
4. Revise your resume (25 job
postings)
5. Test your resume (apply for jobs)
6. Revise your resume until you get
callbacks
7. Go for interviews
8. Continuously improve your
process
9. Get the job!
10. Celebrate

30. Questions?
Follow me on LinkedIn:
www.pamelapaterson.com